Cleaning companies adapt on fly to shift in supplies and demand
After nearly three decades in the cleaning business, Debbie Soroka, owner of Sparkling Clean Canada in Edmonton, thought her company was “bulletproof.”
Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.
“That first couple of weeks, it was like hand sanitizer was liquid gold. You couldn’t get it,” she said. “What were we going to do? It was sold out. Every shop was empty. You think you are pandemic-ready but when it really happens, you realize there are so many things that are out of your control.”
Hand sanitizer wasn’t the only product Soroka was having trouble finding in the early days of the pandemic. She said personal protection equipment like gloves were also hard to come by. She’s also starting to have trouble getting disinfectant.
“I didn’t realize (a pandemic) could really affect (you) in a lot of ways,” Soroka said. “All of a sudden you try to find out what Plan B is and what Plan C is.”
Sparkling Clean Canada’s clients include medical facilities, construction companies and businesses needing their carpets cleaned.
Soroka said the first two weeks of March, when Albertans were advised to clean more often, were so busy she and her staff of roughly 150 could barely keep up. Over the last month or more, business has slowed down after normal clients like dentists had to close their doors.
Soroka said she saw roughly a 15 per cent decline in business since the closures, but she says her company has seen an increase in demand for services like deep cleaning, which helps to offset the slow down.
“We’ll survive it,” she said.
“It will be hard but we will survive it.”
Shelly Barless, owner of Dust Queen, has three divisions in her company that cover residential, carpet cleaning and commercial. Although repeat residential customers are down, she said they are still seeing new customers reaching out for help.
“Some people want us to come in because our (cleaning) solutions are commercial-grade and environmentally safe,” Barless said. “We’ve been using these solutions for years and we’ve always known they kill viruses and bacteria.”
Barless said her company normally employs between 35 and 40 staff but over a dozen volunteered to be laid off as they didn’t feel comfortable going into people’s homes. She said her company has always used personal protective equipment.