
Sears Suffers as It Skimps on Stores
Wall Street Journal
November 17, 2011
While retail experts estimate that store chains traditionally spend $6 to $8
per square foot on annual maintenance, Sears is spending a fraction of that
amount, said Matthew McGinley, managing director of International Strategy &
Investment Group, an investor research firm.
"With roughly 250 million square feet domestically, [Sears] is spending about
$1.90 a foot, which is a quarter of what you need to maintain share and keep it
as an acceptable place to shop," Mr. McGinley said. (click to read the article)

It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.
Mohandas Gandhi
The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
Vince Lombardi
Quality is not an act, it is a habit.
Aristotle
I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.
Theodore Roosevelt
I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have.
Leonardo da Vinci

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
Henry Ford
Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.
Steve Jobs
Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.
John Ruskin
Modesty is my best quality.
Jack Benny
I think that the quality of all bands is steadily improving and it is a pleasant thought to me that perhaps the efforts of Sousa's Band have quickened that interest and improved that quality.
John Philip Sousa
If there is a single quality that is shared by all great men, it is vanity.
Yousuf Karsh
Quality Cleaning Assured |
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Our full-time Customer Service Representative visits each clientat least monthly; our Operations Manager inspects jobs afterhours,
working with crews hands on. All inspection and client communication
data is logged and archived, allowing long-term monitoring and assisting
training.
All crews thoroughly trained in chemical safety, efficient cleaning
techniques, up-to-date product knowledge, OSHA regulations and general
job safety.
We provide you a full-service program, customized to optimize your
facility's appearance, including periodic services such as vinyl tile
burnishing & refinishing, carpet cleaning, and window washing.
We committed to you and the community long term — with over
35 years in the Better Business Bureau and the Metro Phoenix Chamber of Commerce,
as well as memberships in the US Green Building Council and the Building
Service Contractors Association. |
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An Emphasis on Training |
| Introductory and ongoing training sessions covering: |
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Using training materials from Diversey and the Building Service Contractor’s
Association International, we thoroughly train our crews in: |
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- chemical safety
- efficient cleaning techniques
- up-to-date product knowledge
- usage and disposal
- general job safety
- OSHA regulations
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| OSHA compliance |
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As part of our periodic quality inspections, we check janitor closets
to ensure compliance with OSHA standards on chemical labeling, cleanliness
and general safety.
As required by federal law, we provide you an MSDS book covering all
the chemicals we use, so if an accident ever occurs, or OSHA pays you
a visit, you will have the necessary safety information on hand to
protect your employees and yourself. |
| CBN's training card system |
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A simple, color-coded, step-by-step system for use in training personnel
(and as a handy field reference for experienced crew members) in safe
and effective cleaning procedures using Diversey chemicals featured
by CBN |
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Inspections and Communication |
Our Customer Service Representative visits each client at least monthly
to inspect the job and gather customer feedback; our Operations Manager
inspects jobs after hours.
Both work with data from existing (and generate new) Inspection Reports,
giving our management team up-to-date information on all client issues,
periodic floor and window completion dates, and the ability to compare
quality issues across a given crew’s clients. All inspection and
client communication data is logged and archived, allowing long-term
monitoring of facility condition and of crew performance.
We're available, from top management down, 24/7, to deal with whatever
maintenance and security situations arise. For your convenience and ours,
and to avoid the misunderstandings common to oral messages, we use e-mail
for much of our client communication. Most of our day-to-day production
crew communication is also delivered electronically, for similar reasons,
and to better document and track assignments and job quality.
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| Full Service |
We emphasize a full-service maintenance program, incorporating periodic
resilient floor burnishing and refinishing, carpet cleaning and protecting,
ceramic tile scrubbing and descaling, and window washing - all on a schedule
customized to optimize your facility's appearance. Because we schedule
these periodic jobs well in advance, we can group them geographically
(saving drive time and cost), and keep our technicians at, but not over,
a 40-hour workweek - saving us time, money, and the mistakes that accompany
job fatigue - generating savings we pass along to you.
Further, over the years we've found that any job (say, carpet cleaning)
that requires extra billing and special scheduling tends to be postponed
until it's noticeably needed - after the carpet is really "trashed".
