FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS:

Q&A WITH WARREN ZYSMAN, PRESIDENT, ALL-RITE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE

The new model of contracting: Why COOs should partner with a full-service GC for building and maintenance

CSA: What should be top of mind for a COO, or an operations director, when approaching store remodels or a facilities mainte-nance plan?

WZ: The op-erations leaders

typically know everything the retailer is planning for the whole year and be-yond. They know the number of stores they’re going to close. They know which ones need to be built and which remodeled. They know all the budgets. And these stores can be in several different locations with any manner of specifications unique to the region. There are two ways to approach these projects: at the regional level or at the national accounts level. CSA: What is the difference between working with regional contractors versus a GC with national accounts capabilities?

WZ: A contractor with a national ac-counts presence is your single point of contact for a roll-out of larger chain portfolios. Rather than dealing with multiple contractors over multiple re-gions and locations, the responsibility falls on one group, a group that knows your needs, your business, and your goals inside and out. I’m speaking with bias, of course, because that’s what we do at All-Rite, but I do strongly believe it’s a very critical advantage for the retail brand to fulfill the needs of the whole chain, and not just the region. It also makes the jobs of the

operations directors that much easier, with peace of mind knowing there’s reliable, credible service always just a single contact away.

It comes down to this: You can call me, Warren, anytime, about any store — or you could pull up a spread-sheet and find out which contractor is responsible for what store, in what area, and what time zone they’re in, and hope they pick up the phone. And then do the same for the next store. Call me, and we’ll talk about the whole chain.

CSA: Not all contractors offer facilities management solutions. What is the advantage of a company that can provide 360-degree services, from building to remodeling to daily maintenance?

WZ: We know the guts of your stores, and we know the guts of your brand. Once we complete your building or your remodeling project, it’s a seam-less transfer for us to take on the maintenance. You don’t have to bid it out to someone else and then get them up to speed. You don’t have to have someone train them on the property, on the brand, and you don’t need to worry about qualifications. We already know everything and we already have all the qualifications. And we have more skin in the game because we want to protect our work. Of course, we want to make you look good, but we also want to make our work stand out!

CSA: Retailers often dread building in the Northeast, specifically the tri-state area. How do you help?

WZ: This is our backyard — our home turf! We’ve been doing this a long time, we know the major pain points, and we know the complex permitting structure. It’s a key advantage of ours and a reason why many of our clients have chosen to work with us. If you have projects going up in the North-east, you want to go with someone who speaks the language, and that’s what we do. It’s the most complex building environment in the country, but it’s where we built our roots.

We’ve expanded greatly over the years, but first we had to master our home region, so in that sense, we have a leg up on anyone else because we’re like family with all the trades, all the government agencies. Others might dread it, but to us it’s second nature.

For more information about All-Rite Construction, visit www.all-riteconstruction.com or call 800-255-7483.

CHAINSTOREAGE.COM / JUNE/JULY 2014 13

ADVERTORIAL

WARREN ZYSMANPresident

All-Rite Construction

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