— By Patricia Hottel, BCE — All pests will have certain environmental preferences and survival needs. When the right conditions are met, pests thrive. Sanitation, employee practices, facility processes, and structural and equipment design can either hinder or help pest’s survival. In fact, not all areas within a facility will meet the needs of the pest equally and certain areas will have a higher risk for pest development than others. Here is a list of some of the 10 most common areas of pest activity by product type, structural …
Industry Voices
— By Nelson Salas — Commercial vs. residential plumbing: A business owner’s guide to hiring the right professional. Nowadays, navigating the plumbing world has become increasingly easy. Referral sites such as Angie’s List, Craigslist, Offerup and Thumbtack create numerous opportunities to locate a plumber in your area. The issue isn’t finding a plumber more so than hiring the right plumber for the job. Here are a few things to consider to ensure you find the plumber that meets your commercial needs. Don’t Assume Every Plumber is Equal Residential plumbers …
— By Phil Thomas — Air curtains with COVID-19 disinfection: How to present stores and restaurants that customers are confident to enter during a pandemic. Confidence is one game-changing factor restaurants and retailers must restore to regain patrons and employees amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Facility operators should take sanitization actions and promote them as part of their COVID-19 response. Outdoor dining, curbside service and pickup, masks, shields and social distancing have instilled some confidence and brought back a few patrons that have shopped online or eaten at home since …
— By John Goetz — Removing the fear from food: foodborne illness and prevention best practices. Foodborne illnesses can wreak havoc on the foodservice industry and its patrons. One in 10 people fall ill every year from eating contaminated food, and 420,000 people die worldwide annually as a result. Outside of the human impact, the financial cost of these incidents is also immense. According to a study by researchers at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an outbreak at a fast food restaurant could cost between $3,968 and …
— By Steve Peldiak — Hurricane response during COVID-19. This is one of the most active seasonal forecasts that NOAA has produced in its 22-year history of hurricane outlooks,” says U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “We encourage all Americans to do their part by getting prepared, remaining vigilant and being ready to take action when necessary.” The unprecedented 2020 hurricane season coupled with COVID-19 brings unique challenges to disaster and tropical storm preparedness. How do you keep your personnel and your properties safe during a pandemic? Advanced planning …
— By Michelle Egan — What you need to know when adding or updating curbside pickup service. Prior to the pandemic, it could be argued that many (if not most) restaurants offered takeout while some actually had curbside pickup. The same could be said about some retailers that, in an effort to outpace competitors with stellar customer service, had already introduced online or phone ordering with in-store pickup or in-car delivery. However, curbside pickup today has shifted from being a nice-to-have to a must-have as consumers continue to seek …
— By Dan Villalpando — Key retail lease provisions to revisit in light of COVID-19. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced many retailers to close their doors to customers beginning in March 2020, just as the overall economy was pushed into unprecedented disarray. Because of these circumstances and questions surrounding the unusual situation where municipalities were ordering stores to close, landlords and tenants looked to the four corners of their leases to determine their rights and obligations. Certain key lease provisions, like force majeure clauses, insurance provisions and …
— By Doug Engel — Protecting guests from COVID-19 in restaurants and retail stores without breaking the bank. Restaurants and retail stores have been hit hard by plummeting business and consumers shifting to buy goods online. Ensuring safe physical spaces for dining and shopping is not just important, it’s essential to the recovery of these important sectors of the economy. What’s the best way to protect the health of customers and staff while being sensitive to the current financial challenges in these industries? Like the changing guidance associated with …
— By A.J. Dilenno — The importance of your parking lot during and after COVID-19. COVID-19 may have put dining out on hiatus in many areas, but that doesn’t mean customers have abandoned their favorite restaurants. To meet customer demand while practicing social distancing, many retail stores and restaurants have turned to curbside pickup and drive-thru, with some stores delivering groceries right to people’s cars. In fact, demand for alternative dining and delivery options have made the parking lot the go-to area for many businesses. For other establishments, weeks …
— By David Ramirez and John Prall — Have you disconnected your refrigeration equipment during quarantine? Check the measures to protect your equipment when turning it back on. During these times of coronavirus pandemic, quarantine and lockdown procedures, many foodservice businesses have had to shut down for a while or had their demand strongly reduced. As a result, some may have chosen to disconnect their equipment to save energy. In this case, there are some easy measures that can be taken to protect your investment. If the equipment …