Image source: Woodhams Group
Retail maintenance refers to seasonal and ongoing services that keep facilities up and running. Stores often require general cleaning, floor restoration, carpet replacement, HVAC upgrades, locksmith services, and other types of maintenance. They are important in addressing emerging technical and infrastructural problems, especially in the aftermath of unexpected challenges like floods and fires. Retail maintenance companies specialize in full-scale services to improve your commercial visibility. They provide custom solutions for your business along with the necessary reporting and management deliverables, which help streamline different maintenance plans throughout the year. The retail industry depends on various upkeeps to make sure that the areas open to customer traffic remain clear and welcoming. By maintaining your store’s appearance, you can boost its spatial cohesiveness and allow displays and other focal points to stand out. It is also a great chance to tackle all operational and cosmetic needs, ranging from shelf repairs and electrical emergencies to snow removal and exterior facelifts.
Most of these maintenance services take care of aspects that run behind the scenes. When your store’s lighting and point-of-sale technologies run smoothly, the work and shopping experiences become more fluid. You do not want customers to be held up in queues waiting to check out because of a system failure. It is important to schedule regular maintenance and have a plan mapped out for the year, so your chosen company can step in at strategic times. In this way, preventive maintenance is designed to help you brace for seasonal impacts and also avoid potential hazards – such as overloaded circuits and inefficient ducts.
Here are some companies to guide your search and have some idea of what to expect.
Retail maintenance companies
1. CBRE FacilitySource
On-demand maintenance
CBRE FacilitySource was founded in the year 2005 and has grown to serve over 120,000 locations throughout North America. It helps retail stores manage and optimize their facility operations using on-demand services. The company excels in multi-location maintenance projects to support businesses that have multi-site stores, so it is a one-stop choice to upgrade your retail chain. CBRE FacilitySource uses innovative and centralized facility management solutions like fmPilot 2 software and dedicated business intelligence tools. In addition, the company relies on its massive data library to provide tailored suggestions, create benchmarks for future references, make predictions, and increase customer savings by up to 25%.
You will receive round-the-clock support from its help team regardless of small retrofits or large renovations. The end-to-end maintenance expertise is reflected in the company’s competitive portfolio full of projects with Fortune 100 retail corporations. There are building-specific and energy management options to choose from, bringing all your retail goals to a single point of contact. This makes it easy to book all services from the same company instead of hiring multiple teams.
Retail maintenance services
CBRE FacilitySource provides a host of retail maintenance services to help you optimize workflow and resolve emerging challenges. The firm has a wide network of service providers ready to be dispatched wherever your stores are located. Here are some of the maintenance solutions you can request:
- interior maintenance for commercial cleaning, commercial refrigeration, HVAC maintenance, plumbing, electrical, and fire emergencies.
- exterior maintenance for seasonal applications like snow removal, deicing, walkway management, parking lot services, power washing, landscaping, and lawn repair.
- miscellaneous maintenance services like dark store management to support online orders, ground-up and renovation services, move management, code compliance, cost consultancy, and store survey.
2. Retail Contracting Service
Multi-location maintenance
Retail Contracting Service is located in Canton, GA and offers nationwide retail maintenance services. The company’s clients include multi-location retail stores and other commercial facilities, so you get to work with a single service provider for all your branches and distribution centers. This helps you plan and schedule the required services for your retail establishment to cover both seasonal and emerging needs. Retail Contracting Services does not restrict its projects to long-term contracts; it focuses on customer retention and satisfaction. You will receive competitive prices, as the company also outsources to verified local specialists when needed. It uses technology tools to organize your retail specifications and work within those outlines.
As each service milestone gets checked off, the licensed maintenance teams will keep you updated using detailed reports. The service technicians and contractors are all qualified to meet your expectations in the same city, different states, or across the nation. They follow cost control strategies to keep your objectives and budgets carefully aligned. Such an adaptive network of service providers eliminates the need to negotiate with several companies when your retail chain can receive everything from small fixes to store-wide overhauls.
