Trade Association Holds Two-Day Event Focused on Full-Service Laundry Operations
Nearly 200 laundromat owners and garment-care professionals – as well as those simply doing their initial due diligence on the wash-dry-fold, pickup-and-delivery, and commercial accounts segments of the industry – recently filled Ballroom F of the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center in Oak Brook, Ill., for two days of high-level discussions on the full-service laundry business.
It marked the Coin Laundry Association’s inaugural WDF Workshop, which kicked off with an evening cocktail reception on November 15, followed by two full days of educational sessions, live vendor demos and networking events for attendees.
“I see so many new faces out there – it’s amazing,” noted CLA President and CEO Brian Wallace during his opening remarks. “This segment of the industry has been experiencing incredible growth, and it became more and more apparent that we needed an event that focused solely on those aspects of garment care.
“This is an experiment,” he added. “But I think we’re on the right track.”
The two-day workshop, which was held in collaboration with the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute, covered such timely industry topics as the future of wash-dry-fold, marketing strategies to help scale a full-service laundry operation, and best practices for delivery routes.
“I’ve been traveling to events like this for years, and they all have been helpful to me,” said Dave Menz, a multi-store laundromat owner based in the Cincinnati area. “However, the WDF Workshop was different for a few reasons. First off, it was unique due to the specialty of the topics, which were geared specifically toward wash-dry-fold and pickup-and-delivery services. The second difference was the obvious transition to us all being more open and authentic. When we all share freely, we’re all better for it, and I was so pleased to see that come to life at this event.”
Some highlights from the educational sessions included a “thought ignition” panel, where industry leaders discussed the current states of wash-dry-fold, pickup and delivery, and commercial accounts; a no-holds-barred session on PUD with California operator Art Jaeger, who openly shared the inner workings of his successful operation; and a workshop-ending panel, where past presenters from the previous two days answered audience questions – touching on everything from favorite books and podcasts to time management tips and WDF “horror stories.”
“I had a great time being a part of the workshop and was honored to be included,” said Waleed Cope, owner of The Soap Box in New York City, who participated in a live folding and packaging demonstration, which turned out to be one of the event’s several highlights.
“I believe the workshop was the first part of a revolution we are about to experience in the garment-care industry,” Cope added. “Wash-dry-fold is getting more and more attention by our industry and consumers. This attention, I believe, will lead to the expansion and growth of consumers outsourcing more and more of their wardrobe.”
For Colleen Unema of Brio Laundry in Bellingham, Wash., whose operation involves drycleaning, the teaming up of the CLA and the DLI was “genius.”
“There are many drycleaners that own laundries, and vice versa,” she noted. “We solve some of the same problems very differently. It was really fun to meet these other folks, most of whom are high performers.
“One of my biggest takeaways was pricing,” she added. “Many operators price to the competition, rather than to their service attributes and the very real costs to perform that service. With rising labor costs, the old philosophy of ‘it keeps my attendants busy’ really doesn’t hold water these days. In addition, to be able to listen to successful operators and to talk with them at lunch allows others to self-analyze what’s going on in their own shops. Sometimes you have to get away to really think about your business. Aside from the Clean Shows, this was the best industry event in the past couple of years.”
Wallace closed out the workshop by sharing a few of his own takeaways from the event.
“The overall theme I’m coming away with is that we’ve got an extremely talented industry, which clearly was on display,” he noted. “Also, there is no substitute for effort, and the importance of team cannot be overstated.”
He went on to praise the spirit of sharing and level of candor exhibited throughout the workshop, as he openly pondered the future of this new, tightly focused CLA educational event.
“Where do we go from here?” he asked the audience. “We want you to be the architects for what’s next with this.”
All signs seem to be pointing to an even bigger and better WDF Workshop in 2023.
