— 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 …
jan/san
— 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 …
East Longmeadow, Mass. — Excel Dryer, Inc., manufacturer of the XLERATOR® Hand Dryer, has added a new director of marketing to the team. A seasoned professional with 24 years of experience, Tony Ieraci will be responsible for helping Excel Dryer create and execute long term marketing strategies that will help grow the brand. “We are excited to have Tony join us and bring innovative and exciting ideas to Excel,” says William Gagnon, vice president of sales and marketing at Excel Dryer. “With the majority of his professional life spent working …
— By David Vigil — Embracing consumer demand for a new standard of safety and hygiene. Retail and restaurant leaders understand the importance of customer service, but amidst the events of the past 12 months, a greater focus has been placed on safety and hygiene — especially as more consumers begin to venture out of their bubble, governors across the country begin easing restrictions, and the vaccine becomes more accessible. To rebuild confidence internally with employees, and externally with customers, facilities must establish protocols that sufficiently address pandemic-related safety …
— By Robert Kravitz — Exploring three cleaning technologies that have taken center stage since the pandemic began. An entire floor of a high-rise office building in Chicago is rented out to a global, “virtual” office company. Most of the tenants rent office space weekly or monthly, and according to the management company, virtually all the spaces on the floor have been rented out. However, anyone walking on that floor would hardly know that. Virtually every door is closed and locked. Walking in the hallways, it almost feels like …
— By Melissa Hard — Restaurant cleaning in a post-COVID era. As the saying goes, every cloud — even a very dark cloud like COVID-19 — has its silver lining. This is undoubtedly true in the restaurant and hospitality industries, which have taken it on the chin — as bad if not worse than any other business sector. However, the industry can view this regrettable situation as a chance to reevaluate many of their operating practices, starting with those related to cleaning. Speaking to someone who started in the …
Jersey City, N.J. and Minneapolis — Imperial Dade, a leading distributor of foodservice packaging and janitorial supplies, has agreed to acquire Dalco Enterprises, also a leading distributor of janitorial supplies. The transaction represents the 34th acquisition for Imperial Dade under the leadership of CEO Robert Tillis and President Jason Tillis. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Dalco has six facilities across Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. Owned and operated by Ted Stark, Peter Stark and Rod Dummer, the company has built a strong reputation for …
— By Patrick Scheb — Keeping customers safe and happy: It all starts with a clean restroom. Does anyone know a restaurant that is following social distancing?” “Are there retailers that are taking safety precautions seriously?” “Which businesses are offering outdoor experiences?” Social media conversations like the ones on Facebook above are a telling sign of how customer actions and decision-making are drastically different in 2020. We know that customers’ motivations and challenges changed in the past 5 months and retailers and business owners need to tackle …
— By Frederic Perreault — Hand hygiene is a two-part process. While COVID-19 has brought the importance of hand washing to the forefront of discussions about how to stop the spread of germs and bacteria, a critical element of the hand hygiene process is not being discussed. As the global society works to eradicate the COVID-19 virus and toward a future beyond this current pandemic, it is crucial that we understand how proper hand hygiene prevents the spread of bacteria, viruses and other infections. Scrubbing your hands with …
— 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 …