Multi-Store Owners Launch Their First High-Speed Laundromat
A new, 9,000-square-foot laundry recently opened in Rockford, Ill. – bringing a high-rental, low-income area renewed vitality and customers a quicker, more pleasant laundry experience.
Kevin and Cindy Olson, who own three 24/7 Laundromats, went bigger and better on their newest store by investing in soft-mount over hard-mount washers, adding ozone, maximizing store efficiency and customer rotation rates, and tripling square footage.
The Olsons, who opened their first laundry in 2015, also own eight gaming cafés, a construction company, and several properties.
Through the years, their portfolio has included gun and pawn shops, gas stations, restaurants, and pack-and-ship businesses, among others.
Renovating a Former Public Library
Doing their own construction on these projects is par for the course. To house their newest 24/7 Laundromat, they renovated an old public library in a dilapidated Rockford neighborhood. It’s much improved over its predecessors, thanks to careful research and due diligence.
“My wife and I were looking for something better,” said Kevin Olson. “We try to find better ways to build, using more efficient products so that our businesses take less energy and labor to operate after construction.”
The fully attended laundry, which is open around the clock, also offers full-service wash-dry-fold, drop-off drycleaning and alterations, and amenities such as free Wi-Fi access, large-screen televisions, vending machines, and a children’s learning and play area.
Choosing Soft-Mount, High-Speed Machines
This time around, the Olsons ditched the hard-mount washers for soft- mount machines in 23-, 30-, 45-, 60-, 80-, 90-, and 130-pound capacities. The large-load 90- and 130-pounders feature automatic chemical injection to eliminate the need to lug and load detergent.
Rounding out the store’s laundry equipment mix are 33 45-pound-capacity stack dryers.
Additionally, the washers at 24/7 Laundromat work seamlessly with the store’s ozone system, as well as offering an easy-to-install, free-standing design, while delivering 450 G-force extract speeds for optimum load moisture removal.
“It’s a significant difference in performance,” said David Gradle of Laundry Concepts Inc., the Olsons’ equipment distributor based in Addison, Ill.
Gradle worked closely with the couple on this laundry project, providing equipment recommendations and installation, as well as store layout and design services.
“Laundry dries more quickly coming out of the higher-extract machines,” he explained. “This cuts natural gas usage on the dryers, helps eliminate dryer bottlenecks, and allows customers to complete laundry in less than an hour. The other bonus is quicker customer rotation rates for more revenue per square foot.”
To ensure fresher, brighter, and sanitized laundry, ozone is introduced into all of the laundry’s cold-water cycles. Customers who choose an express wash cycle can wash in 21 minutes and dry in 10 to 12 minutes, according to Olson.
“The high extract and ozone matter to our customers,” he said. “Anytime it makes a difference to our customers, it makes a big difference to us.”
Features That Set 24/7 Laundromat Apart
The store’s washers feature the industry’s largest touchscreen user interface and a 360-degree status light. The touchscreen offers customizable programs, and extra wash and extra rinse options, as well as allowing the owners to upload their own advertising, photos, or logos.
“I like the fact that, as I get more into this, I can put promotional pictures or ads on-screen,” Olson noted. “Customers also like that they can select an extra wash or extra rinse, which vends for an added 24 cents to 50 cents, depending on the machine.”
The corner status lights illuminate in different colors to match load status.
“Customers can be located across the laundry and easily see when their laundry is done,” Olson pointed out.
The washers and ozone work together to set 24/7 Laundromat apart.
Making life easy and convenient for their customers, as well as themselves, is important – so the Olsons’ new laundromat boasts a state-of-the-art card payment system. At in-store kiosks, customers load value onto loyalty cards using cash, debit/credit cards, ApplePay/AndroidPay, or Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT). They start machines using the cards and also can take advantage of any in-store promotions.
Simultaneously, using the system, the Olsons manage their laundry business remotely and run promotions.
“I like the fact that the kiosks are right there,” Olson said. “It doesn’t matter if the internet is running. We run rewards programs where customers can earn anything from silverware to a Louis Vuitton purse with points.”
The laundry’s large-capacity, soft-mount washers – which are located at the front of the store and visible from the parking lot – draw in customers with large, bulky loads. Moreover, these machines automatically inject commercial detergents, softeners, and brighteners, thus creating the ultimate in convenience.
Open only a few months, 24/7 Laundromat is quickly growing its customer base… and its revenue. Additionally, it’s positively impacting the neighborhood, with other local businesses now working to upgrade their own facilities.
Moving forward, the plan is expansion. The Olsons hope to open a fourth laundry soon – this one with even more large-capacity machines.
