OUTLET: St. Lawrence News
The 1000 Islands Duty Free Shop in Lansdowne has made some very impressive renovations to its washrooms this summer, and people are noticing.
Cintas Canada Ltd. provides restroom cleaning and supplies (as well as uniform programs, entrance mats, tile and carpet cleaning) to approximately 55,000 businesses in Canada. Every year, Cintas recognizes businesses that go above and beyond to ensure superlative customer service by understanding the direct association between how clean, maintained and well-stocked a restroom is with the impact this has on customer service and repeat business.
Countless nominations have been received this year for Cintas’ annual “Canada’s Best Restroom” contest, and submissions have been narrowed down to the top five, one of which is the 1000 Islands Duty Free Shop. Those nominated are judged on five criteria: appeal, innovation, cleanliness, functionality and unique design elements. The winner is awarded $2,500 in Cintas facility services.
“We received a wide variety of nominations this year, making our decision difficult,” said Leslie Molin, Cintas Canada’s senior marketing manager. “It is exciting to see more and more businesses getting behind the message we strive to convey.” The Cintas survey editors have reviewed the nominations, and narrowed it down to the final five. Now it’s time for the public to decide which will be crowned “Canada’s Best Restroom.”
Jeff Butler of 1000 Islands Duty Free explained. “We redid our bathrooms as a way to say thank you to all of our customers.”
Due to their location, the restroom is sometimes the busiest part of the store, and is always the first place people inquire about when they enter the shop.
“Everyone who comes in, goes straight to the bathroom,” commented Butler. “We train our staff that the number one question you are going to get asked is where are the bathrooms?”
Customers were quite delighted with the renovations and the comments were all very positive. Not surprisingly, they were nominated for the “Canada’s Best Restroom” contest. Now that they have made it to the top five, it becomes a public vote.
“They just announced the finalists on Tuesday and so now it’s a public vote until Oct. 9 to see who gets the distinction of the best public washroom,” Butler said.
Those wishing to vote need only go online to the contest website, view the top five and rank them. There are pictures of all five along with a brief description.
“We are going to put an iPad outside the washrooms here so people can vote right here if they wish,” explained Butler.
“We’ve got a very good customer base, people who only go through once or twice a year; but they stop and see us once or twice a year,” he stated. “Kind of like our returning customers.”
“We’ve had so many people who are excited about this and have asked us to let them know when they can vote.”
The renovations began in May and were completed in July. “When we renovated them, we decided to do them upscale,” said Butler. “We are kind of that oasis between not a lots on both sides.”
Of the five finalists, 1000 Islands Duty Free is the only finalist in Central/Eastern Canada. The other four are from Alberta and British Columbia and are BNA Brewing Company & Eatery in Kelowna, BC, Renaissance Hotel in Edmonton, Tommyfield Gastro Pub in Calgary and Bank and Baron Pub in Calgary.
Voting for this year’s contest has already begun. The public is invited to cast a ballot online before Oct. 9 for their favourite washroom by visiting www.bestrestroom.com/canada.
“For us it’s just about bragging rights,” explained Butler. “We want to be the best restroom in Canada.”
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