Happy New Year, and welcome to 2017. This is a very exciting year for both the hospitality industry, and us as well here at The Refinishing Touch. The lodging business is on a fantastic journey, and this year we expect the hotel industry to see more renovations than at any time in history. With so […]
Happy New Year from The Refinishing Touch!
We hope you enjoyed a safe holiday with family and friends.
2014 was another great year for the team here at The Refinishing Touch. We completed hundreds of furniture refinishing, re-upholstery and remanufacturing projects at hotels, government institutions and college campuses. We ran multiple studies on topics including the sustainable standings of U.S. colleges and the financial opportunities for the U.S. government. We networked at leading industry events where we shared insights with our peers and continued to build long-lasting business relationships.
In 2015, we will continue to guide and educate our customers as they implement sustainable, eco-friendly renovation best practices. Industry experts are predicting big things for hospitality and environmental responsibility this year – from green guest programs to energy-saving initiatives and sustainable building.
Are you a facilities manager working in higher education, hospitality or government? If so, it’s likely you will be considering renovations over the next year. Before discarding existing assets and purchasing new, we urge you to stop and consider on-site furniture asset management. It is an eco-friendly, fiscally responsible and convenient option. You can save more than 80% of its projected budget, eliminate building downtime, reduce harmful landfill waste and cut emissions by more than 100 tons.
Here’s to another year of responsible decision-making and creating a greener world!
Happy Thanksgiving from The Refinishing Touch!
It’s the time of year for gratitude and The Refinishing Touch team has so much be thankful for. We’ve completed numerous projects across our three core industries; hospitality, university, and government, including great projects with The Michelangelo Hotel, Westin Helmsley and Hotel Commonwealth to name a few.
We’ve delivered four new editions of our quarterly newsletter, InTouch, and collected responses from so many of you on our weekly blog polls. We’ve conducted studies around green behaviors including In Reuse We Trust, The Green Grading System and Cut the Carbon and the Cost as well as seen attitudes change from decision makers, facilities managers, brand owners, and operators alike, showing an increasing commitment to furniture asset management and all the benefits that it brings.
With so much behind us, and so much to look forward to, The Refinishing Touch family would like to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday. We are so thankful for each of our readers, customers, and supporters each and everyday.
Happy Veterans Day from The Refinishing Touch
Veterans Day is about honoring all those that serve in the armed forces. The date is based on Armistice Day, which was proclaimed on November 11 to mark the end of World War 1 on the ‘eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month’ in 1918. 
The Refinishing Touch has spent more than thirty-five years working in local and federal government edifices across the nation including naval and army bases. We are honored and proud to be in service with our armed forces and to support our committed, courageous troops.
We would like to take this opportunity to personally and professionally thank all who serve and those who have served our country during war and peacetime. Our team is thankful to each and every one, including their families, for their commitment and their sacrifice for our country.
We hope each of our readers take the time to honor United States veterans, not just on this special day, but every day.
The Refinishing Touch celebrates World Environment Day
Yesterday marked the 41st World Environment Day. The annual event, run by UNEP is celebrated in over 100 countries to raise global awareness of environmental issues and encourages people to ‘raise our voice, not the sea level.’ This year’s WED theme is in support of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which aim is to build momentum towards the third international conference on SID in September and drive awareness, and understanding, of the importance of SIDS in relation to climate change and growing risks and vulnerability.
Though WED has attracted some negativity, with critics arguing it has just become another day to campaign, we disagree. We believe that events like World Environment Day play a critical role in the overall effort to encourage global awareness of sustainability and force us all to think more consciously about our carbon footprint.
So whether it’s walking that short distance to the store instead of driving, swapping out high voltage light bulbs for a low energy equivalent, or actively taking to the streets to campaign and raise awareness – it’s important that everyone make a commitment, no matter how big or small, to be environmentally responsible.
Are you doing your part to reduce your carbon impact and promote awareness today? Tweet us at @RefinishTouch and share your stories with us.
The Refinishing Touch celebrates Earth Day
Today is Earth Day, one of our favorite holidays here at The Refinishing Touch. Each year we take time out of our busy schedules to consider all of the ways the natural environment helps sustain our work – and how we can help sustain the environment.
As a reader of this blog, you might already know that we take the environment seriously – especially when it comes to furniture asset management within government edifices, universities and hotels. We wrote a guest blog for The Professional Housing Management Association, which described three ways you can be an advocate for sustainability in the built environment by becoming a green building champion.
Whether you work for the government, a university or a hotel, furniture asset management reduces carbon emissions by as much as 99% and prevents landfill waste. Just last month we completed a project at The Michaelangelo hotel which produced zero wood waste – a very important milestone for us at The Refinishing Touch.
It’s important for us to recognize these contributions to the environment not just on Earth Day, but through the year as well.
To read our guest blog on the PHMA website, click here. Are you taking on an environmentally-friendly Earth Day initiative? We’d love to hear about it. Connect with us on Twitter @RefinishTouch.
Happy Valentine’s day from The Refinishing Touch
At The Refinishing Touch you could say that we’re full of love – for the customers we serve, the business partners we work with, and the environment we work to protect.
With regards to our customers it’s a broad base. We appreciate the hospitality brands that have chosen to partner with us, including household names such as Hilton, Marriott and Starwood – as well as innovative boutique hotels, international casino chains and family-friendly hotel chains.
