Floor Care: No Griping About Grout Thanks to Tennant

The Chandler Fashion Center opened six years ago in Chandler, Arizona, just south of Phoenix. Upon opening, the 1.7 million-square foot shopping center, an enclosed mall complete with 170 retail tenants, a movie theatre, and a 750-person food court, became not only a retail destination but an entertainment and hospitality destination as well.

Mick Deeds, a regional manager with SSC Service Solutions, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, oversees the maintenance programs at 13 shopping centers throughout Arizona, Colorado, and Utah, including the Chandler Fashion Center. According to Deeds, the food court at the Chandler center presents one of his greatest cleaning challenges.

“The food court includes 10 food tenants, seating for 750 people, and a ceramic tile floor with light colored grout,” he said. “Because it’s always filled with people, trying to keep the floors of the food court clear of food, debris, and spills during regular business hours is virtually impossible. We really aren’t able to do any deep cleaning until after the mall closes, which means any spilled coffee, soda or ketchup has time to penetrate the grout.”

But armed with one Tennant 5680 walk behind auto-scrubber with FaST? and one Tennant 5700 walk-behind auto-scrubber with FaST, Deeds can rest assured that the grout will return to its original color.

“We use a Tennant 5680 and a Tennant 5700 simultaneously when cleaning the food court,” said Deeds, who noted that the 5680 is equipped with heavy duty brushes to tackle the grout, and the 5700 is equipped with pads and pad drivers to clean the ceramic surface. “A full 12 hours after a spill has occurred and a stain has started to set, these machines come in and take care of it. Even though that tile and grout is six years old, they look brand new thanks to our Tennant scrubbers. Now that’s peace of mind.”

Both Tennant’s 5680 and 5700 are known for delivering consistent cleaning performance on a variety of floor types, including ceramic tile. And with FaST, Tennant’s patented foam-activated scrubbing technology, they not only leave floors clean but immediately dry and safe.

“What I love most about FaST is that it actually reduces my labor costs,” said Deeds. “Because it uses less water to clean the floors and it dries immediately, I don’t need to have a mopper following the equipment around mopping up puddled water. My labor costs are greatly reduced thanks to Tennant and FaST.”

Deeds’ equipment costs are also reduced. The food court has its own exterior mall entrance with a smooth concrete exterior entry surface. Unsure what would clean the smooth concrete, Deeds tried his Tennant 5680 and 5700 auto-scrubbers and was more than pleased with the results. “I couldn’t believe it. What a cost savings to not have to invest in another machine just to clean that exterior concrete,” he said. “My Tennant equipment does it all — inside and out. My floors are clean and safe, my labor and equipment costs are reduced, and the food court looks brand new. I couldn’t be happier.”