How We Got Started With Commercial Painting:
Being approached with the opportunity to repaint and freshen up the interior of a commercial space isn’t always common when you’re mostly focused on residential repaint, but an opportunity that was both fitting and exciting for us. At Headwaters Painting, we had aspirations to get our foot in the door with commercial projects, but in the right way. This involved starting with smaller commercial projects that weren’t too far off from our expertise in residential projects in painting walls, trim, ceilings, and exterior surfaces. We built our confidence by completing the exteriors of shopping malls, office building interiors, and community centers.
Our collaboration with Furniture Mart began after returning a phone call with the opportunity to provide an estimate for one of their MN locations. After completing our first location successfully, we are grateful for the evolved opportunity of painting other locations near and far, including their flagship store in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. As in all new ventures, there were some learning curves along the way between estimating, contracts, approaches, and even product testing. These experiences worked to strengthen our commercial repaint process for both our crews and company as a whole along the way.
Although we aren’t in or around someone’s home, the similarities in respect for the space, communication, and timelines are the same. This means delivering the same experience of trust, professionalism, and the highest quality coating solution. As business owners, we understand their businesses need to remain open with day-to-day operations, so we execute each project with a hassle-free experience.
What we have appreciated in working with Furniture Mart, in particular, is that they are also a family-owned business and have always made us feel appreciated. The other thing is that they have been great with communicating, consistency, and open to our questions, feedback, or input as needed. It truly feels like both a professional and warm partnership – something that is important when working alongside one another for the greater good!
We are both grateful and excited for any and all upcoming opportunities with Furniture Mart and other commercial painting relationships and networks that are a good fit on both sides!
Client Background:
Furniture Mart has been growing consistently since the 1970s, starting with 35 family employees and now employs thousands of team members globally. We were tasked with renovating new and existing stores across the Midwest. Headwaters Painting was up for the challenge and was able to add value to new construction projects, general remodels, and exterior surfaces across 14 stores in 2023. This year we are continuing to renovate and modernize the stores to remain current with interior design trends.
Challenge/Opportunity:
The challenge with painting commercial retail projects is to allow functionality within the store while we work. This is critical for the success of the store and of our crews. We accomplish this through communication, incredibly detailed scope of work, and accurate estimating. Our goal is to minimize disrupting the flow of the store while we work.
Solution:
We accomplish painting commercial spaces by employing a proven system for success. This starts with breaking large projects down into smaller sections and working each section as efficiently as possible. Each crew member has a specific list of responsibilities to accomplish that are predetermined by our crew lead utilizing blueprints, estimate notes and store walkthroughs. Our crew leads are skilled at assigning, delegating and accomplishing large projects quickly and efficiently while delivering the highest quality finish possible.
Execution and Unique Unknowns:
Every project has a unique scope of work presenting a new challenge for our crews. Our last project had commercial wallpaper removal on 3,000 square feet of walls. During remodeling unknown changes to the scope of work are common. We are able to add to the original project scope including signage removal, adding wall space, drywall repair work, enamel finishing, wallpaper removal and carpentry items that come up during the renovation process.
Results and Business Impact:
Revitalizing commercial spaces through painting elevates the overall customer experience. Through the modernization of retail environments, we are actively transforming the very essence and attributes of the business. Design trends are constantly evolving, maintaining contemporary wall aesthetics in furniture stores is crucial. This ensures that customers can authentically envision how the pieces will complement their homes, fostering a truly immersive shopping experience.
Working with Headwaters Painting on your commercial project yields a multitude of advantages, including:
- Simplified and streamlined their remodeling process
- Modernized color schematics so that customers can truly visualize their furniture
- Increase in sales and professionalism in store
Need Help With a Commercial Painting Project?
We offer our commercial painting services across Minnesota and the Midwest. Our team is happy to connect with project managers, designers, architects and contractors to find a solution for your commercial painting needs. From repainting an office space to large scale tenant improvement projects, Headwaters Painting is here to help and see if we are a good fit for your needs! Click here to schedule an estimate with our team!
