Varsity Contractors builds on mall, retail business

Among the various tenants at Battlefield Mall is the headquarters of Varsity Contractors Inc.'s mall division, which handles the operational needs of 78 Simon Properties facilities in 17 states.

According to Division Vice President Robert Rayl, Varsity Contractors Inc. also handles construction management, build-out and remodeling for the Simon facilities. In fact, he said, since 1998, Varsity Contractors' construction business alone has grown to $20 million.

Rayl said the mall division was launched in 1998 to help Simon Prop-erties meet the operational needs of its malls and retail centers throughout the country. The company handles about one-third of all Simon properties, and two other, separate companies split the remainder.

"Varsity's core business ... is to take care of all the mechanical systems (heating ventilation and air-conditioning), parking lots, roofs, the janitorial (needs) of the facility, all the maintenance of just the mall itself, which has nothing to do with all the tenant spaces," Rayl said. He added that the company also now offers its janitorial and maintenance services to the individual retailers at the malls and shopping centers it serves. "For a charge, we take care of their heating and air conditioning, we take care of their floor, we'd remodel their store," he added.

Varsity also offers its construction-related services to Simon's retail clients. At Battlefield Mall, for example, the company handled complete construction build-out for Landmark Luggage & Gifts, Krigel's, La Belle Day Spa and Wicks N Sticks.

Creating a new division

Rayl said Simon approached officials of the Idaho-based Varsity Contractors Inc., which was founded in 1954 as a total facilities service company, and suggested that Varsity launch a mall division. The company decided to do so, and Rayl, who had worked for Simon for 15 years prior to launching Varsity, left Simon with several other former Simon employees with Simon's blessing to start the mall division. Varsity Contractors now has an office and an operations manager at each Simon facility it serves. At Battlefield Mall, Rayl said, Denny Merry is the operations manager.

"Out of (every) office, we manage that facility, and we start a construction company, so we do general contracting," he said. "That's just the base, because you look at the retail construction that goes on in a mall think about it. This mall has 170 tenants so if we offer our base business, cleaning, we do carpet cleaning for them, window cleaning ..."

Varsity Contractors Inc.'s mall division has about 1,500 employees division-wide, Rayl said. These include plumbers, electricians and HVAC technicians. The company also uses subcontractors for many of the jobs, such as janitorial services.

A perfect scenario'

For the clients within Simon facilities, Rayl said it's nice for them to have easy access to Varsity Contractors for any of their needs. Varsity leases space within the mall, so it understands the needs of other tenants, he said. With the headquarters located in Battlefield Mall, tenants at that center have quite an advantage. In addition to Rayl, Western District Manager Lory Hobbs has offices at Battlefield Mall, as does Jim Wherley, regional manager.

"It's a perfect scenario in a shopping center. Because, you look at all those tenants, and after we build a store ... we say, We'll warranty your store.' We'll build it, we're right here," Rayl said. "Think about how convenient that is, for a tenant to build a store, to go find that contractor. ... In Battlefield (Mall), you can talk to the site (manager), the district (manager), the regional (manager). You can go all the way to the vice president. I would think by the end of the day, you're going to get an answer if you have a problem with a store."

Rayl added that clients at each retail center have access to the site's operational manager, and they also are well cared for. In fact, he said, building or remodeling a store for a Simon retail client is just the first step. "We want to maintain it. We want to take care of their air conditioner for the length of their lease, we want to take care of their floors, we want to take care of their walls. We want to clean their storefronts."

Taking care of the malls and retail facilities is Varsity Contractors' first priority, Rayl said, and now that that base of the business is established, it's time to grow outside business.

Separate from Simon

These days, the division is working locally and throughout its market to expand its general contracting business outside Simon facilities. Part of the challenge to that, Rayl said, is making sure the community understands that Varsity Contractors is a private company and not a subsidiary of Simon.

"Now we're doing general contracting outside of the malls. We've built stores in Joplin, St. Louis, Kansas City," he said. "We've done a lot of construction for people outside of Simon. ...Think about the Limiteds and the Gaps; they have stores outside malls, outside Simon. They've got stores in other malls, owned by other developers, and we become their contractor."

One non-Simon client Rayl mentioned is Petsmart. Varsity Contractors, which also can operate as a subcontractor, takes care of the HVAC needs for multiple Petsmart locations in the Illinois area.

Varsity Contractors has bid some jobs in Branson and in Springfield, Rayl said. "We're trying to build that business ... there's so much business just in the mall," he said.

Whether inside the mall or with outside clients, Rayl said, Varsity Contrac-tors doesn't take "just any job."

"We want to work with people, and we want to build the business with them, and be a partner in their construction, versus a contractor," he said. In fact, he added, "just a contractor" is "the last thing" he wants to be.

Varsity Contractors also works to be part of each community it serves by participating in community service projects. In this area, Varsity employees recently held a work day for an Ozark woman who needed help with some indoor and outdoor maintenance at her home.