Industry Voices

— By Joe Bshero — Common carpet care myths debunked.   In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s important to give retail customers a quality shopping experience. Some companies do so by focusing on easy-to-navigate store layouts, while others offer in-store dining and soothing music to create a pleasant atmosphere. Cleanliness is also key, and its role is only increasing. The novel coronavirus pandemic has placed added stress on managers by imposing demanding cleaning standards meant to protect all building occupants. As more states reopen, retailers must understand that there will be …

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— By Del Williams —   How UVC light inactivates viruses and other airborne pathogens, thus improving indoor safety.   With commercial facilities taking precautions against viruses as never before, an effective new tool in their arsenal is a new type of “germicidal” LED fixture.  This specialized, enclosed LED fixture draws in air and irradiates it with ultraviolet light (UV), significantly improving indoor safety by providing continuous disinfection of airborne viruses as well as bacteria and germs. While traditional UV fixtures have been used for many years to clean surfaces, …

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— By Patricia Olinger —   The virus doesn’t care — and we all know which virus I’m talking about. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19, does not care about politics, an individual’s socioeconomic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, or age. It has one mission: infect whomever and as many as it can. Over the past year and a half, we’ve realized just how quickly pathogens can travel from person to person. This has caused us to adjust infection prevention protocols, including increased cleaning and disinfection efforts, mask …

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— By Adam Povlitz — Best practices and applying lessons learned during COVID-19 to commercial cleaning.   For a time, the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an era of remorseless uncertainty, and every industry across the nation grappled with how to address the pandemic safely while making every effort to keep businesses afloat. This is especially true for retail and restaurants in our cities and neighborhoods. In the early days of the pandemic, closures caused widespread damage to our favorite shopping and dining spots. For retail outfits, operations shifted and relied …

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— By Marian Nolletti — The dangers of rooftop grease.   Any type of grease from animal fats or vegetable fats on a rooftop can reduce the roof system’s resistance to UV rays and heat. Plus, it can cause premature deterioration of your roof, as well as increase the risk of fires and slips and falls. If all of that isn’t bad enough, it can also void most roof warranties and violate environmental regulations. Grease will destroy any roof system if left sitting on it. Common defects from it include …

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— By Andrea Lisbona — Best practices for long term PPE implementation in retail design.   Prior to the pandemic, it would have been rare to consider PPE like hand sanitizer, plexiglass barriers and masks as critical elements in enhancing the customer experience in retail environments. Today, a standing hand sanitizer dispenser, for example, is the norm at a retail door; it is the first thing customers will see and use when they walk into a store, and continue to experience throughout their browsing and buying journey. It’s clear that …

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— By Inna Tuler — How to navigate the maze of retail construction in today’s post-COVID environment.   The popularity of online shopping has recently seen a marked expansion due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But in spite of growing e-commerce purchasing, brick-and-mortar retailers are far from obsolete. Retail sales at physical store locations in 2020 made up approximately 85% of all U.S. retail sales, but given the onslaught of online competition, brick-and-mortar retailers cannot lose sight of their physical store strategies. There are many reasons why a retailer location will …

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— By Ara Aslanian — How to reopen your restaurant free of cyber concerns.   Despite an apocalyptic prediction last year, only 14% of restaurants closed permanently during the pandemic. After a dark winter of to-go-only orders or limited capacity, restaurants are finally seeing the light and preparing for the coming summertime boom as the dining restrictions lift across the country. However, while restaurants are rushing back to full operation, many are doing so without running a thorough IT upgrade and cybersecurity check. The pandemic has seen a surge in …

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— By Chris Gurreri —   How restaurants can rise to the raised expectations of what “clean” means in a post-pandemic world.   The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened everyone’s awareness of everyday actions, from breathing to touching doorknobs. One area that deeply affects the retail and restaurant industry is the general public’s increased expectation of cleanliness in public spaces. Restaurants from the fast-food industry to local cafes have put up signs demonstrating their commitment to health, detailing their mask requirements, social distancing requests and cleaning procedures. In this article, we’ll …

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— By Megan Varano — The benefits to outsourcing your facilities maintenance program and what to look for when choosing a provider.   If you’re considering outsourcing any part of your company’s facilities maintenance services, you’re not alone. There is no industry divide — organizations, both big and small, are feeling the strain. Do you have in-house teams that are being stretched thin, important repairs and services being missed, or are you looking to expand coverage beyond what your team can handle? While most organizations are focused on the direction …

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