— By TJ Durham — Four keys to successful property management. Often flying under the radar, a trusted property manager is among the most valuable assets a retail owner can have in its corner. The role goes far deeper than landscape and curb appeal — it also includes managing the finances and operations of the asset, creating a budget and working within that budget to hire contractors for routine maintenance, fit-outs and overseeing basic improvements on the property. The ability to rely on a professional who can seamlessly maximize …
Industry Voices
— By Ted Stouch — From service programs to vendor selection, everything you need to know about choosing a national sign service provider. An integral part of any business owner or facilities manager’s job is looking for a national sign service company to maintain their storefront signage. Your signage is a significant part of your brand identity, and it’s how customers, executives and prospects identify your location. Maintaining this signage can become a challenge with all the other tasks associated with running a business. For instance, we’ve all seen …
— By Erich Lawson — 6 simple ways to reduce food waste in restaurants. Every year a lot of food is wasted, of which restaurants are major contributors. Recyclable items like cardboard and paper waste find their way to landfills instead of being recycled. As a restaurateur, you can do your bit for the planet by reducing this waste. You can even install self-contained trash compactors to handle waste efficiently. Audit the Waste If you cannot measure how much you are wasting, there is no way you can minimize …
— By Tom Dunn — How active fryer management improves employee safety, reduces costs and increases sustainability. Restaurants and commercial kitchens are demanding environments. Quick-service operators, fast-casual franchisees, full-service restaurant owners and facility kitchens everywhere often struggle with a number of challenges in today’s competitive market: increases in minimum wage, joint-employer positioning, new government regulations, evolving consumer tastes, and more. It’s abundantly clear to anyone involved in the industry that foodservice is a challenging field and frontline employees in the kitchen are at high risk for serious injury because …
— By Jamie Johnson — Seven energy-saving changes businesses can make to save on energy costs. Operating a business has various costs, some we have control over and some that we don’t. In my business, I love the costs that directly contribute to sales and new revenue, and I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about those fixed costs to keep the lights on. Ironically, we focus on helping our clients reduce energy costs, and we love clients who have 24/7 operating hours. Businesses with 24/7 operations have …
— By Jeff Hill — The growth of self-service kiosks presents new challenges for quick-service restaurant facilities teams. Do you like self-service kiosks, or would you prefer to interact with a human cashier when visiting your favorite quick-service restaurant (QSR)? Your answer to that question, unsurprisingly, is likely driven by your age: 18- to 24-year-olds are more than 70% likely to visit a restaurant if it had a kiosk option; 25- to 34-year-olds are 65% more likely to visit; 45- to 54-year-olds are 60% more likely; and Over 55-year-olds …
— By Robert Kravitz — What if electric hand dryers sometimes do more harm than good? The men’s room in a Chicago restaurant included a sign many of us have seen before in other restaurants, movie theaters and similar locations. Above the electric hand dryers were these words: “We hate them too. But they save trees and help us keep the restroom clean as well.” Signs like this will probably slowly disappear if for no other reason than customers have gotten used to seeing electric hand dryers in all …
— By Maia McNair — Time for a floor care overhaul before winter sets in. With winter right around the corner, facility managers must have a sound floor care strategy in place to keep surfaces looking their best, protect customers and reduce long term maintenance and replacement costs. Winter Woes Used to improve traction in store parking lots and prevent outdoor slip-and-falls, salt and sand easily make their way indoors during the winter. These de-icing materials can wear away floor finishes and surfaces if they are not regularly …
— By Flavia Da Silva-Benson — Disrupting facility cleaning traditions. The public places a great deal of trust in the restaurants and retailers they patronize. They feel safe in the assumption that these facilities maintain clean and hygienic environments and, for the most part, they do. However, the reality is, traditional cleaning methods used by most businesses aren’t effective enough to eradicate all pathogens — particularly today’s more virulent bugs. Germs and viruses continue to live on surfaces even after they’ve been cleaned. Current processes simply don’t allow …
— By Keith Gipson — Using a building’s thermal mass for efficient energy management. Efficient energy usage has been, and continues to be, one of the hottest topics in the building management industry. Each year, businesses spend tens of billions of dollars on power consumption operating lights, computer equipment, process equipment and HVAC. HVAC typically accounts for the highest percentage of the utility costs for most commercial buildings. Data from the hospitality industry, for example, indicates that hotels spend in excess of $2,000 per room on energy costs annually …