Retail
Retail and commerce property owners and managers face unique challenges today. With changing tenant mixes, and a transformation in the way shopping and retail are done, there is even more need to re-think how shopping centers and malls are done. For starters, there is an ever-increasing push to increase operational efficiency
Proactive Retail Landscaping
One of the biggest areas that affect retail center expenses and operations is landscaping. Groundskeeping maintenance affects nearly every aspect of customer and tenant experience. Whether it is parking lot access, aesthetics, utilities, look and feel or more, retail centers looking to upkeep and improve their grounds need to carefully evaluate their landscaping services.
For starters, does your landscaper understand the importance of time-of-day operations, and how it affects tenants’ business? Do they have an eye for style, and look, and anticipate issues that can be proactively fixed ahead of time?
For example, a common landscaping issue here in the Reno area, that often gets overlooked by both retail center managers and landscaping companies, is plant health assessment. During Reno’s hot, dry, and windy mid-summer season of July and August, trees and shrubs, especially planted in parking lots and around hardscapes, often get stressed and struggle to survive. That is why the Reno-Sparks area is littered with retail centers that often have stunted trees, with dead growth branches with no foliage. These eyesores can actually be quite a turn-off for visiting customers, as well as the tenants.
Smartscapes is led by locally knowledgeable staff that understand these issues and can help address them ahead of time. We have found that routine scheduling of added irrigation time during those months can help reduce the “summer scorch” of parking lot trees and plants.
Retail landscaping services should have an eye for addressing this issue ahead of time.
Creating a Sense of Place
One tactic we have found that improves retail operations has been to help create a sense of place within a shopping center. Does your retail center have walkable, inviting hardscapes? Gathering places? Water features? How about benches to sit down, tables, and even eye-catching elements like public art or winter firepits? We work with several landscape construction contractors to connect you with the right solution to create a sense of place. Smart scales can help advise on what option has the lowest long-term maintenance cost over time. This will help reduce expenses, while still having a space that your tenants’ customers will enjoy.
Creating a sense of place helps drive greater time on-site, foot traffic, and a desire to patronize centers. With added lighting and a proper layout, it also discourages people who do not belong there, like vandals, solicitors, and others.
Using Landscaping as a Way to Increase Foot Traffic
Some simple, low-cost methods for increasing foot traffic include proper trimming of trees, to allow signage viewing, proper lighting for comfortable parking, along with colorful annual flower plantings that draw attention and attract a customer base. These, along with routine cleanups, can keep your retail center attractive and well-kept.
Groundskeeping services for Retail Centers. Smartscapse Landscaping also offers services to keep up your grounds on a routine basis. We work with major property managers and REITs with their billing and invoicing systems and can make a customized plan for each center. Some of these landscaping service include:
- ● Irrigation turn-on and testing
- ● Grass sprinkler coverage optimization
- ● Turf maintenance, lawn care, and grass mowing
- ● Annual tree trimming and pruning
- ● Fruit and leaf cleanup
- ● Leaf-blowing and dust-blowing
- ● Trash receptacle cleaning
- ● Outdoor furniture cleaning and sanitizing
- ● Patio and courtyard cleanup
- ● Powerwashing and sealing through our patio partner referral
- ● Cobwebs and dust removal from signs, walkways, and eaves
- ● Pest control from our recommended pest control provider
- ● Window washing through a partnering vendor in windows
- ● Dining patio deep cleaning
- ● Planter beds, re-mulching
- ● Horticulture, flowers and deadheading
- ● And much more!
Quiet, Clean Landscaping Care
Improvements in Rents, Renewals, and Tenant Satisfaction through Landscaping
The way of the future with retail is to create and maintain clean, inviting spaces for patrons to be. This increases their purchases, along with frequency.
Quiet, Clean Landscaping Care
Smartscapes is the #1 provider in Northern Nevada for commercial landscaping services that are all-electric and powered by renewable power. Your tenants and their patrons will experience less noise, odors, and distractions. Clean, quieter, discreet landscape cleaning and maintenance that leaves your retail center attractive and well-kept.
