— By Del Williams — Taking convenience stores to the next level with IP network surveillance systems. Convenience stores and mini marts have traditionally installed surveillance cameras to deter crime and encourage safety, but too often these have provided images that lacked detail, particularly in low light conditions. Retrieving video has usually been tedious, requiring endless searching and scanning to find the desired footage. Sharing and archiving of the video has also been cumbersome, wasting precious technical and management resources. Now advanced digital IP video cameras and recorders are …
Industry Voices
— By Jim Arabia — How facility managers of multi-location maintenance projects can benefit from an automated, single source heavy equipment rental provider. Every project manager and maintenance director knows the importance of having the right construction equipment delivered at the right time to ensure a job runs smoothly and cost-effectively. The last thing you need is to have workers standing idle waiting on machines, or sending staff home due to the incorrect equipment being delivered. It means wasted time — and time means money. One headache in particular …
— By Aaron Hartung — Developing a maintenance plan for your facility’s carpet, LVT, VCT and ceramic floors. Flooring maintenance protects your initial investment, paying dividends when compared to ripping and replacing every 5 years. And here’s an insider tip: It typically doesn’t cost anything to have a flooring contractor build a custom maintenance plan for your facility because their contract is for the actual maintenance work. Plus, they’ll add value by tailoring your daily cleaning and periodic maintenance procedures to your facility’s budget — and how your facility …
— By David Dawdy — Alternatives to elevator lobbies are a game changer for the retail and hospitality industries. In 1980, a kitchen fire tore through the casino floor of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The inferno sent plumes of toxic smoke through the sprawling complex — including elevator shafts and stairwells to the floors above. Of the 85 people killed that day, 61 deaths were on the upper floors of the hotel — nowhere near the fire. These victims, as well as the other fatalities, died of …
— By Rusty Amarante — The future looks bright for service-based franchises. Providing specialized and on-demand services, service-based businesses currently represent a large portion of the franchise establishments in the United States. For almost a decade, service-based franchises have been on the rise because of the nation’s high demand for services that require technical skills and expertise, and those that cater towards commercial and residential upkeep are most prevalent. To maintain the proper safety standards that these properties are expected to meet, the expert teams that provide maintenance services …
— By Ted Stouch — Parking area liability: are you vulnerable? In a retail or restaurant setting, a dark and foreboding parking lot or garage is a business owners’ worst nightmare. While a perfect setting for a horror movie, in real life, an unlit or poorly lit parking area is a recipe for disaster. Assault, robbery, rape and even murder are a few of the rampant occurrences plaguing parking areas across the U.S. They have low lighting, shadowy expanses and distractions, which make for a tempting invitation for criminals. According …
— By Dr. Nancy Troyano — The most common pest issues in restaurants by month — and what you need to know to defeat them. With plenty of food, sugar-rich beverages, moisture and heat, restaurants are essentially the perfect environment for pests. Battling pests is a daily, year-round war, but it can be hard to prepare if you don’t know what the enemy looks like or from what direction it is coming. Based on an analysis of 2 years’ worth of data from restaurants, we were able to determine …
— By Jay Hart — How businesses can plan for the growing concern of active shooters and workplace violence. Active shooter incidents used to be rare. But now, people realize they are more likely to be involved in an active shooter incident as the frequency of such events increases. According to a 2018 FBI report, 21 states around the country, from California to Maryland, saw active shooter incidents in the 2-year period from 2016 to 2017 — 10 more than in the previous 2-year period. The report found most …
— By Gene Belli — What retail and restaurant facility owners need to know about environmental and condition assessments. At some point or points during the life of a thriving retail or restaurant property, it will inevitably require an assessment of sorts in the form of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), a Property Condition Assessment (PCA), a Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) or a Compliance Audit/Safety Assessment. The importance of these evaluations can often be underestimated due to their relative infrequency. That said, owners and managers of these facilities …
— By Carol L. Carey — How to control social media and news coverage of your establishment through effective, preventative pest control. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, local news outlets and even national television cover everything: the good, the bad and the ugly — and not all publicity is good publicity. Contrary to the types of stories you want printed about your establishment, negative stories can “go viral” quicker than positive ones. If someone finds a rat in the produce section at a local grocery store, or food poisoning at …