— Interview with Austin Duchaine & Shawn Hester — Breaking down the most common water-related issues experienced by restaurants — and how to prevent, mitigate and recover. For independent restaurants operating in aging buildings, a hidden water leak can quickly escalate from a maintenance issue to a financial crisis. Older plumbing systems, grease-clogged drains and HVAC condensation failures increase the risk of sudden shutdowns, especially in older retail centers and standalone locations. When a restaurant is forced to close for even a few days, the financial impact compounds fast, creating …
disaster recovery
The Home Depot Foundation Invests $5.5 Million in Disaster Preparedness Ahead of Storm Season
Atlanta — As hurricane season approaches, The Home Depot Foundation is directly supporting efforts to help communities better prepare for, withstand and recover from natural disasters by investing more than $5.5 million in grants to nonprofit partners. These grants, along with mitigation training for those partners supporting rebuilding efforts, will aid communities through every stage of the disaster response cycle. Beyond philanthropy, The Home Depot activates its Disaster Response Command Center for significant disasters, providing continuous, daily communication between teams, impacted stores and suppliers. The Command Center organizes more than …
Disaster Preparedness, Future-Proofing Systems: Facility Maintenance Strategies for Severe Weather
For retail and restaurant operators, severe weather is a recurring operational risk. Hurricanes, flooding, extreme heat and high-wind events are happening more frequently and with greater intensity. As a result, disaster preparedness in the retail and restaurant industry has shifted to a proactive facility maintenance discipline focused on resilience, continuity and speed of recovery. From a facility maintenance perspective, preparedness today means having a current, practiced and flexible plan. Plans must be testable and able to be executed quickly when conditions deteriorate. As Thomas Navarro, vice president of business development …
From Liability to Opportunity
— By Keith Etchells — Revitalizing Diamond Bar Shopping Center through strategic remediation. In retail real estate, environmental contamination can be a deal breaker. For property owners and investors, subsurface pollution such as solvents, hydrocarbons, heavy metals and other industrial byproducts can restrict the asset’s current and future uses and commonly comes with significant regulatory management costs. With the right combination of strategy, funding and technical expertise, resolving environmental challenges can be accomplished in ways that support long term property goals. The owner of the Diamond Bar shopping center in …
— By Tom Dawson — The true cost of a roof leak. When most businesses think about the cost of a roof leak, they typically focus on the expense associated with the roofing contractor who comes out and fixes the roof. However, leading brands are beginning to look deeper — quantifying the impact of roof leaks to your organization is not just an issue for the facilities team, but is a challenge that impacts culture, operations and guest experience. For hospitality groups like Brinker International, the impact of a roof …
— By Candise Shanbron, Esq.— How retailers and restaurateurs can prepare for increasing natural disasters and insurance challenges. In recent years, weather patterns across the United States have become increasingly erratic and severe. Over just the past year, nearly every region of the country has experienced some form of extreme weather event — be it hurricanes, tornadoes, hailstorms, floods, wildfires or other wind-related catastrophes. No geographical area seems immune, and all signs point toward a continued increase in the frequency and severity of these natural disasters. For those in the …
Self-Performing Providers Deliver Consistent, Reliable Service
One of the biggest challenges that retailers and restaurants face is finding a reliable, single-source facility repair and maintenance partner who has the scope, expertise and capacity to maintain and repair operationally vital systems in multiple locations. When those store and restaurant operators have locations spread across states and regions with varying building, health, fire and safety codes, the difficulty is only compounded, says Thomas Navarro, vice president of business development for Colt Facility Maintenance. The Dallas-based repair and maintenance organization, also known as a self-performing provider, specializes in servicing …
— By Caleigh Peterson — How Spice Village improved communication and store operations with two-way radios. With the retail industry facing more challenges than ever before, effective communication is crucial. A study published by the International Journal of Business Communication found that clear communication is correlated with higher sales performance. This is especially evident for the retail industry. To ensure a business runs smoothly, it’s essential for retail owners and managers to find solutions to address these issues. In the bustling heart of Waco, Texas, Spice Village, a sprawling retail …
— By Josh Miller — Preventive maintenance measures before disaster strikes. As a business owner, you’re always thinking about how to scale to the next level. You’re focused on what to do to improve daily operations, outshine the competition and attract more customers. But amid all of the strategic thinking and execution, one key aspect that often gets overlooked is planning for the worst-case scenario. In all my years in the restoration industry, I’ve seen firsthand how devastating these events can be whether in retail spaces or restaurants. One moment …
Winter-Proofing Your Business: Essential Steps to Prepare Restaurants, Retail Stores for the Cold
Winter storms and plunging temperatures present special challenges to restaurants and retailers. To keep customers and employees comfortable until spring, operators should act now to winterize their properties and perform preventive maintenance before a crisis occurs. “When you know that winter is coming, it’s always better to be proactive than reactive,” says Michael Garcia, regional service manager in the Dallas office of Colt Facility Maintenance, a maintenance service provider. Winterization should begin before the cold sets in and while there is still time to address vulnerabilities discovered in buildings or …