Are Public Restrooms in Your Holiday Shopping and Travel Plans?

I know this may come as a surprise to some business owners, but many people actually choose their retailers, restaurants and fuel stops based on the restroom experience they can expect. This is especially true for women, and even truer for moms who shop or travel with small children.

In a recent issue of The Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing Magazine (NACS), their cover story was about travelers linking clean restrooms with food quality. That story talked about consumers often choosing one convenience store over another based on their past experiences with a brand’s restrooms.

Another story in a similar magazine, Convenience Store Decisions, was entitled “Clean Restrooms Offer Distinct Competitive Advantages”. That article quotes one chain operator as saying “I think a nice restroom is an important part of the c-store business that many operators miss because they don’t understand how significant it is for customers to find a clean, inviting facility available, and how people actually drive out of their way to use a restroom they know will be clean.”

In that same article, another business owner was quoted as saying “If your store offers clean restrooms, you send a clear message as to what customers can expect in the rest of your store.”

Here at Restroom Alert, it seems everyone we talk with has their own public restroom stories–both good and bad. We obviously feel that clean restrooms are good business. That seems to hold true if you’re selling food, clothing, electronics, gasoline or even children’s toys.

Are clean restrooms important to you and your family when you’re traveling this time of year? Do women take restroom cleanliness a lot more seriously than men?