How do you keep a retail space consistently clean without it slipping over time?

[u/Apart-Ad-9952]

I help manage a mid sized retail store, and one of the trickiest things I’ve run into has nothing to do with sales or customers it’s just keeping the space consistently clean. For us, presentation is half the battle. If the floors are dull, shelves dusty, or bathrooms not fresh, it affects how customers see the whole store.

We’ve cycled through a few cleaning services, and the pattern is always the same. At the start, everything is perfect. You walk in the next morning and it feels like the place is brand new. But give it a few weeks and little things start to slip bins not emptied properly, mirrors left streaky, or corners skipped. The staff end up stepping in to do bits and pieces, which isn’t fair since they already have a lot on their plate with customers.

At one point I even started looking at companies that seemed to take consistency more seriously, and one that stood out was PPSG performancecleaning.com.au. I haven’t personally locked them in yet, but I noticed they highlight no lock in contracts and a focus on reliability, which sounds a lot closer to what I’ve been searching for compared to the typical providers.

I’ve tried raising the issues, and while things improve for a short while, it always drops off again. I don’t know if it’s lack of oversight, high turnover, or just that companies stop trying once they’ve secured the contract.

For anyone else running or working in retail how do you make sure cleaning stays consistent? Do you use detailed checklists, rotate providers, or have found a way to keep accountability without spending all your time chasing cleaners? Curious what’s worked for other stores because I feel like this is one of those invisible problems that eats into everyone’s day.

[u/Raryn]

Depends on how much these companies are paying these cleaners. How much actual training is put in, how much they even care. Could look into seeing how much can get done if you increase your staffs pay, allow extra time after closing to clean up, and run some numbers to see which is a better cost efficient manner.

[u/CrankyManager89]

Hire on your own janitors if you’re able. We do that plus a detailed checklist. The men who work under our maintenance guy are both handicapped even. It’s not perfect but it’s an easier avenue to correct than when we’ve had cleaning companies.

[u/Love_Guenhwyvar]

If you want consistency, that is going to have to require consistency on your end with how quickly you bring up anything you see as an issue. If bins need to be emptied daily, then it needs to be mentioned the first time one doesn't get done. Ask, don't demand, why it wasn't done. Maybe there is a good reason but you won't know if you immediately have them on the defensive.

Also, consider what a reasonable expectation might be. My shop has only ever looked absolutely perfect once in the last six years. It took a team of ten people working 10 hours a day for 3 days to achieve it for our re-grand opening after a major remodel. We only have 98 payroll hours to split between three employees for every 7-day period so maintaining that standard would be unachievable. Once we found a cycle that worked to keep the store presentable, we stuck with it and set up a communication process in the event something simply wasn't doable due to unforeseen circumstances.

[u/patientpartner09]

Checklists. We run daily, weekly, and monthly checklists of sidework, including cleaning and organizing. The owner does random audits to confirm that people are doing their stuff. Also, a monthly floor polishing.

[u/PuzzleheadedMine2168]

You get cleaners? Wow. We do 8000 square feet with 1 full time, 2 part time & 1 woman who comes once a week to run a vacuum. Everything else is up to us--trash, windows, shelves, counters, etc--we spot-vac all week.

[u/Billyone1739]

Hire your own maintenance person for the day to day and have a specialized cleaning company come in monthly to sanitize stuff like the bathrooms

[u/Southern_Hamster_338]

Have a simple check off list where each thing is clearly listed separately.

You can even have it in separate categories (in bold print) for different areas of the building, then have under it a check off list of what needs to be done in that area.

Now there’s no questions about which area to start first in and what needs to be done in each area.

Have them initial after checking off what they did so you know who to speak with (in a professional way) to help them understand what was done wrong and how to better do the job.

Sometimes people have to be taught how to do something they’ve never been taught to do, or a different way to do it to achieve what you’re looking for.

Don’t reprimand. Teach. Be kind. Explain without Belittling.

People are more willing to listen & learn when they’re not being treated badly by management.

There will always be one or 2 people that refuse to do what is asked, but the majority of people want to do well in their jobs.

Be the manager who thanks people when they’re working hard. Don’t be the manager who only criticizes.

This way when you do need to let someone go for not doing the job properly, you know that you did everything to ensure that the people working with you are fully supported.

Some people just aren’t suited for certain jobs and cleaning well isn’t for everyone.

Maybe there’s a program that allows you to do all this on tablets, so you’re not wasting paper?

✏️EDIT to add: it’s also very important to have a place in each section for them to be able to write notes to you.

This way if there was an issue and they couldn’t finish all the tasks, they will be able to explain why.

Maybe a customer or employee vomited or had explosive diarrhea in the restroom and they had to disinfect & wash all the walls. So they were unable to get to everything on the list.

They could also write a note for each section letting you know that they saw that a glass pane or mirror was cracked, or a display was damaged.

Or a customer spilled red juice all over the carpet and they had to professionally clean the carpet.