Electrolux AB President and CEO Keith McLoughlin recently invited Laundrylux CEO Neal Milch to Sweden for a special ceremony. On behalf of Electrolux, McLoughlin presented Milch with a crystal award to commemorate 60 years of doing business together.
“We have a unique relationship with the Milch family and Laundrylux, and it has only grown stronger over the years,” McLoughlin said. “We value our partnership and look forward to working together for many more years to come.”
“I was honored to receive this award and have our partnership recognized in such a meaningful way,” Milch shared. “We have a great deal of mutual respect and work closely together on many initiatives, such as marketing and product development. Now with my son entering the business, the third generation at Laundrylux, we will be taking our partnership to even greater heights.”
This long-standing business partnership began in the mid-1950s, when a young man with an engineering background and laundry industry experience was hired to assess damage to laundry equipment aboard the Swedish American Line’s M/S Stockholm, after the ship collided with the Andrea Doria, near the island of Nantucket. That young man was Bernard Milch, who went on to found Laundrylux.
This was Milch’s first introduction to the Swedish-made Wascator frontload, stainless steel washers. He was extremely impressed that the machines remained functional after the water-filled laundry area was drained. Milch made inquiries to the Swedish company and eventually purchased a Wascator washer for testing.
Milch’s investigation confirmed his initial confidence in the Wascator machines. He was convinced that commercial frontload washers could revolutionize the industry.
Milch obtained the sales and marketing rights for Wascator machines in North America and – because he regularly ate lunch at an “automat” and liked the sound of the name – he decided to use the name Wascomat to promote his new business venture.
Electrolux, which later purchased Wascator, credits Wascomat’s growth in North America to the extraordinary marketing efforts of Milch and his team. Since then, Laundrylux has become a valued partner, representing the Electrolux Professional and Wascomat commercial laundry brands in North America.
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