Orginally posted – Oct 21, 2013
Ask most laundry owners about their landlords and you’re likely to get more than a few responses that are less than suitable for a family publication such as ours.
Not so with Kevin Moyle, who operates Loads of Fun in Houghton, Mich. Then again, his landlord is his brother, Tom.
Moyle owns car washes and self-storage locations in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. However, when he made the decision to invest in the self-service laundry business, Kevin knew he’d prefer to lease, versus owning the laundromat outright.
“I lease this store in Houghton, and I also lease another laundry in Marquette, Mich.,” Moyle said. “With coin laundries, it’s better to lease, because it allows you to get the exact site you want, rather than settling for a location that may be second best.”
Of course, Moyle knew exactly who to turn to when looking for the best available laundry site in Houghton.
“My brother owns a lot of retail centers in a lot of different areas in the town,” he explained. “We probably looked at 10 different sites that I could have gone into. In fact, it was my representative at BDS Laundry Systems who helped me finally decide on the site I’m in now.
“He pointed out that, with this location, customers are able to drive right up to my door, whereas in a lot of retail centers, customers have to park and then walk to the door. With this one, you’re right at the door, and he said that is what’s going to turn people on. Of course, being located next to a Walmart obviously has helped, too.”
Moyle’s laundromat also has a dollar store and a used car dealership nearby, while sharing the same building with a snowmobile, ATV and boat dealer.
A veteran entrepreneur, Moyle was in the construction business for 13 years, before opening a Pennzoil quick lube franchise and running that for three years. After selling his oil-change location, Moyle went into the automatic car wash business.
“And before I ever left construction, I also had gotten into the self-storage business. We have five self-storage locations, with hundreds of storage units. As for my car washes, I’ve sold some and am now down to three of those.”
Of course, there also are his two self-service laundries – both called Loads of Fun. Moyle opened his Houghton store in March 2010, while his second laundry, in Marquette, opened this past April.
Why laundromats?
“We already had the trucks and the tools, with guys running around changing parts at the car washes, so I already had people and vehicles in place,” Moyle reasoned. “If you can fix a car wash, you can certainly fix laundry equipment even easier.
“Plus, the advantage of laundries versus car washes is the fact that a car wash typically has two machines, so if one breaks down, 50 percent of your profits are gone. In the laundry business, if one machine breaks down, it’s not a big deal. You’ve still got 50 other machines.”
It took about nine weeks for Moyle to complete his first Loads of Fun location in Houghton.
“I had my brother’s company do the majority of the build-out work,” he explained. “I did some of it. And, with my construction background, I was on site 90 percent of the time.”
The 1,905-square-foot storefront was brand new and had never been occupied.
“It didn’t even have a concrete floor yet,” Moyle said. “This worked out well for all of the plumbing and mechanical. I was able to put in everything before the floor was poured. So that was to our advantage.”
Adding to the building’s distinct look are insulated glass doors that are 14 feet high by 14 feet wide, which give Loads of Fun a big, open look and feel.
Other unique touches include a red concrete floor and multi-colored concrete blocks laid into the walls.
“This building was built out of things that were left from one of my brother’s other buildings,” Moyle said. “He used concrete blocks he had left over from another project – so there are red, brown and yellow blocks all over in the walls. I made it the store’s theme. When it came time to build my office in the store, I went to a block company and picked up blocks that were various colors and had them randomly laid into the walls on purpose.”
The store also features expanded metal along the walls, rather than the more traditional wooden chair rail. This accent gives the laundry a decidedly industrial vibe, while protecting the drywall from any errant laundry carts.
With Houghton being the home of Michigan Tech University, the town’s population essentially doubles during the school year. And Moyle has been quick to cater to the college crowd – with everything from pizza parties at the store where students can grab a slice and get their laundry done for free, to credit card acceptance for typically cash-strapped college kids.
“Every college student typically has a credit card,” Moyle said. “And, if they use their credit card to do their laundry, their parents can’t get too upset about that.”
Moyle also promotes Loads of Fun at the local campground, which has been a great source of business.
“We also get people who come in when their home washers or dryers break down, or when their comforters and other large items simply won’t fit in their home units,” he said. “Or, rather than doing 47 loads at home, some people simply prefer to just bring everything here and get it done quickly.”
According to Moyle, his customers also patronize to his store because it’s so clean.
“If there’s one thing I have to say about being successful in business it’s that most people just want something clean,” he noted. “They don’t want to go into a car wash that’s not clean and the same goes for the laundry business. If you can keep it clean, people will keep coming back. That’s how I ended up getting into the car wash business; there was nothing by outdated equipment and run-down buildings. And nobody wants to take their laundry to a store where, if your towel falls on the floor, you have to rewash it.”
Moyle has set Loads of Fun apart from the competition by running his business 24 hours.
“Everybody’s time is worth money,” he said. “If someone comes to me and wants to do business with me, I should be open.”
In addition to Moyle and his wife, Judy, Loads of Fun is partially attended by Moyle’s nephew, who is a student at Michigan Tech, as well as a full-time maintenance technician, who also services his car washes and storage locations.
Coincidentally, Moyle’s son, who is a student at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, manages the Loads of Fun operation in that town.
“I’m around my businesses a lot,” Moyle said. “I’ll drop in and out. And, no matter what business I’ve ever been in, I’ve never asked my employees to do something I don’t know how to do. I’m able to jump in and do anything – whatever needs to be done.
“If you want to be successful, bite off more than you can chew and then keep chewing. Some people don’t want to do what they’ve hired other people to do, but you’ve got to be willing to do whatever it takes.”
The other key advantage Moyle feels he has in running his laundry business is the fact that his wife not only boasts a degree in accounting, but she 100 percent on board with all of his various businesses.
“She definitely takes care of the financial end,” he said. “With the different businesses, I may be in Marquette for a couple of days, but she’ll take care of the office and keep the books, while I make sure things are running. You can’t both do the same thing. You can’t have two cooks in the kitchen.
“For a business to be successful, it’s a lot easier if the husband and wife are on the same page. If the husband wants a small business and his wife doesn’t, that’s a tough sell. It’s got to be a joint thing.”
With his wife running the financial side of his laundry business, his son and nephew keeping everything clean and working at both of his locations, and his brother as his landlord, Kevin Moyle has definitely turned his laundry venture in quite the successful family affair.
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