Retail maintenance services
Depending on the size of your retail facility, you can book various services and schedule preventive checks throughout the year. Retail Contracting Service can help you discover hidden problems and tackle ongoing issues at the same time. This keeps your operations up and running and allows a seamless experience for all the customers. Some of the maintenance services you can use are:
- general handyman repairs
- electrical maintenance
- seasonal landscaping/pavement repairs
- storefront revamping
- signage updates
- interior/exterior remodels
- communications and audio/video maintenance
- door installations
- disaster recovery services
- irrigation system repairs
- flooring renovation
- leak detection
- carpet, window, HVAC, and duct cleaning
- fire safety and prevention
- facility restoration
- snow removal and mold remediation
- restroom remodeling
- locksmith repairs
- parking lot maintenance
- pest control
- appliance repair
- ceiling and roofing installations
3. Trillium Facility Solutions
Comprehensive retail coverage
Trillium Facility Solutions was launched in 2002 and is located in Shelby Twp., MI. You can contact the company via emails, calls, or its SimpleFM mobile app to have the nearest maintenance team dispatched to your location. Trillium Facility Solutions has national retail coverage with 24/7 support available to tackle everything from minor maintenance to landscape renovations. It provides detailed cost breakdowns per service to help you set the right budget. Apart from relevant services for your project, the teams also deliver safety compliance and facility cleanup for a thorough management perspective. The nationwide outreach also means that you can organize multi-site maintenance timelines that span across all your retail facilities. By collaborating over different possibilities, you can receive tailored advice to optimize your retail space.
Trillium Facility Solutions has worked with world-famous brands like Walmart and Krispy Kreme, which tells you all you need to know about its credibility.
Retail maintenance services
Trillium’s competitive portfolio showcases a full-service potential for all startup and well-established businesses. The company aims to reduce cost and time for its clients by helping them get in touch with reputable vendors for their projects. They have specialties in different trades to take care of maintenance works and secure your retail assets, which will always save you overhead costs down the road. The well-rounded Trillium network delivers specialized services that meet your budget in a cost-friendly annual plan – you will only pay for the current service you need. These services ensure maximum productivity and performance to keep your retail footprint optimized, and here are some maintenance service examples:
- plumbing services for water line inspection, pressure testing, heater servicing, sediment removal, and septic tank inspection.
- electrical services for panel/outlet/fixture installation, emergency protocols, and fire safety. This includes checking for overloaded circuits and preventing hazards like electrocution.
- HVAC and refrigeration services to maintain ideal indoor climates in the retail facility. These may include AC repairs, appliance replacements, furnace upgrades, etc. They all ensure smooth heating/cooling and refrigeration uses, which also prolongs the lifespan of your HVAC systems.
- window cleaning to maintain a presentable exterior using the required equipment and tools for facility-wide cleaning.
- parking lot and sidewalk maintenance for an improved curb appeal. This also ensures the safety of employees, customers, and passersby. The service can range across extensive repairs, line striping, and asphalt/concrete upgrades, allowing your retail exterior to stand out with an impact .
- snow and ice management to organize the necessary precautions like snow removal/plowing, sidewalk cleaning, and pre-snow treatments using the right equipment. This maintenance program creates room for customer foot traffic and opens safe access to your retail store.
- seasonal landscaping services for a picture-perfect first impression. The services include lawn mowing and fertilizer/pesticide addition to refresh your flower beds throughout the seasons.
Displays and aisles that showcase your potential
Working with full-service retail maintenance companies is the best way to keep your business functional and thriving. The main benefit is that you can hire the same company for all your maintenance needs, from simple retrofits to wide-ranged improvements. Such end-to-end companies – like those discussed above – usually operate throughout the nation, so help is just a phone call away. Their portfolios are geographically diverse to reach a wider audience because they know that retail establishments often branch out. Whether you run a big-box store, a boutique store, or a mall-based shop, you can easily find the required solutions for your facility’s regular upkeep.
The retail industry has faced numerous challenges during the pandemic, even with online alternatives bridging some gaps. Retailers who are allowed to reopen their doors – and let the curtained displays come back to life – choose scheduled disinfection and sanitization services. High-frequency sanitization is important for large retail facilities, especially for contact-prone areas like floors, stairs, railings, door handles, etc. Maintenance services have also adapted to include self-checkout kiosks, touchless technologies, social distancing signage, and physical barriers to guide the foot traffic. These upgrades provide your customers with as much of an independent shopping experience as possible – encouraging them out of the virtual and into the brick-and-mortar on the good days.