A Squeaky Clean Business

Mark & Leonor put the right window cleaning tools in your hands. Local recognition in Canada.

A squeaky clean business: After a few years of living in a high-rise condo downtown you start to notice things about the building you may have never even realized. For example, cleaning the outside of a high-rise condo window. One day, I was driving into my parking lot and saw a man raised up high into the sky cleaning windows from what looked like a hanging balcony that was lifted a few storeys up into the air. I wondered how long it would take someone to clean an entire buildings set of windows and it dawned on me why my building only cleans theirs twice a year.

My excitement for this month’s feature is due to my curiosity about window cleaning. I am featuring Beautiful View: The Window Cleaning Store, and when I found out this store, which has only been open for a few months, was in the Emery Village BIA I was quite thrilled to be able to ask all my questions about window cleaning to the store owner, and professional window cleaner himself, Mark Strange. Strange was a window cleaner for over seven years before he realized that his passion for teaching and his ability to clean windows for the rest of his life was not going to be entirely possible. With the help of his wife who not only supported him opening a store but also designed the entire layout herself, Mark is in business and was happy to talk. Needless to say, the windows are streak free and clean as a whistle. His teaching skills are tested with every customer who walks into his store. Strange not only has used every product, he knows exactly what would suit the customer the best and wants the customer to be prepared.

He has a test window where he shows the customer the right way to use the product and the best way to get a streak free clean in the quickest amount of time. I think I was one of the worst students, as I did not realize how technical cleaning windows are.

The store is a speciality-cleaning store, but you don’t have to be a professional to use the equipment. Anyone who cleans their household windows or even their car, if you do a lot of do-it-yourself car washes, could use Mark’s products and expertise. With a wide range of window cleaning products and even some videos to show you how to use them the store is for everyone.

It is located right at 1805 Wilson Avenue, unit 107. If you are interested in getting the best value for your money and want to learn the right way to clean a window, check out Beautiful View: The Window Cleaning Store near you! 

Also see:

Professional Window Cleaner Puts The Right Tools In Your Hands

Window Cleaning Skills DVD Competition

A nonchalant Mark, gets to the TV section.

Furore Fönsterputsare Outside Swedish Store

Vanessa Ileva, not a fan of amateur window cleaners

Swedish store 'sorry' for dousing beggar - A Swedish supermarket has issued an apology to a woman who was asking for money outside one of its stores, after a passerby reported that the woman was doused with water by the window-cleaning store manager. A Swedish passer-by witnessed the event and quickly wrote about his shock and outrage on social media. The post soon made the rounds online. The supermarket chain Hemköp on Friday said it had apologized in person to the woman in question. "Hemköp in all ways wants to express regret that Vanessa Ileva was doused with water in connection to the store manager at Stigbergstorget washing the windows without paying due attention," a statement read. 

Head of communications for the entire chain, which has 180 stores across Sweden, told The Local she made sure to have a translator with her so that she and Ileva would be able to communicate as well as possible. "She was very grateful that I was there and that we apologized, but I also wanted to hear how she had experienced the event," Maria Nobel told The Local on Friday. Ileva, 28, who worked in Spain before travelling to Sweden, yelped and started crying after the dousing, drawing attention from nearby florist Lillian Pekkari who walked over to comfort her. But the store manager showed up again, Pekkari told the Metro newspaper. "He came out again with a new bucket of water that he threw at the next window pane just as aggressively," she said.

People demonstrated outside the store.

When news broke of the dousing last week, several hundred people assembled outside the Hemköp store demanding an answer. The store manager was threatened and has since gone on sick leave, Sveriges Radio reported. Spokeswoman Maria Nobel declined to comment on how the furore had affected the store staff. "It's of course been stressful, but out of respect for them I don't want to comment further," she said.

The story hit a raw nerve with Swedes, many of whom have mixed feelings about the surge of people asking for money on street corners. Nobel added no further explanation to the conclusion of the internal review that the store manager had not shown "due consideration", but she said that Hemköp understood why the incident had sparked such attention. "Maybe because it's a hot topic. We understand fully why it caused such commotion," she said. "It was serious what happened and we take it seriously."

Also on Friday, the Metro newspaper reported that an Instagram account had been set up to photograph and register beggars in Stockholm, with the aim to highlight what "politicians don't give a f*** about".  And on Thursday, the Expressen newspaper also reported that a small Ica store in Fornåsa had put up a sign discouraging its shoppers to give money. "Please! Don't give the beggars anything," the post read. Local resident Sanna Käck at first didn't believe the news and headed off to the store to check that the reporter hadn't been fooled by a photo montage. Surely a company wouldn't tell its customers what to do, she thought. "I couldn't believe it when I saw the sign with my own eyes," Käck reported back to Expressen.

Previously, the store manager said he concentrated on the window he was cleaning and that he splashed water on Vanessa on purpose.

Hemköp apologizes to Vanessa: Vanessa Ileva was doused with water when she was sitting & begging outside Hemköp on Stigbergstorget, in Gothenburg has now received a personal apology from the chain store.  Hemköp investigation into the incident is complete and shows that the store manager was negligent when he washed the windows.

According to several eyewitnesses, the store manager poured water on Vanessa and the story of what happened spread quickly in social media. I have personally met her.  I listened to her experience of the event, and we take her experience of discomfort seriously.  Then I asked for apology on behalf of the company, says Maria Nobel, Communications at Hemköp, saying that Vanessa was grateful for the excuse.
The incident occurred last week. How is it that you're sorry now? Because we have made an independent investigation of the incident which is now complete.  The investigation shows that the store manager has been negligent when he washed the windows, and that Vanessa has been soaked by water when he washed the windows, says Maria Nobel.

