Laundromat franchise LaundroLab has announced it will expand its reach in Florida – with four entrepreneurs bringing five new locations to the St. Petersburg area.
Carlie Canfield, Matt Denault and their spouses had been flipping single-family homes since 2019, when a stand-alone laundromat fell into their laps.
“In 2020, we were approached by an individual to buy a portfolio that had a liquor store, an auto-body shop and a laundromat,” explained new LaundroLab investor Carlie Canfield, who admitted she initially was hesitant about the laundromat portion of that deal. “We’re in a town of fewer than 3,000 people. I had never even noticed it was there. It had no name, no signage or anything.”
However, the two couples moved forward with the investment, and Canfield said managing the laundromat quickly became one of her favorite aspects of the new property.
Today, as the five LaundroLab locations are being built out, the investment group – which is choosing to purchase the real estate, as opposed to renting – is looking forward to getting the doors open and beginning to serve the St. Petersburg community.
“We still enjoy flipping,” Canfield explained. “Many typically think of people who just flip and move on, but we really want to invest in our communities and improve them. That’s our big goal in all things we do.”
The same concept will apply to their new laundromats, she insisted.
“I enjoy it because there are so many people who just want to have an investment, make money and go home,” Canfield continued. “But, to be able to make something better for someone else – even if it’s just the smallest thing, like keeping the place where they do their laundry neat and clean, and bringing them peace in this chaos – that’s what it’s all about in my book.”