Meanwhile, your facility looks dingy and, when you do order the job,
you often pay extra due to the additional work involved to "restore" your
carpet to an acceptable level. You then have to deal with an unexpected,
unscheduled expense.
It’s better, we feel, to stay on top of the game, doing the jobs
regularly, as "interim maintenance" rather than "restoration",
and included as part of ongoing billing. Should an unscheduled cleanup
be required due to a special circumstance, we're there for that, too. |
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| Front-Line Personnel |
| Route janitorial |
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We have chosen to work with successful independent service contractors
on our nightly janitorial routes - janitors with a proven track record
of providing consistently dependable high-quality cleaning to their own
customers (whom we interview during the contractor selection process)
- janitors who show pride in having the drive and ambition to develop
and maintain their own small businesses. After passing our rigorous security
screening process, the contractors are introduced to our stringent Health-,
Safety-, and Security-oriented cleaning procedures.
These hand-picked, thoroughly trained individuals allow us to deliver
a proven commodity to our customers, while allowing our contractors freedom
from those aspects of the cleaning industry which commonly trip up smaller
operators - floor scrubbing, carpet cleaning, window washing (all of
which require specialized equipment and expertise). We then add to your
program 24/7 availability for customer communications and emergency backup,
and the sales, quality control, research, and customer service abilities
of a major, progressive firm.
Pride of small business ownership, combined with CBN’s experience
and resources in technology, training, quality control, and security,
yields an indisputable synergy of personalized service backed by the
stability and expertise of a true anchor firm.
Finally, we train all our personnel in Diversey’s Greenguard Indoor
Air Quality Certified cleaning system (LINK), a comprehensive health
and environment-friendly system of equipment, products, and procedures. |
| Floor technicians |
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We select experienced floor technicians with proven records of quality
performance and customer/employer satisfaction. We fully screen and verify
the backgrounds of applicants, to assure us and you of their integrity
and ability, then provide them with:
The most modern equipment available, such as Laser-X™ floor
burnishers and Ecolab™ floor finishing systems;
- The finest line of cleaning chemicals and floor finishes, by Diversey™ & Ecolab™;
- A well thought out and researched methodology;
- 24/7 backup availability by our knowledgeable senior management;
- Training (written, video and hands-on) developed by Diversey Ecolab™,
BSCAI, and others;
- Long-term employment, tied to educational, accreditation and advancement
opportunities, the better to know and service your facility.
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| Window cleaners |
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We’ve chosen to give our window cleaning work to Quality Construction Clean-up & Window Cleaning, because of their wide range of experience and the community-oriented attitude of the owner, Raul Martinez. Born in Guanajuato, Mexico, he moved to San Antonio in 1989, then to Arizona in 1990 with his brothers. After working with several local window washing companies, Raul started his own company in 1993.
Raul’s crew is experienced in all types of window cleaning, from high rises to vintage buildings. Services include new home construction clean-up, pressure washing, and bird dropping removal.
Very customer oriented, Raul trains his crews to check with the customer at the conclusion of each job, and travels from jobsite to jobsite himself to verify that his clients are satisfied. Clients include several government facilities which require that the crews undergo extensive and comprehensive background searches. After each has been fingerprinted, his identity is searched through a national database to ensure he has no criminal history. A written letter of permission is sent to Raul for each crew member who is cleared to work in these facilities.
Raul is, of course, an equal opportunity employer; however, he requires any employee who isn't proficient in the English language to attend English classes at least twice per week so as to better communicate with his customers. |
| Office staff |
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We're awfully proud of our staff, our management team, and our outside
consultants, both for their professional background and abilities, and
as caring and involved individuals. Visit the Management Team section
of the "About CBN" page and see for yourself. |
| We've thrived for thirty-five years in an extremely competitive industry
by combining professional knowledge, a constant drive for excellence,
and an ongoing commitment to our customers. A comparison of the janitorial
firms listed in a 1975 yellow pages with today’s yields a great
example of Darwin’s "survival of the fittest" in action.
You will also find that CBN is the oldest janitorial service member of
both the local Better Business Bureau and Chamber of Commerce. |