LEISURE AND RETAIL


others are rising to the challenge and using ingenious methods to improve the shopping experience.


New retail complexes are appearing up and down the country – ones that are barely recognisable from those built 10 or 20 years ago. Gone are the stark shop-fronts and canteen-style cafeterias: these have been replaced with retail concepts, pop-up stores, food courts, intimate coffee shops and high-class restaurants.


Harassed shoppers hurrying through the crowds to finish their shopping as quickly as possible are a thing of the past. Instead we see customers leisurely playing table tennis, giant chess or table football on equipment supplied by the facility.


“According to estates advisor the Altus Group, more than 20,000 shops have disappeared from retail centres since 2010 and have been converted into homes, restaurants or cafes - or demolished.”


Teens are taking time out from shopping to visit the in- complex cinema or the climbing wall, while parents keep younger children entertained in the soft play area or by equipping them with a tot-sized electric car that they can ‘drive’ around the centre with their parents.


Such developments are helping to create a boom that is fuelling development and expansion for the more forward-thinking retail chiefs. For example, in June it was announced that a massive new hall is coming soon to Intu Lakeside as part of a multi-million transformation. The Market Hall at the Essex facility will be 175,000 sq ft in size and feature seven kitchens, a coffee shop, pop-up areas for food trucks, two bars and seating for 680.


Meanwhile, due to open in Dubai this year is Cityland Mall, a $400m development billed as ‘the world’s first nature- inspired shopping destination’. The complex is built around a 200,000 square-foot botanical garden that will feature streams, islands, rare trees and flower gardens for shoppers to explore.


A complex that opened in Osaka, Japan earlier this summer offers guests the chance to become a virtual ‘ninja’. Visitors can take time out from shopping to don goggles and engage in a virtual reality game that involves attempting to protect a castle from demons.


It is great news that some retail centres are incorporating sports, games, leisure pursuits and enhanced dining experiences to tackle the threat of online shopping. But these multi-use complexes inevitably complicate the cleaning challenge.


Contract cleaners and facility managers are still expected to keep shopping centres spotlessly clean at all times –but these spaces are becoming larger, operating for longer


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hours and are being used by a mix of shoppers, diners, leisure-seekers, bar-hoppers and sports-lovers.


Online shopping may be the enemy of the retail centre, but technology in many other forms is its friend – particularly when it comes to cleaning. For example, an increasing number of shopping centres are being cleaned by robot vacuums and scrubber-dryers since these take the strain out of cleaning large areas of flooring.


Meanwhile, many firms are using connected cleaning trolleys and sensor-driven solutions to boost productivity, predict cleaning needs and make life easier for the cleaner.


Washrooms are at the sharp end of cleaning since a poorly-maintained facility will quickly become messy and grubby – and this will reflect badly on the entire complex. Tork EasyCube addresses this problem by enabling staff to check on cleaning needs via sensors in washrooms and dispensers. These constantly monitor visitor traffic and refill levels so that cleaners covering a large site can use a smartphone or tablet to pinpoint those washrooms where cleaning or refill needs are the most urgent.


Tork EasyCube works particularly well in high-end shopping centres where technology is considered an asset. For example, the architects of Welle 7 at Bern in Switzerland’s main railway station - a leisure and retail concept –– installed Tork EasyCube in all its washrooms as part of a strategy to incorporate the latest technology into its design. The system is dramatically improving cleaning efficiency at the complex.


It is not only technology that can improve efficiency in the high-traffic washrooms of today’s retail centres. Cleverly-designed facilities will help to speed up washroom throughput and maximise the time a customer can spend on the shop floor, in the café or at one of the paid-for attractions.


“Online shopping may be the enemy of


the retail centre, but technology in many other forms is its friend – particularly when it comes to cleaning.”


Queueing in the washroom can be kept to a minimum if a sufficient number of cubicles are supplied and if the hand washing process is quick and seamless. Hand drying often creates queues because air dryers take between 10 and 12 seconds to dry the hands, while a poorly-designed hand towel dispenser may jam or run out of towels quickly, forcing the visitor to spend time searching for a functioning unit.


The internet is here to stay and will continue to shape the way in which we communicate, socialise and shop. But by working hand in hand with technology we can create retail spaces that will benefit everyone - the customer, the retail manager, the facilities staff - and the cleaner.


www.tork.co.uk/easycube TOMORROW’S FM | 49


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