Coin Laundry Association President and CEO Brian Wallace welcomed nearly 350 attendees to the organization’s first educational seminar of Clean 2015 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Dubbed “Flip My Laundry,” the session was an in-depth look at three separate laundry renovation projects.
“When I look at the trends since the last Clean Show in 2013, one of the more prominent trends I’ve noted is remodeling,” Wallace said. “Honestly, there are a lot of lousy laundries out there that are in good locations.”
Among the owners who shared their retooling stories (through video presentations, followed by brief Q&A sessions) were: T.J. and Diane Kardas, Soap Opera Laundromat, Downers Grove, Ill.; Daniel Sofranko, Perfect Wash Express Laundry Center, Huntington Beach, Calif.; and William Robinson and Chris McCartha, Forest Park Laundry, Forest Park, Ga.
T.J. Kardas discussed his renovation of a very “tired”existing Illinois laundry.
“It was a total remodel,” Kardas explained. “We gutted it to the four walls.”
The four-month, $800,000 project was Kardas’ third such venture, which helped smooth out the process.
“I learned from the others,” he explained. “I had created a list of everything I needed to do, because I want to make all of the laundries uniform. This made the current project rather easy.”
The 24-hour, card-operated store admittedly is not in a “classic”laundromat location, according to Kardas. However, he added that a solid 20-year lease, along with a “gut feel”led him to make the investment.
The second remodeling project profiled was Sofranko’s California store – a 40-year-old laundry loaded with toploaders and the original dryers.
“When I purchased it, more people were coming in to use the change machines than the washing machines,” Sofranko joked. “We saw a need for a better laundry; the community deserved better than this.”
Sofranko’s first laundry – and first business venture, for that matter – wasn’t quite a plug-and-play proposition. Nothing was up to code, and the store’s older equipment meant that utility costs represented from 30 percent to 40 percent of the business’ gross revenue.
“I picked out the worst store in the city,” Sofranko said.
He replaced everything that was underground, placing all of the upgraded utilities overhead. And his upgraded washers and dryers have dropped his utility costs to less than 10 percent of sales, once wash-dry-fold revenue is factored in.
The store broke even after its first six months, and Sofranko hopes to replicate his business model in beach towns up and down the California coast.
The final retooling profile of the morning session was Forest Park Laundry, which was a work in progress and still 10 days from completion.
“It was in the original condition,” laughed co-owner Chris McCartha.
When completed, the 24-hour store will boast 30 percent more capacity and will be the only laundry in its market that accepts debit and credit cards.
With a 15-year lease at just $6 per square foot, both owners were quick to praise their landlord for helping to make their renovation possible.
“We have a great landlord,” McCartha said. “He wants to see us succeed.”
Before the morning’s educational session, CLA’s Wallace brought everyone up to speed on a charitable event called “Free Laundry Day Atlanta,” which took place the day before Clean 2015 opened.
The Laundry Project, with help from the Coin Laundry Association, brought free laundry events to three stores in three separate neighborhoods – with 1,200 free loads of laundry done for local residents in just three hours.
