During the holiday season, there's little room for operational disruptions. Higher foot traffic, extended hours, increased deliveries, and tighter schedules put added pressure on facilities—and the teams responsible for keeping them running.
In 2025, an estimated 203 million consumers shopped in stores or online from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
For retail facilities and grocery locations, seasonal traffic means busier entrances, restrooms, and sales floors. For distribution centers, it means increased activity across shifts, loading docks, and fulfillment areas.
The demands are different, but the challenge is similar for janitorial teams: keeping facilities clean, safe, and operational while the pace of business accelerates.
Preparing early in the season helps facility managers align cleaning schedules, janitorial staffing, resources, and communication with those demands. Here are four priorities facility managers should address before peak-season is in full swing.
1. Confirm staffing and reinforce safety before the rush
Peak season is not the time to discover gaps in coverage.
Having enough crew members scheduled for the holidays is only part of being ready. Seasonal employees may be unfamiliar with a site, while experienced crews may face different hours or busier conditions.
Before the rush, confirm staffing and backup coverage with internal teams or service providers. Establish how coverage will be adjusted if absences or higher-than-expected demand create service gaps. Training should address site-specific duties, equipment use, safe work practices, and hazard reporting.
Refresher training matters as much as onboarding. Crews should understand how to manage wet floors in busy areas, maintain clear access routes, and coordinate cleaning around customers, employees, and moving equipment.
Supervisors should reinforce those expectations throughout the season, particularly when schedules or assignments change.
2. Align janitorial services with changing operations
When business operations change, cleaning programs need to change with them.
Peak season changes when and where cleaning can happen. Extended store hours can reduce time for floor care, while additional distribution shifts can limit access to areas previously serviced overnight.
Facility managers should review anticipated traffic, operating hours, and access restrictions with site leadership and service partners. Establish which areas need more attention, when work can occur, and how crews will receive updated priorities.
Entrances and restrooms may need more frequent checks, breakrooms may require service between shifts, and floor care may need to move to a different time or be completed in smaller sections. Clear assignments and consistent procedures help crews execute reliably as schedules change.
3. Prepare cleaning supplies and equipment
During peak season, there's less time to recover from preventable disruptions.
A supply shortage or equipment failure that is manageable during a normal week can be much harder to absorb during peak season.
Facility managers should review supply inventory levels, replenishment schedules, equipment condition, and repair arrangements before demand increases. Teams should know where supplies are stored, who monitors usage, and when to reorder.
Equipment readiness deserves the same attention. Preventive maintenance and backup arrangements should reflect the expected workload. Before peak season, confirm cleaning crews and supervisors know how to use the tools required to verify attendance, report issues and document completed work.
A well-prepared operation doesn't just respond faster when something goes wrong. It reduces the likelihood of disruptions in the first place.
4. Communicate proactively and monitor quality
During peak season, communication and visibility become just as important as the work itself.
Before the season begins, facility managers and service partners should establish regular check-ins to review coverage, service performance and changing site needs. Partners should communicate planned work and coverage adjustments proactively so site leaders do not have to chase updates.
Clear points of contact and escalation paths are equally important. Site teams should know whom to reach, what information to provide, and who is responsible for resolving an issue.
Continue inspections and reporting throughout peak season, focusing on high-use areas and recurring service gaps. Repeated deficiencies may signal a need to adjust staffing, schedules, or scope.
Take the pressure off during peak season with KBS
During the holiday season, facility managers need a partner who can anticipate changing demands, coordinate service and address issues before they become larger disruptions. Across dozens or hundreds of locations, that support becomes even more critical.
KBS brings national scale, local field leadership and experience serving some of the world’s largest brands, including 63% of Fortune 100 retailers. Our commercial cleaning services align staffing, schedules, supplies and quality oversight with each location’s needs. As demand changes, KBS works with site leaders to adjust coverage, communicate proactively and resolve service issues, reducing the coordination burden on facility teams.
Holiday readiness also extends outside the facility. KBS provides snow and ice removal and other exterior maintenance services to help keep parking lots, walkways and entrances safe and accessible as winter weather arrives.
With KBS managing facility services across all locations, your teams can spend less time chasing updates and responding to cleaning concerns, and more time supporting customers, employees, and peak-season operations.
Peak season will put your facilities to the test. The time to prepare is before the pressure builds.
Connect with KBS today to build a peak-season facility services plan that helps your teams stay focused on customers, employees, and business operations—not cleaning concerns.
