Retail Construction Services, Inc. Blog

(Valley Forge, Pa.) – Lake Presidential Golf Club, a new championship golf course, sits on 1,200 acres of rolling, wooded land, interspersed with streams and a 30-acre lake, within BeechTree, a planned residential community in Upper Marlboro, Md. Such picturesque surroundings demand equally impressive clubhouse….  hired general contractor Retail Construction Services, Inc., based in Lake Elmo, Minn., to build the clubhouse… 

For full article, click on link:
http://www.ctpressroom.com/documents/ROOFING/CT_LakePresGolf-FINAL.doc

The earth has been moving for months at the golf course formerly known as TPC at Avenel, the site of all those Kemper Opens and Booz Allen Classics since the PGA Tour opened the facility in 1986….

For full article by Leonard Shapiro, Washington Post Staff Writer dated Tuesday, May 27, 2008, go to: 

Click here to read the article

At Retail Construction Services we have made every effort to keep ahead of the ever changing demand in the commercial building market.  The last big change came with the wireless phenomenon.  Our superintendents were some of the first to have wireless cards and laptops. Today this is an industry standard, but we stayed ahead of the curve by issuing wireless cards to our superintendents before it was requested by our customers. 

What is the next big change to affect our industry?  Green buildings have been around for several years, but this type of construction has not yet played a pivotal role in the commercial interiors industry.  But as society views on the environment continue to change, the retailers can not be far behind.  At Retail Construction Services we believe that the changes happening tomorrow will not only be required by our customers but they will come as a bigger responsibility to our society.

Retail Construction Services is a member of the USGBC and in 2006 completed our first LEED Project.  More recently we have a LEED® AP Certified staff member in-house.  This value added service allows Retail Construction Services to stay at the forefront of green building techniques and offer that expertise to our clients.

How does having a LEED® AP in-house help the client and Retail Construction Services?  The LEED accreditation program talks much about the team.  This team consists of the owner, architect, engineers, contractor and sub-contractor.  By having a LEED® AP in-house, we can better communicate the LEED requirements to the subs and to our superintendent.  The LEED process must include all personnel on site.  For example, the paints and chemicals used today can affect the air samples taken at the end of project. 

In order to certify a LEED project several different submittals and calculations are need throughout the project.  Many of these items must come from the contractor.  The general contractor must also plan ahead so that waste can be diverted and recycled.  The general contractor must develop and implement an indoor air quality management plan.  By having a LEED® AP in-house Retail Construction Services hopes to stay at the forefront of these issues and the commercial construction industry.

RCS shares a concern with our customers with regard to the impact of our work on our communities and environment. We believe that the construction of environmentally sound, healthy, durable green buildings offers one of the most significant solutions to the threats of global warming and resource depletion. To this end we continue to seek partners interested in advancing the technologies and practices that reduce our impact on the environment, while supporting sustainable communities and economies.

The construction process in today’s retail environment is a lengthy exercise in uniting several disparate groups in the common goal of completing your commercial construction project.  The management of this process, and the organizational factions involved, is key to a successful building program. Our knowledge, experience, and expertise in this fast paced and chaotic environment, combined with our passion for performance and the environment, makes us THE Retail Contractor.


RCS shares a concern with our customers with regard to the impact of our work on our communities and environment. We believe that the construction of environmentally sound, healthy, durable green buildings offers one of the most significant solutions to the threats of global warming and resource depletion. To this end we continue to seek partners interested in advancing the technologies and practices that reduce our impact on the environment, while supporting sustainable communities and economies.


For years Retail Construction Services has been an industry leader in partnering with national chain retailers. Most companies who are still going strong after 24 years have had to sacrifice some of their spirit to become a better business. Retail Construction has the success - and it still has the spirit.    

In March of 2008, General Contractor, Retail Construction Services, Inc. was asked to take on the task of re-locating a 2,800 sq. ft. “Warehouse Skate Park” for a Stillwater area Non-Profit group. (Youth Service Bureau) One of the owners, Gim Middleton accepted the challenge.  Our RCS office volunteers soon discovered that this was no small project and would require several hours of labor and lots of # 2 square drive drill tips! A total of 15 skate ramps ranging in size from 6’w X 10’l X 3’h to 18’w X 35’l X 2’h would need to be disassembled, labeled for re-assembly, loaded into semi trailers, stored for three months, then relocated to another site for re-assembly.

