Janitorial And Maintenance Services For Retail Buildings
The surest way to keep customers away as per studies is to have a poor-looking store.
In fact, according to a recent study, a whopping 95% of shoppers reported that the way a mall or a shop looked played a significant role in whether they would enter that establishment or not.
These studies shed immense light on the significance of janitorial and maintenance services in strip malls, outlet malls, and regional malls.
It also highlights the kind of loss traders can face if they don’t invest in retail cleaning. You cannot fool customers. They notice the difference.
You need an exceptional and experienced commercial cleaning service provider that understands the importance of orderly and clean malls and shopping centers.
Consumers tend to get instinctively attracted to sanitary and well-organized environments.
They are more likely to purchase from stores that are well-kept as opposed to dirty and messy shopping areas.
Cleanliness has never been more important than in today’s Covid-19 or Wuhan virus times.
Janitorial and Maintenance Services for Strip Malls
Strip malls have an added advantage over other types of malls with the shops being arranged in a row.
Customers can simply park their vehicles and enter an establishment to make a purchase.
However, this means those strip malls have their own sets of problems when it comes to cleaning and maintenance.
They have expansive parking lots in the front that are frequented by vehicles throughout the day.
Not to mention, the generally open walkways that see heavy traffic during the day and night.
This is why businesses and shop owners or property managers should consider hiring a commercial janitorial service provider.
Building maintenance and cleaning service become easier and more predictable when you outsource them to professionals.
Commercial cleaners can ensure that your store is as clean as possible.
Janitorial and Maintenance Services for Outlet Malls
Almost 95% of customers according to a recent study claimed the most important determining factor whether to enter a store or not was appearance. In today’s retail world, outlet malls have their work cut out for them.
With the growing dependency on online shopping and multi-brand stores, outlets need to do everything they possibly can to retain customers.
Clean and pristine-looking stores are one way to go about it. Having a good janitorial service is important if you value customer interaction and the business they can bring in. Image is vital in the shopping industry.
Knowledgeable managers and owners realize this and focus on cleanliness along with the right pricing and marketing strategies.
Your in-house cleaning crew may not be aware of the difficulties and challenges faced specifically by outlet malls.
This is why you need someone that has the necessary experience in cleaning and maintaining outlet malls.
Janitorial and Maintenance Services for Regional Malls
Regional malls face their own sets of issues.
Nothing will turn away a shopper faster than dirty stores, shopping centers, food courts, parking lots, walkways, and restrooms. Regional malls tend to witness heavy footfall.
This is precisely the reason why facility managers should invest in a dedicated and experienced cleaning service.
In regional malls, property managers have to ensure that the retail facility draws in customers and tenants.
Store tenants cannot thrive if customers don’t show up.
The secret to keeping both tenants and customers happy is by ensuring odor-free, clean-looking surroundings.
There are several commercial cleaning and maintenance service providers that can ensure clean retail spaces for attracting both.
Routine cleaning and upkeep play a major role in managing unsanitary conditions created from litter and general food consumption.
Importance of Keeping it Clean
There is nothing more important than maintaining orderly and clean malls and shopping centers for setting the tone for a positive customer experience.
Well-kept stores are more likely to attract consumers than dirty and messy shopping areas.
These are a few reasons why property managers, facility owners, and tenants should focus on keeping the area neat, clean, sanitary, and tidy.
1. Cleanliness is directly linked to retail success
The importance of cleanliness in a shopper’s purchase curve cannot be stressed enough.
Consumers may decide not to visit a strip mall or regional outlet if they don’t have sanitary conditions.
This is particularly true in the backdrop of coronavirus when people have become more cautious regarding cleanliness and sanitization.
2. Attract more consumers
5% of customers, as per a recent study, claimed not to have entered a shopping area because of an unappealing exterior appearance.
95% of consumers mentioned they would not step into a store if it looked dirty.
This means that keeping the interiors as well as exteriors of the storefront and mall are essential to maintaining a good business model and attracting more customers.
In fact, customers are known to spend more money when they are in nicer surroundings.
3. Unclean establishments are unattractive
Unclean malls can make people feel uneasy.
They won’t spend a lot of time in a mall if they feel uncomfortable.
They would probably take their business elsewhere. In contrast, neat, clean, and well-maintained malls will ensure that visitors keep coming. More visitors, more browsing, and more shopping.
Even one messy area in the mall can change a visitor’s opinion about shopping.
