Saudi Arabia-based Chbib is a leading supplier of cleaning equipment, laundry, food service, interiors and architectural products. Established in 1985, the company has become a major player in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al-Khobar cities. Chbib Environmental Care Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Chbib Group, is the leading supplier of floor care, cleaning and allied janitorial products in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Khaja Hussain Siddiqui, CEO, Chbib Environmental Care Co Ltd, shares his views on cleaning at shopping malls in an exclusive interview with Clean Middle East.

What’s focus point in your mall management in maintaining the clean shopping environment?

The first thing that gets attention of the visitor is the floor. Therefore, it’s about maintaining the clean and polished floor. Then ensuring best hygiene standards in the washrooms.

Generally, shopping malls are typically very large areas with equally demanding floor space issues. How are you coping with the huge cleaning task at the world’s largest mall where maintenance is both expensive and time consuming?

Optimum results can be achieved by good floor care equipments. The new models from Comac are an effective tool in maintaining, with very low turnaround time.

What’s the net leasable space at the mall and open space for cleaning activity?

These days, malls have a balanced and good space utilization proposition.

What’s the average number of visitors at the shopping mall space?

Usually during the weekdays it could be in multiples of hundred, and close to a million on weekends.

How do you distinguish shopping malls in terms of cleaning services based on their core focus area and size?

It is very well demarcated, certain malls lease their spaces to famous and known international brands while some allow local brands to grow and display their trends and skills. In both cases, the cleaning services are required to be very high standard and efficient.

What’s the number of cleaners deployed for cleaning and maintenance of the mall?

Deployment of cleaning is done usually in early hours or in the afternoon as, no customers are around, however it is continuous task and you can see equipment’s zooming past even during rush hours as there are certain challenges to be met and standards maintained.

What are the main challenges you face in maintaining the mall clean and hygiene? What measures being taken to overcome these challenges?

The main challenge is to keep the mall floors and washroom to the highest hygiene standards. The other surrounding areas, the access area, the parking facility are all to be kept clean and maintained.

What’s average number of footfalls at the mall and measures to deal such large number of shoppers ensuring cleanliness?

Well, this depends from mall to mall and city to city, the correct figures are not available with me as of now, but since there are few and limited options for recreation of the masses, the folks prefer to spend most of the time in such malls.

Is the servicing the mall done in a phased manner? Details about entire cleaning operation cycle?

Mostly it starts early in the morning and later in the afternoon when the traffic is limited. Some activities are carried even during the peak hours and later in the night before closing.

What are the products/solutions used in the cleaning activity?

Ride on battery operated scrubber driers are the most commonly used equipment, replacing the single disc.

Green practices in the cleaning task at the mall? Details about saving in energy, water, cleaning chemicals, etc?

Clean and green, anyway is the norm of today, but not well practiced and lot needs to be done to achieve and conserve energy, chemicals.