The Retail Construction office volunteers consist of: Murray Silverberg- Assistant Project Manager; Jerry Carstensen - Assistant Project Manager; Dan Braun - Project Manager; Jim Ashbach - Assistant Project Manager; Barry Urbas - Assistant Project Manager, Joel Petersen  -Capital Improvements Project Manager, and Owner / V.P. Gim Middleton A.K.A. “Chief Forklift Operator”. 

The Retail Construction volunteers started the labor intensive project on March 19^th 2008. These employees have been working at the park in their spare time, in-between bid due dates and over lunch periods for the past three months. Final approval of the park should be complete by the middle of July. To date RCS has logged 93.5 hours of volunteer labor on the project and anticipate another 10 hours to complete the project. Hopefully there will be a lot of happy skaters once the project is complete.

Thank you to everyone for your hard work on this project.   Please watch for a future posting with a final update and final photographs.

- Dan Braun, RCS Project Manager
General Contractor PM - Retail Construction Service, Inc.

Below are newspaper articles relative to the skate part:

12-28-07 Article

02-18-08 Article
02-19-08 Article
05-07-09 Page 1 Article

05-07-08 Page 2 Article

Our employees are our most valuable assets.  Over the past several weeks, Retail Construction has received six safety awards. (Click on the photos below to enlarge the image)

• Million Hours Worked Award
• MN Governor’s Award
•  Milestone Award
• Occupational Excellence Achievement Award
•  Perfect Record Award
•  NSC Safety Leadership Award
•  

  

These awards represent a significant achievement in safe work practices by our employees.  Creating a safe workplace is an ongoing mindset that requires commitment and dedication during the course of managing what can be very fast paced job sites.  

Congratulations to each and every employee who made these safety recognitions a reality for our company! 

The construction process in today’s retail environment is a lengthy exercise in uniting several disparate groups in the common goal of completing your commercial construction project.  The construction management of this process, and the organizational factions involved, is key to a successful building program. Our knowledge, experience, and expertise in this fast paced and chaotic environment, combined with our passion for performance, makes us THE General Contractor.  

For over 20 years Retail Construction Services has been an industry leader in partnering with national chain retailers. Most companies who are still going strong after over 20 years have had to sacrifice some of their spirit to become a better business. Retail Construction has the success - and it still has the spirit.  

                                                                                       General Contractor  

General Contractor Reclaiming our Resources

Deconstruction and Environmental Opportunites for General Contractor

Depending on what data you look at, construction and demolition produces a solid waste stream that comprises somewhere between 22% – 30% of all solid waste generated in the United States; 100 – 136 million tons annually. Whatever number is accurate, it represents an incredible amount of waste and landfill space. It also represents an incredible opportunity for reclaiming resources, and making a positive impact on our environment.

Since Retail Construction started building retail stores nationwide 24 years ago, solid waste management has been a perplexing issue. The nature of the retail business relative to Branding, Visual Merchandising, and Landlord remodel criteria require frequent “facelifts” in addition to major retrofits. This activity generates a significant stream of barely used, highly recyclable material. 

Over the years, we, as a general contractor, have adlibbed a number of techniques to reduce our impact on landfills. We have networked with Facility Management to store high value items for display to mall employees for the taking. We have left highly usable items on display next to our dumpsters with “Free” signs attached. We have dismantled and recycled aluminum storefronts and steel structural members. Recently we have partnered with local “Reuse” companies to perform selective deconstruction prior to our demolition.

In the past decade we have seen the evolution of the “Deconstruction” industry grow to include segments of the construction industry that were, until very recently, not economically viable for salvage and recycling efforts due to project size or location. Resource scarcity and subsequent spiraling price increases have been instrumental in encouraging salvage companies to broaden their scope, and include the Tenant Finish construction niche. This, combined with state, local, and federal mandates for recycling and handling of solid waste, have had an incredibly positive impact on our solid waste stream.

We at Retail Construction applaud the visionary leadership by government institutions to continue to legislate positive measures to improve our environment, and help level the playing field in this highly competitive construction niche.

General Contractor Earns Governor’s Safety Award