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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