This is one of the reasons why retail cleaning should not be left to amateurs or taken for granted.
4. Cleaner stores result in better profits
The longer a potential consumer spends browsing, the better are their chances of making a purchase.
In fact, if the mall is unsoiled and spotless, the visitor may just pop into multiple stores and buy more than they initially planned for.
This fares well for your store tenants.
Better profits will help in making the facility a prime property as well resulting in increased rental value.
A Comprehensive Retail Cleaning Checklist
Appearance cannot be stressed more when it comes to the retail industry.
Whether you are the property manager for a local strip mall or a sprawling box center, you need the right commercial janitorial and maintenance service provider to have your back.
Some jobs are best left to the professionals, and cleaning is one of them.
Having an unsightly or unkempt center is going to harm your mall more than just a bad review.
In fact, online reviews will only get worse if the shopping area is in shambles.
This makes it important to create a retail cleaning checklist to ensure that you don’t miss anything.
In fact, while hiring a commercial cleaning service you should cover all bases with them to ensure they hit all the sweet spots in your establishment.
1. Restrooms
Restrooms are one of the most important non-tenant spaces that need your attention.
You should consider calling the professionals if your in-house cleaning crew or current retail cleaning company is not doing a good job.
Restrooms in the average regional or strip mall take up 5% of the space but account for 80% of building complaints and 20% dirt.
This is a step-wise instructible on restroom cleaning:
- Putting up wet floor signs
- Sweep, dust, and empty trash
- Refill paper towels, soap dispenser, and toilet paper
- Clean urinals and toilets
- Clean countertops, sinks, and mirrors
- Mop the floor
These steps are important for keeping this vital section of your facility free from dirt, bacteria, and germs.
2. Stripping/waxing of hard floors
The floor is quite possibly the first thing potential customers notice when they enter a mall.
Take a walk in your facility and ask yourself if the floor is well-kept.
Are all scuff marks buffed by your cleaning company?
Is the floor as shiny as possible?
The carpets should not have any spots or stains.
There is nothing shabbier than scuffed and stained floors.
There are various types of flooring options available in malls.
However, tile flooring is the most common because of low maintenance.
Depending on the type of flooring and floor covering (area carpets) you have, make sure you discuss the right way of cleaning with your janitorial service provider.
3. Walkways
Walkways are always a problem in any popular mall or shopping center.
Walkways must be swept clear of debris multiple times a day.
You should consider having your walkways pressure washed at least once every quarter.
This will prevent mold, mildew, algae, and discoloration.
Walkway mats placed at the entrance and exits go a long way in ensuring neat spaces.
However, you need to ensure they get vacuumed nightly.
Walkways are usually concrete surfaces, which are generally easy to maintain.
However, they do tend to accumulate dirt and stains over time.
You should ensure your commercial cleaners keep the area as clean as possible.
4. Pressure washing
Commercial pressure washing and power washing are similar with minute differences.
Pressure washing involves a special mixture of detergent and water which is expelled under high pressure for cleaning building sidings, sidewalks, patios, and walkways.
Power washing makes use of heated water and is meant only as a surface treatment.
High pressure during pressure washing helps force the cleaning solution deep within the brick and concrete structures without damaging the building aesthetics.
Routine and regular pressure washing can result in several benefits, such as:
- Increased curb appeal
- Fewer repairs
- Clean sidewalks
- Improved safety and hygiene
- Helps remove graffiti
5. Parking lots
Clean parking lots or garages are excellent at attracting customers and making first impressions.
Dirty, dingy, or ill-maintained parking lots send a message that the facility manager doesn’t care or value patrons.
Clean parking lots also sets the tone for an establishment and encourages respectful behavior.
You need to make sure the commercial cleaning company does a good job in maintaining the parking lots.
Frequent sweeping and dusting are a must depending on the surface.
Trash control can do wonders for maintaining the quality and hygiene of your parking areas.
Make sure the trash gets picked up routinely and all litter is cleaned.
6. Machine sweeping
Sidewalks and parking lots can have a lot of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
This makes sweeping a priority in these areas for shopping malls and retail centers.
Regular sweeping using a mechanical sweeper can help extend the life of the pavement.
It will also let your current and potential patrons derive a positive impression.
Not all machine sweepers are alike.
Make sure you get your commercial cleaners to use a fume-free machine that does the job quietly.
Cleanliness is without fail the top-ranking factor for customers in terms of determining the right place to shop.
