Ms. Clean: Nicki Frank's janitorial services company has grown thanks to its niche in retail and restaurants.

WHEN the real estate market nosedived in the late 1980s, Nicki Frank, who had been rehabbing and selling old Hollywood apartments, knew she had to get out.

The single mother of three needed a stable paycheck and had an urge to launch a business of her own. By coincidence, a small janitorial services company was housed in the same building as her office.

"This is such bad economy, and people aren't giving up their janitorial," Frank recalls thinking when she came across the outfit, which cleaned apartment complexes. "That's where I got the idea of where I am today."

After initially consulting with the company on how to bring in clients, she ended up taking over Los Angeles-based Thoreau Services Inc., becoming president and chief executive in 1995. And she's guided the company from an annual take of around $250,000 around 15 years ago to more than $5 million last year.

Frank has put more than her share of hours into growing the business. Constantly on the phone to tap new clients, she landed her first major national contract, Wherehouse Entertainment Inc., now owned by Trans World Entertainment Corp. But she didn't have the infrastructure in place to clean the about 450 Wherehouse stores that stretched from California to Montana.

"I am not a person that studies. I just go on a vision," Frank said. "I said, 'Give me all your business,' and they did. I had to learn how to do it."

Learning how to do it meant securing a network of subcontractors to service Wherehouse locations in far-flung parts of the country. Today, the company has a pool of 3,000 subcontractors across the U.S., and is one of a handful of janitorial firms with national reach that service behemoth retail chains. In addition, she has 150 people on staff for jobs it performs itself, usually in the Southern California region.

Thoreau Services has carved out a niche in retail, where it is does everything from scrubbing and waxing floors to painting to spiffing up restrooms. The company takes care of thousands of stores by well-known retailers, including the Limited Brands Inc., Ann Taylor Stores Corp., Sephora USA LLC and Burberry Group plc.

However, retail isn't all Thoreau does. Locally, the company keeps restaurants looking fresh. Napa Valley Grill, Nate 'n Al, Firehouse and Greenblatt's Delicatessen are on Thoreau's client list. The company also handles construction cleanup for hotels, retail stores and luxury homes.

It's a messy, complex industry where women haven't typically been at the reins. In fact, Frank said she's one of the only females who owns a retail-specialized janitorial services firm with national reach.

"It is not really a woman's business. I don't know how I got into it. It is such a fluke," she said. Frank doesn't harp on her minority status in a predominantly male-controlled industry: she just recently applied to get certified as a woman's owned business at the request of Limited.

Frank doesn't believe being female has hurt her. "A lot of the retail people that are in facilities are women, and they really like that I am a woman because their other vendors are men," she said. "Women like to deal with women it seems."

Managing Thoreau

Going national has brought additional pressures onto the company. Although Thoreau's store volume has gone up, the profit margins have gone down as it is forced to compete with other national firms. (A company like Gap Inc. will sign on eight janitorial firms for its stores across the country.) Frank estimated that rates per square foot have declined up to 25 percent in some cases.

Maria Carrillo, the project manager responsible for maintenance at Vernon-based AZ3 Inc., known for its BCBG Max Azria stores, met Frank while working at Wherehouse. She said Thoreau's rates are consistent with the industry standard. While some companies can charge as much as 40 cents per square foot for a strip and wax, she said Thoreau remains in the 15-cent range or even lower.

Carrillo added that Thoreau, which cleans BCBG stores on an as-needed basis, has ably dealt with a critical industry dilemma: no shows. Frank explained that she has tried to tackle the problem, frequently a concern especially with subcontractors, by improved training and making sure a 24-hour call line is available so Thoreau is aware of any issues.

"They had a very good record of showing up for services," Carrillo said. "If they needed to reschedule, they would contact me and store management."

Staying on top of the business certainly doesn't end at 5 p.m. for Frank. And she's the first to admit that she has had trouble leaving work behind when she steps out of Thoreau's office door. In fact, Frank concedes she's been too controlling of the business, perhaps to the company's detriment.

"I was the worst micro-manager. I had to do everything myself, which keeps the business small," she said. Four years ago, her life was altered in an unexpected way when she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The disease wouldn't kill her, but the treatment is debilitating.

Frank was forced to slow down--if just a bit--and figure out how her business could operate with her keeping tabs on each and every detail. She opted to give more authority to her general manager, a move she credits with building her business even bigger.

"I let him manage all the people, and I just manage him," she explained. "If I had done what I am doing now years ago, I would have had a huge company. We are on the move now because of it getting stronger."

Despite handing over more power to others, Frank is not leaving the business any time soon. She insists she is never retiring. After all, Thoreau rally isn't subject to the same volatility that rocks the real estate market.

"They (retailers) might cut some of their budget, but they won't cut it all out," Frank said. "As long as they have a store, they have to have it cleaned."

Thoreau Services Inc.

Year Founded: 1983

Core Business: Maintenance, floor and cleanup/janitorial services for retail chains

Employees in 2005 *: 175

Employees in 2006 *: 150

Goal: Increase sales by expanding general contracting, floor repair and other services

Driving Force: Desire of national retail chains to have their maintenance and cleanup services handled by a single contractor.

* excludes subcontractor network