Carnicerias Jimenez’s Journey with State Chemical

In business for 49 years with eight locations, Carnicerias Jimenez is one of the largest, family-owned Hispanic supermarket chains in the Chicagoland area. When they started treatment with State Chemical for their stores, they were worried about reliability based on past experiences. But the business ended up having a vastly different experience with State Chemical than they did with previous providers.

Store owner Jose Jimenez recalled, “One of the largest issues that I had with all my previous providers was the fact that I had to constantly be hounding the guys to come in and do the work, and when they did show up, it was always subpar, it was always something missing, something they didn’t do, an overcharge on my bill. It got to the point where I was just tired of that, so I ended up canceling with everybody else.”

Supply Shortages During the Pandemic

Starting in November 2019, newly free from contracts with other chemical providers, Carnicerias Jimenez decided to handle sanitation in-house. But when COVID-19 hit in March 2020, they found themselves scrambling for solutions.

Desperate to stay open, Jimenez reached out to the stores’ previous chemical providers, but they didn’t have enough chemicals or employees to service Carnicerias Jimenez.

Jimenez said, “I thought to myself, ‘We’re gonna have to close our doors down, shut down, and go out of business’ like so many did at that time.”

Fast Site Survey and Service

However, a couple of months prior, one of the stores had started working with State Chemical. Jimenez reached out to that store’s State Chemical representative.

Within 24 hours, all eight stores had been surveyed. Then, within 48 hours, all locations were set up with the chemicals and equipment Jimenez needed to keep the doors open.

Jimenez detailed, “Not only did we put State Chemical in all our locations, but since then, I’ve reached higher levels of hygiene and sanitation than I ever had in our last 30 years of business.”

Additionally, not only was State Chemical able to keep Carnicerias Jimenez running through the pandemic, but State Chemical was able to come in and resolve other issues the stores were experiencing.

For years, Carnicerias Jimenez had been dealing with blockage and odor issues in one of their drains and grease traps. On a visit, their State Chemical representative overheard that they were having these problems and asked for three months to fix the issue. The representative explained the chemicals and process, and the store agreed.

Within one month, Jimenez noticed a significant change. “Things started to look better, flow better, smell better,” Jimenez said. “Sure enough, within three months, issue resolved, issue gone, and now we’ve got him doing the same service at all our other locations.”

Additionally, as a business with older, rusting, occasionally clogged pipes, Carnicerias Jimenez was worried about ensuing problems, but State Chemical has since been able to provide monthly service to keep the pipes maintained.

Lasting Improvements

Five years after starting service, Jimenez is still impressed. “I cannot stress how happy I am with them and how much I recommend them to everybody else,” he said. “My customers love how clean the store is and rave about how great it smells when they walk in. My employees love how easy it is to work with State Chemical’s equipment. And I am proud to say that I’ve been able to raise the standard of hygiene, cleanliness, and sanitation thanks to them.”

For Carnicerias Jimenez, State Chemical was able to help them in their time of need and continue showing up and listening to their concerns. Jimenez said that his favorite thing about State Chemical is that they ask questions, observe, and offer to help with problems.

“Working with State Chemical has actually been State Chemical working for me,” Jimenez elaborated. “I’ve been with them for the last five years, and I’m looking forward to another five, ten, fifteen years—as long as I’m alive if possible because I’m just that happy with the service and chemicals they provide me.”

Schedule a Site Survey

If you’re dealing with some of the same problems that Carnicerias Jimenez was—whether that’s unreliable providers, drain problems, sanitation problems, or even other issues—there