The store manager was taken out of service since his family was threatened after the event.  Maria Nobel says that now he is on sick leave. It is unclear whether he will work as a store manager at Stigbergstorget in the future. What happens after sick leave is at this stage unclear, says Maria Nobel.
Previously, the store manager said he concentrated on the window he was cleaning and that he splashed water on Vanessa on purpose. If I splash water on another person, I am so terribly sorry, it was definitely not my purpose, he told Metro last week.

3 Videos To Get You Window Cleaning Faster

Marks Window Cleaning Store in Toronto.

Euro to Acme Thread Adapter - Easily convert your euro threaded waterfed pole over to an acme threaded pole. Great for adding third-party maintenance tools. Expand the range of tools you can use with your waterfed poles.Available at the Window Cleaning Store.

Squeegee Quick Release Modification For Ledger & Unger 0° - Available at the Window Cleaning Store.

Smartphone Camera Mount On A Pole - Attach your iPhone, Samsung, Blackberry etc. to a telescopic extension pole with the camera mount system. Works with most window cleaner poles or painters pole with acme thread. Plus a version available for use with waterfed poles that have a euro thread. Available at the Window Cleaning Store. 

Check out more of Marks stuff on the blog here.

Professional Window Cleaner Puts The Right Tools In Your Hands

Mark & Leonor put the right window cleaning tools in your hands. Click to enlarge.

Professional Window Cleaner Puts The Right Tools In Your Hands.

Once upon a time... Back in May 2007, my wife and I were getting my father's condo cleaned up so it could go up for sale. My wife handed me a shower glass squeegee and instructed me to clean the windows. I couldn't believe how great the windows turned out compared to cleaning methods I tried in the past. Suddenly an idea came into my head. "Hey, I could actually see myself doing this for a living." So with some professional tools in hand and a fist full of advertising fliers, I made it a reality. 

Fast forward to 2012. As I began to wonder about the future of my window cleaning business and asking myself, "how much longer do you want to clean windows?" I had another idea come into mind. With my experience as a window cleaner and love of tools, (Check out Tool Talk With Mark The Window Cleaner on YouTube) it seemed to make perfect sense to morph the business into being a supplier to the trade. 

Now as a participating member of the windowcleaningresource.com community, I got to see first hand of what a successful window cleaning supplier should be when it comes to putting the end customer first. Chris Lambrinides and Alex Lambrinides are a hard act to follow but they have been great with giving advice, sharing their own stories of when they first started, all so that I can get set up right on the supplier side of things. 

So with a plan in place and loads of support from family, friends and others in the trade, my wife and I set the machine in motion. From finding the perfect location in Toronto, to designing a workable store in a shop space we could afford, we were going to have our work cut out for us. My wife Leonor did all the design work and I can't believe what she was able to accomplish with 400 sq ft. One of the things that we think will help us stand out is that all the product is out in the open where customers can see, feel and even test out before they leave the store. 

Beautiful View window cleaning store opens to the public today! Click to enlarge.

Now many are probably wondering how much it costs to set up something like this. Well all I can say is for you to think of a dollar amount, adding about 10% contingency and then just when you feel comfortable with that kind of investment, DOUBLE IT! Oh yeah, and everybody needs to get paid up front when you start out. 

Next comes the joy of finding out just how tight those margins are when selling window cleaning supplies. I'm afraid it's nothing like traditional retail. The manufactures will give you 'list' pricing and tell you that you get X% off that. The problem is, no one in the industry is selling at 'list' pricing. To stay competitive you must lower it down a fair bit. But you've paid X amount regardless, along with cost of shipping (free in some cases with larger orders), importing fees and taxes. Haha, it's almost laughable how quickly you see profit being chipped away from your merchandise. 

Kid in a candy shop anyone? Click to enlarge.

So what keeps one going forward in this super tight profit game? Well for me it's accepting that this is a long term investment and as long as I put the right attitude behind it and continue with my desire to help other business folk by putting the right tools in their hands, I believe it will pay off big in the long run. 

With that said, I would like to thank all the people who have supported me in this project as well as past projects such as the Tool Talk video series and my window cleaning DVD. I will continue in the same mode of sharing, teaching and helping other businesses as best as I can, now via The Window Cleaning Store. 

Mark Strange Beautiful View - Tool Talk

The Window Cleaning Store http://www.thewindowcleaningstore.com is located at 1805 Wilson Ave Unit #107, Toronto, On M9M 1A2

Phone number is 416-748-9393

Hours of operation: 8am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm on Sat. 

Mark strange realizes his dream. Click to enlarge.

Mile High WFP Window Cleaner

Mile High Window Cleaning Supply - John Keiser: "Welcome to Mile High Window Cleaning Supply!" "My name is John Kieser." "I've been in the window cleaning industry for 15 years." "In that time I've used lots of tools and equipment...from huck towels to squeegees to water fed poles and everything in between." 

New waterfed training video series: I'm pleased to announce that our waterfed video training series, called Waterfed Class on WCR, is completed. Here is the first episode. You can expect a new episode about once per week. Please let us know if you have any ideas for future episodes. We will be running specials in the store along with the release of many of the videos.

This week's episode teaches how to test your water quality. The key tool for doing this is the TDS meter. We're running a special just for the viewers of this video. After watching today's video, click the store link here. Look for TDS meters in the waterfed section of the store. Put a TDS meter in your cart, and anything else you'd like to order. At checkout, enter the promo code 5TDS, and you'll save $5 on your TDS meter. This offer is good until Monday, May 23, 2011.

Check out Johns Blog here.