We are thankful to the universities and colleges across the United States that have chosen to work with us on refinishing projects ranging from updating their public spaces to complete dorm refinishings. Finally we’d like to thank the government agencies we have had the privilege to work with including Air Force, Navy and Army bases across America, courthouses, regional and national agencies and The White House.
In short we appreciate the work we are given and the opportunities that have been presented for us to serve since 1977. It’s a privilege to work with such as loyal and string customer base that truly understand the environmental necessity and business sense of renewing existing furniture assets. That support has enabled us to grow our business, develop methodologies and techniques such as our non-toxic lacquers which contain no Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and to increase our reach into new markets and to help other organizations to benefit from the sustainable and financial benefits of refinishing, reupholstery and remanufacturing.
So we’re full of appreciation today, as we have felt the appreciation of our customers, how we are able to serve them and the support that they have shown us. Thank you.
What do you love about sustainability or furniture asset management? Connect with us on Twitter @RefinishTouch and let us know.
Happy new year from The Refinishing Touch!
From industry awards to the completion of large-scale projects in universities, hotels and public institutions, we’ve accomplished a lot in 2013. As we enter our 36th year of providing furniture asset management services across sectors, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the achievements and milestones The Refinishing Touch has achieved over the past year.
Not only did The Refinishing Touch become certified as ISO 9001:2008 compliant by the International Organization for Standardization, but in October we announced that our customer satisfaction rose from 98.5% to 99.39%. Since the company was founded in 1977, customer service has been our number one priority and we are proud and humbled to by these results.
Earlier in the year we announced our recent preferred vendor relationship with Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, distributed our Sustainability Awards to eco-conscious businesses within the hospitality industry, and were awarded approval to provide services in California through the California Multiple Award Schedule (CMAS).
In the higher education sector, we completed a furniture refinishing and upholstery project for Georgetown University. The scope of work included the refinishing and re-upholstery of a variety of public space pieces in Alumni Square, an apartment complex on campus, with fabrics from The Refinishing Touch’s exclusive Touch Textiles division. By choosing refinishing and re-upholstery compared to buying new, Georgetown University reduced its total expenditure an estimated 55% percent — lowering the cost for the project from $36,526 to $16,241— and completed the project on site in less than a week and a half.
Because of our keen interest in higher education, we conducted a study to gauge which colleges and universities emphasize environmental and sustainability efforts more: public or private. We gave the top ten public and private universities a rank on our ‘Green Grading System’ and posted the results on our blog, as well as in an infographic on our website.
Other noteworthy projects including a large-scale armoire modification project at the Best Western Fort Walton Beach Hotel, the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Denver-Aurora and BEST WESTERN PLUS, The Inn at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
We want to express our gratitude to our loyal customers, readers and supporters who support us every day. As we look to 2014 with confidence, we will continue to set aggressive goals and take our business to new heights.
Happy new year!
Happy holidays from The Refinishing Touch
From our family to yours, we at The Refinishing Touch would like to sincerely wish all of our readers a very happy holiday season. Wherever you are, we hope this time of the year brings you happiness and that you and your loved ones are filled with the holiday spirit, laugher and a positive outlook for the year to come.
As per tradition, we like to take a moment to pause and reflect on the work we have done as well as express our thanks to the devoted customers, followers and partners that have supported our business over the past year. Thank you.
Before we move into the new year, we wanted to leave our readers with some eco-friendly tips to keep sustainability at the forefront of your mind throughout the season:
- Recycle your Christmas tree: According to epa.gov, approximately 33 million Christmas trees are sold in North America every year. After the holidays, look for ways to recycle or reuse your tree instead of sending it to a landfill.
- Buy local: Whether it’s food, clothes or toys – the closer the gifts you buy are manufactured to your home, the less carbon emissions are required for them to reach store shelves.
- Replace older electronics with newer, more efficient models: The EPA estimates that replacing old items with energy-efficient models can save over 25 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, and save money on your energy bills. Save money and the environment this season by gifting outdated electronics.
Wishing you much joy, peace and happiness during this holiday season,
The Refinishing Touch
The Refinishing Touch wishes you a happy Thanksgiving
Though we remain busy year-round, we feel it’s important to take time out to celebrate during the holidays. Yesterday, The Refinishing Touch crew enjoyed turkey dinners and pie galore with family and friends, and we hope you did too.
This year, when colleagues ask us what we are thankful for, we feel blessed to be able to respond with a long list. In one year’s time, The Refinishing Touch has become a preferred vendor for Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, won a California Multiple Award Schedule contract – which allowed us to complete more work in governmental agencies across California – and upped our ISO 9001 customer satisfaction rate to an impressive 99.39%.
As a team, we relish each opportunity we’re given to come together and improve conditions within hotels, universities and government buildings. Through our recent work with various establishments – including Georgetown University, Hilton Garden Inn Columbia/Northeast and BEST WESTERN PLUS King of Prussia – we’ve been able to implement our sustainable, cost-effective renovation services to outstanding businesses all year long.
Most of all though, we’re thankful for you – our loyal readers, customers and friends who make our work worth it day in and day out. We hope you enjoyed your holiday season so far and are spending quality time with friends and family.
Let us know how your holiday went on Twitter at @RefinishTouch – we love hearing from you.