Do you guys realize Christmas is next month?

Let that sink in for a minute.

And while most of us prepare for the holiday rush by making our lists, finding the best sales of the season and a little holiday baking, facility managers have to prep in a different way.

With the holidays comes a huge influx of shoppers rushing out to buy their treasures and then subsequently rushing home again.

(There’s even a song about it.)

In order to get ready for all of the door maintenance that needs to be addressed to make sure your facilities are ready to go for Black Friday.

Door Maintenance For Black Friday Prep

The Basics

Before Black Friday arrives, do a thorough check of all of the doors in your facility. You’ll want to make sure none of your doors drag, grind, or stick when opened. If they do, you could be setting yourself up to spend more money in the long run. The longer the issue persists, the higher the chances of the problem becoming more expensive to fix.

A properly working door will operate smoothly with little to no sound or friction. Also, if any component of your door seems “sticky,” you need to check into it. If a locking mechanism won’t release or if the door is being blocked by an obstruction, you have a problem on your hands.

Granted, these are easy fixes, but they also need to be fixed in a timely manner.

Automatic Doors

We’ve all had a good laugh at the videos of people who accidentally walk into doors that are supposed to open automatically but don’t.

(You can admit it. We do.)

However, with the large crowds typically expected on Black Friday, you could have a potentially dangerous situation on your hands. Large groups of people pressing into a store have caused several injuries throughout the years with people getting trampled (because apparently some people also completely forget how to act like decent human beings when there’s a super cheap TV/iPad/gadget up for grabs) and a lot of the time a door that fails to open correctly can be to blame.

Double check all of your automatic openers to ensure they work properly. They shouldn’t halt, stick, or have any sort of delayed reaction. If they do, and you can’t seem to identify the problem yourself, you’ll want to call a technician out to have a look.

The last thing you want to ruin your holiday season is a lawsuit from an injured customer or an ADA violation.

Door Closers

There isn’t quite anything more annoying than a slamming door when you walk into a store.

Now imagine if you had to hear that approximately 7,000 times in one night?

In order to keep your sanity, I would suggest you make sure all of your door closers are in good working condition. They should soften the force at which a door closes, allowing for a quieter door. They also will help with climate control. A faulty door closer can sometimes cause your door to stay open and not close properly and in the colder winter months, that’s definitely something you want to avoid.

Are you stressing about prepping your store for the Black Friday rush? Don’t do that! We can help. Give us a shout and we’ll be able to go over some options you have to get your facility doors in great working condition!