Kelly Corbett and Pat Cunningham
Lafayette Laundry
Detroit, MI
Before Getting into the Laundry Business…
Kelly was a nurse, and Pat worked as an underwriter for Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Store Opening
August 17, 2013
Business Hours
7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily
Staff
One full-time employee and two part-time attendants
Total Square Footage
5,000 square feet
Parking Availability
“We have hundreds of parking spaces, as we’re located in a large shopping plaza,” Pat explained.
Lease or Own?
A 10-year lease, with two five-year options
The Building
It was a vacant storefront that Kelly and Pat built from ground up – all new plumbing, electrical and so on.
The Construction Process
The project took eight to nine months to complete. The buildout cost $250,000, with equipment purchases running an additional $390,000.
Marketplace Demographics
“This market has an all-encompassing type of demographics,” Pat said. “It has low income all the way up to high income – and everything in between. We get homeless individuals, students, middle-class people and high-income professionals. Our customers include police officers, lawyers, judges, senators, teachers, small-business operators, restaurant owners and so on.”
Competition
There are self-service laundries scattered throughout Detroit, as well as a significant number of drycleaning businesses that offer wash-dry-fold services, which compete directly with Lafayette Laundry’s ancillary offerings.
Payment Options
Quarters only
Washers & Dryers
6 Speed Queen toploaders, $2.50
6 Speed Queen Horizon double-load washers, $4.00
20 Speed Queen four-load washers, $5.25
4 Speed Queen eight-load washers, $8.75
32 30-pound stack dryers, 25 cents for five minutes
4 70-pound dryers, 25 cents for four minutes
Water Heating System
Raypak 80-gallon system
Bill Changers
1 Standard Change-Makers bill-to-bill changer
1 Standard Change-Makers bill-to-coin changer
Laundry Carts
16 R&B Wire Products laundry carts
Folding Tables
8 customized folding tables
Flooring
Commercial-grade vinyl composition tile
Lighting
T-8 fluorescent lighting
Soap Vending
1 Vend-Rite Manufacturing soap vending machine, 75 cents
Beverage Vending
1 beverage vending machine, $1.00 to $2.25 per beverage
Snack Vending
1 snack vending machine, prices vary
Arcade/Video Games
1 Multi-game video game
1 pinball machine
Televisions
2 40-inch flat-screen televisions
Children’s Play Area
A 10- by 12-foot area with rugs to play on, a small table and chairs, a children’s desk, a rocking horse, and educational toys and books.
Additional Amenities
• A café-style WiFi area, which features an L-shaped countertop with several electrical outlets and padded bar stools
• A lending library with large, comfortable padded chairs, tables, magazine racks and televisions
• Drop-off drycleaning
Wash-Dry-Fold Service
$1.25 per pound; 10-pound minimum
Distributor
Universal Coin Laundry Machinery, Royal Oak, Mich., (248) 435-6200
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