Don’t let poorly kept exteriors tarnish the image you have worked hard to create on the inside.
Machine sweep can easily and efficiently take care of sidewalks and parking lots that are filled with weeds, littered with trash, and are crumbling.
7. Facades
Façade cleaning refers to the process of ensuring the exterior of your building is free of grime, stains, dirt, and pollutants.
General maintenance can only go so far in ensuring the exterior looks pretty.
You need to ensure the entrance to your mall is clean, neat, and tidy.
Façade can be made from a wide variety of materials, such as wood, stone, glass, and metal (aluminum or stainless steel).
The cleaning of the façade will depend on the materials it is made from.
This is why it is important to hire an experienced and knowledgeable commercial cleaner since they know the right combination of cleaning solutions and equipment that will get the job done.
Your building’s façade can appear dirty because of natural weather toll, air pollutants, and other causes.
In fact, if left uncleaned, dirt and grime can quickly make the façade lose its color affecting the overall appearance. This repair could become expensive for you.
8. Graffiti removal
Depending on the neighborhood, graffiti on the sides and other walls on the interior and exterior is common.
You can have your commercial cleaners use pressure washing and other cleaning methods to remove graffiti.
Pressure washing is known to provide the most effective results in terms of graffiti removal.
Graffiti should not be allowed to stay for long on any building.
For starters, it devalues your building and discourages respectable folk from shopping.
You should discuss cleaning options with your service provider to get the job done quickly, efficiently, and without damaging the surface.
9. Gutter cleaning
Gutters are necessary for directing the flow of rainwater away from your building or infrastructure.
They help in preventing unnecessary damage, such as flooding inside and outside the property.
Depending on the weather in your particular area, all gutters should be cleaned at least twice a year.
If your mall is located in an area with a lot of trees, you should consider more frequent cleaning if you want to avoid time-consuming and costly repairs down the line.
These are a few problems you can avoid as property managers by having the gutters cleaned more frequently:
- Damage to the foundation of your building
- Damage to the building exterior
- Water damage to surrounding landscape and sidewalks
- Dampness that may penetrate the walls and roof causing internal damage
10. Vacant space clean-up
Vacant space cleaning is important to make an area attractive to a new potential store tenant.
However, you cannot have your in-house cleaning crew take care of this type of cleaning.
It requires the right tools, equipment, and cleaning solutions to get the job done.
Cleaning is a two-step process.
The first is the removal of all debris left behind in the vacant space.
The next step is to wipe down all surfaces and clean everything out dedicatedly.
Commercial janitorial cleaners have the necessary knowledge and know-how to handle such cleanings.
11. Food courts
Food courts are becoming quite common in all malls, whether they are strip malls, regional malls, or outlet malls.
Food is also the single largest health concern in any mall, excluding high-traffic public restrooms.
Food outlets may only clean their countertops and any seating area they may have.
They won’t care about spills made in the common areas.
They won’t even bother about trash pickup.
It falls on the facility manager to ensure that the food court is not dirty or a cesspool of germs.
This can be done by hiring commercial cleaning companies.
General Maintenance
Several commercial companies may offer something additional to janitorial services – general maintenance.
These are similar to handyman services for taking care of those pesky problems that crop up almost daily.
Commercial cleaners have skilled crew on their roll that knows how to undertake minor renovations and fix repairs.
If something breaks, you can have the maintenance crew fix it with limited tools.
These are a few common maintenance jobs that you should seek:
- Painting
- Plumbing
- Electrical
- Replacing reachable light bulbs
- Minor roofing repairs
- Striping
- Parking lot repairs
- Pothole repairs
It is important to understand that general maintenance will not cover major projects.
Minor things that are broken can be easily fixed but major undertakings would require dedicated contractors.
For instance, if the toilet gets clogged, you can have the maintenance people unclog it.
However, if the pipes are rusty and old, you would need a professional plumbing contractor to replace them.
If a light switch is not working, you can have it corrected by the maintenance guys.
But, if the entire mall or a particular store needs rewiring, you would best call the electricians.
However, if the contractors leave behind a mess, you can have the cleaning crew tackle it.
You must choose commercial cleaners which offer both janitorial and maintenance services to have trained and skilled people on their team.
This means they should have extensive training in electrical, plumbing, carpentry, painting, and more.
The crew must also be safe, punctual, friendly, and reliable.
You should feel comfortable asking them to handle any task.
