WINNER: Onvo
Onvo’s restrooms provide customers with features such as extra-private stalls and LED lighting, with shower facilities in many, allowing customers restorative restroom breaks.
Proper restroom upkeep is a critical component of running a successful convenience store, and retailers looking to draw repeat customers should carefully consider their restroom cleaning schedules and overall restroom environment.
C-store customers appreciate a clean, open space in restroom facilities, and capitalizing on an excellent restroom experience can help foster a sense of loyalty with customers.
Travel center and convenience store operator Onvo has created a modern ambiance in its restrooms, with shower facilities, LED lighting and extra-private stalls. CStore Decisions is recognizing Onvo with a Restroom Award for these characteristics and more.
Bright and Modern
Onvo has 39 locations across Pennsylvania and New York. At most facilities, it has separate men’s and women’s restrooms, and since a large number of its sites are travel plazas, it has shower facilities in many of its stores.
Onvo was very deliberate with its restroom design, making sure to bring a touch of branding into its color scheme.
“Onvo restrooms are modern and bright, with touch-free entrances that lead into each respective restroom,” said Harman Aulakh, marketing manager, Onvo. “We’ve gone with a modern color palette that makes use of various shades of grey tiles with a patterned yellow backsplash on the vanity to bring an element of the Onvo brand into the restroom experience.”
The mirrors in the restrooms have built-in LED lighting, and the stalls allow a greater sense of privacy for Onvo customers with floor-to-ceiling walls and doors. For the stores that feature showers, customers are provided with upgraded features, including waterfall showerheads.
Customers can also find touchless features at Onvo, including the entrance to the restroom and appliances such as automatic sinks, automatic toilets and no-touch hand dryers.
Cleanliness Speaks
“For truck drivers and long-distance travelers, finding a clean and pleasant restroom can be such a refreshing experience after a day on the road. Since we mostly operate travel plazas, we need to provide our guests with some respite from the road, and that all starts with a great restroom experience,” said Aulakh.
Aulakh noted that Onvo built cleanliness into the design of its restrooms. The ceramic tiles on the walls allow the space to be cleaner and easier to maintain.
Onvo employees check on the restrooms hourly and spot clean them, and the restrooms receive a scheduled deep clean every night.
“Naturally, if a restroom needs a little extra attention between deep cleanings, we make sure our team addresses those situations as they arise,” Aulakh further elaborated.
Onvo ensures the restrooms are cleaned well by thoroughly training its employees on how to do so.
“We have repeated trainings on our restroom cleaning program, and the cleanliness of restrooms is always something that is reviewed during site visits,” Aulakh noted.
On top of regular training periods and reviews, Onvo communicates with its store teams during its busiest seasons on the importance of restroom cleanliness.
Additionally, Onvo offers alternatives when a restroom is “down” for cleaning. Customers are directed to the shower facilities if needed so they never have to be without a restroom option.
“If you exceed a guest’s expectations when it comes to the cleanliness of your restrooms or showers, it’s something they’ll always remember about your location,” said Aulakh.
And restrooms aren’t the only areas of a c-store customers expect to be well maintained. However, the state of a restroom can influence a customer’s frame of mind when browsing the rest of the site.
Aulakh correlated the cleanliness of a restroom to a customer’s expectation of the sanitation level of the store in its entirety.
“The cleanliness of a restroom speaks volumes to the cleanliness of the rest of our store. For our guests, many of them will be visiting the restroom before making any purchases, and if they find a dirty restroom, that can impact their perception of the cleanliness of food that’s prepared on-site,” he said.
WINNER: Kwik Trip
Kwik Trip offers its customers well-maintained restrooms through proficient training and regular cleaning, wanting their guests to be able to always expect a clean area when they enter a Kwik Trip store.
The convenience store customer, whether they are entering their local shop or stopping by a highway-area store catering to busy travelers, will always notice and remember the state of the restroom when they enter it.
This is why it’s crucial for c-store operators to have plans in place for maintaining their restrooms regularly.
Kwik Trip, which has 852 stores located in six states, understands this and has become a leader in restroom operations in the c-store space. For its attention to cleanliness and staff training in restroom upkeep, CStore Decisions recognizes Kwik Trip with one of its Restroom Awards.
Pleasing to the Eye
Kwik Trip realizes the value that a clean restroom has on a customer’s perception of a store.
“We pride ourselves on having clean restrooms in our stores,” said Ben Leibl, public relations specialist at Kwik Trip. “When our guests are traveling and they have to use the restroom, no one wants to go to the bathroom when it is dirty and messy. We strive to provide a spot where our guests can always expect clean restrooms, no matter where they are in the Midwest.”
Kwik Trip has separate women’s and men’s restrooms, with family restrooms in its stores that have the space to accommodate them. A dedicated team determines how to make the most efficient use of each store’s space, which includes choosing aesthetically pleasing colors and designs for the restrooms to provide customers and employees with an attractive area.
“I would say there are typically two to three bathroom designs that we choose from based on the
square footage of the store and what is called for by code,” said Leibl.
Although the number of stalls per restroom will vary based on size, the men’s restroom will have on average two to four stalls, while the women’s restroom can have three to five stalls.
The walls and flooring of the restrooms are made of tile, which makes them the easiest to clean, according to Leibl. “The bathrooms all have the same colors. We go for a modern look that is pleasing to the eye,” he noted.
Many of the c-store chain’s stores have touchless features such as faucets in the sinks and paper towel dispensers.
“We have these in place for our guests so they don’t have to touch items after they have just washed their hands,” continued Leibl.
Kwik Trip restrooms also have a switch that, if customers flip, will alert employees when the restrooms are dirty. Employees will then immediately go to the restroom and solve the problem.
Cleaning Protocol
Kwik Trip employees learn the value of restroom cleanliness on their first day. They are trained on how to properly clean the restrooms and are shown where they can find each item or tool they need to complete the job.
The cleaning products Kwik Trip uses in each of its convenience stores are approved by the chain’s safety team, and a floor scrubber is used in the restrooms, as well.
“Each of our stores has an iPad, and every 30 minutes, there is a timer that goes off that alerts our coworkers it is time for the restroom check,” said Leibl.
During this check, the restrooms are spot cleaned. And three times per day, Kwik Trip restrooms receive a more in-depth cleaning.
The restrooms also undergo a deep clean twice per year or as needed.
“Kwik Trip values clean restrooms because it is a promise that we make to our guests that when they come into a Kwik Trip, they can expect a clean restroom to use,” said Leibl.
An expectation of a clean restroom is especially important in this era of rising foodservice in convenience stores.
“To us, there is a direct correlation between how clean our restrooms are and foodservice in the c-store industry,” Leibl noted. “If we have dirty restrooms in our stores, the guest could think, ‘If their restrooms aren’t clean, what else isn’t clean inside the store?’”
“By having clean restrooms, we want our guests to know that we value cleanliness in our stores whether it’s in the restroom or in one of our kitchens,” he continued.