PAGE 8, WITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, NOVMMER 8, 1089 whit*ybu- ees New regional. Office opensin Whitby The newly opened Whitby office of Mars-h all Macklin Monaghan Ltd. will allow the firm to extend its consulting ser- vice to ail of Durham Region. A grand opening of th e office was recently held at the Boss- land-Garden Plaza. Coincidentally, the firni, which has been selected project mana- ger for several regional and municipal contracts, was awar- ded the job as project manager for the widening of Rosand Rd., direct]ly in front of the new office. "We did the full design for the full road reconstruction,"» says Lynn Woods, manager of the Whitby office. The firm opened in east Whitby 10 years ago, dealing strictly with surveying. Two years I ater, the service expanded to include planning, engineering and legal surveying. Woods, who describes the firm as a "multidisciplinary" consult- ing and engineering filrm, says the new office allows services to be extended to both the private and pblic sectors of the region. "We aren't new, but weý, cer- *tainly have expanded our ser- vices," says Woods. * Woods cites the full develop- ment of Manning Rd., between Thickson and Anderson, as one of the "high profile" jobs the firm bas overseen for the Region. Other jobs have incîuded the development of the Oshawa -Trail, south of Bloor St., along Lakeview Park, for the City of *Oshawa. Woods says,' "That was a an interesti ngjob, because it was a nature and bike trail: different fromn road construction." Marshall Macklin Monaghan *is also project manager for the Begon's two new headquarters, with one building to be in down- town Oshawa and the second building to L~e developed in Whitby at an as yet undeter- mined location. The main office of Marshall Macklin Monaghan is in Don Milîs. Other Canadian'offices are found in Mississauga, Burling- ton, Edmonton and Calgary. The firm was recently named project manager and engineer for the development of the new ter- minal at Toronto International Airport. (This is the first privati- zation project awarded by Trans- port Canada.) Terminal 3 is expected to be -completed next summer. Location, location, location!L, The Oakvllle home furnishings ietailer couldn't believe his good fortune. He found a vacant store located just one street away from bis existing outlet, wbere the rent would b. 30 per cent less. Sa wben bis lease expired, the owner-manager lost no tiine in setting up bis new shop, only to experience the shock of bis life. Sales plummeted by 40 per cent. The. new store, just one block away from the old location, nevertheless was too 'out of the way. There simply was not the same flow of shoppers passing by. As this unlucky Oakville nierchant discovered, give short shrift in your planning to location, and you're courting disaster. "The three most N -4, P "Throwing a dart int a map is flot my idea of tinding the right location." important factors in determining the success or failure of a amal business are -- location, location, location," remarks Geoffrey Hale, a former executive with the Canadian Organization of Small Business and now a consultant -to small business with the Ontario Ministry of Industry, TrYade and Technology. 'Tour location is absolutely critical not just in retailing, but also for service industries." Generally speakcing, a sbopkeeper should seek a location appropriate for bis or ber type of business, one with reasonable rent, good visibility, higb consumer traffl -C, and ample access to parking. The nature of your business or services goes a long way in determining precisely where you should locate. "If you're running a discount retail operation, the place to b. is in the area -of other discount retailers," explains Hale. "You don't want ta b. opposite a store 11k. Creeds. By the. same token, if you're a top-end retailer, you don't want ta b. located in a plaza that bas seen better days." These days, it's probably better ta be situated on main street than 'in certain prestigious shopping malls. The "Icommon area" or supplementary costs in some mails (The Eaton Centre, for instance) can actually be more than the base rent,. according to John Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Goliger's Travel Agencies of Toronto. Gillespie, who previoue1y beaded the Pizza Pizza fast-ftx)d franchise, maintains thnt, "M'te selectian for small businesses tg everything." He would persoýnuil inspect and approve alra estate transactions for1iu Pizza ta ensure that the ottU<ata met the company's exattîn requirements. "For t he muet a4 small business owners t%*Y spend sufficient tixne in picklng the right spot. You have to maki sure tieres enough parking awd that the location is convenient f«w the custamer," says Gillespie, Regardless of your bugine, there is one cardinal rule tû follow. If you pay more than 10 per cent of your gross revenue# M rent, you're, probably paying tôc much on rerit to attain the. proftg SHOULD I1VWAX MY NO WNAX FLOORS?- The other day a customer was telling us that her No Wax floor was losing its lustre. "Is there anything 1 can do to get the shine back?" she asked. Fortunately there is. What had happened is that the grit carried in on the bottom of shoes had over a period of time gradually ground the protective coating off the floor. The resuit was a Ioss of shine, and dirt becoming imbedded in her floors which was flot readily removed. The solution to- the problem lay in giving the floor a thorough scrubbing using AIRX 66 heavy duty cleaner, rinsing the floor with. clear cold water, and coating the floor with a high grade polymer floor finish (we recommend Butchers Benchmark). The resuits are spectacular - a durable wet-look shine with a minimum of effort. Should you wax your no wax floor? We think so. A thin protective coating of a high grade floor finish will flot only protect your floor against abuse but give you a constant shine that you can be proud of. Corne in and see us in our new CLEAN-IT Centre. Our trained frîendly staff of cleaning experts will gladly help you with your cleaning problem. MAINTENANCE LTD. [YOUR P-USINESS)j