You should also have trust in their work and know that the job will get done in a reasonable amount of time with a polite and friendly smile.
Why Shopping Malls Need Commercial Janitorial and Maintenance Services?
Shopping malls, whether they are strip malls or regional malls are increasingly becoming popular as a gathering hub.
These places get substantial car and foot traffic.
Over time, dirt, dust, and debris can gather in layers on the sidewalks, walls, flooring, countertops, and other areas.
This can create a rundown and dirty appearance that may prevent footfall.
Facility managers and property owners need to understand that appearance is paramount when it comes to shopping centers.
Where people come, there are the usual stains, gum, debris, and general mess. Ironically, people prefer areas that don’t have these usual messes.
Commercial janitorial and maintenance service providers have the necessary resources, including the right cleaning solutions, equipment, and technical know-how to undertake routine and scheduled repairs and maintenance.
These are a few other reasons why you should invest in commercial cleaners:
1. Professional appraisal
In-house cleaning crew may not know how to take care of something as versatile and large as a shopping mall unless you invest large sums in training them.
Professional cleaners are experts when it comes to knowing trouble areas and how to tackle them best.
Any commercial cleaner you hire will start by carefully appraising the exterior and interior area for taking note of spots and damage.
They will make use of the right equipment for ensuring the problem is taken care of without damaging the surface.
After a single commercial treatment, your shopping center will start to appear new.
2. Small investment
Most commercial cleaners offer affordable services.
In fact, you would appreciate the investment made when you offset it by the amount saved in repairs and replacements.
The best part is that you don’t have to invest in hiring, training, and supervising an in-house cleaning crew.
You can use those resources and managerial bandwidth to take care of other things in the facility.
3. Make the structure inviting
Commercial janitors ensure that the area under them is as clean as possible.
The huge effect commercial cleaning has on end customers and tenants are not realized by many strips and mall managers.
Current businesses will remain happy since common entrances, walls and windows are clean.
This will attract more customers and make the structure appear inviting.
The increased footfall will make the complex more inviting to potential tenants increasing the odds of getting those empty spaces filled quickly.
4. Protect flooring
Floors are known to get dirty.
People have accidents.
Kids have accidents.
But, the reminders of these accidents can be plain ugly. Janitorial service providers ensure that there is regular sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming to prevent permanent staining.
A professional cleaning crew can go a long way in making your hard surface floors appear new and shiny.
Creating a safe space for your customers and employees.
5. Odor control
Olfactory experience is one of the most memorable things that humans notice when they enter an area.
Malls that smell dank, musty, or unpleasant may leave customers never wanting to return.
They may also correlate the smell with the space being unclean or unhygienic.
This is why it is important to ensure that there is proper odor control in any given area.
Air fresheners can only do so much for a particular space.
You need commercial cleaners to regularly clean the area for preventing the smells from building up in the first place.
6. Keeping restrooms clean and sanitary
The most important reason for hiring commercial cleaners is that they can ensure the restrooms are always clean and sanitary.
Most diseases are bred in the restroom area.
You don’t want your mall to get a bad reputation because of dirty urinals and toilets.
Lower quality of retail cleaning will not allow for customer retention.
7. Get the expertise that matters
You can ensure the most experienced people for the job by hiring a maintenance company for taking care of your janitorial needs.
Otherwise, you may risk hiring somebody that is not properly trained or qualified to get the job done.
By hiring a well-known company, you can make sure that you get the support and guarantee you need.
8. Help businesses grow
It’s the responsibility of the property manager to do everything it takes to increase footfall in a particular mall.
This is important for helping tenant businesses grow.
When you hire a commercial contractor to take care of mundane tasks, like cleaning, you can free up resources.
This will give you and your employees enough bandwidth to focus on other pressing issues.
Choose the Right Cleaning Service for Your Retail Building
Whether you manage a strip mall, shopping center, outlet mall, large retail space, department store, or a regional mall, the janitorial and maintenance team at Servi-Tek can help you.
We have the experience to take care of all non-commercial spaces, including escalators, restrooms, HVAC, and food courts.
You can be assured of cleaning and general maintenance that is done with ease and perfection.
Our goal is to ensure your retail space and your commercial building are as inviting to customers as it is to tenants.
Call us at 866-454-6185 or use our online form if you are interested in an estimate for janitorial services at your shopping space.
You can schedule a time to discuss your requests with us. We offer fully customizable quotes and plans.
