An Interview with Michigan Laundry Owner Mark Murray
Mark Murray is president of the Adrian Image Center, which features a 4,000-square-foot self-service laundry – along with a tanning salon, fitness center and car wash business – based in Adrian, Mich.
Mark has been involved with the laundry industry since graduating college and going to work for his father’s laundromat chain, eventually striking out on his own with the Image Center in 1978. He recently spoke with PlanetLaundry’s Bob Nieman about his life in the laundry business.
How did you get involved in the self-service laundry industry?
It was a family business. My father – who was a retired dentist – and his business partner got into the laundry business in 1961. The opened literally the first self-service laundry in this community.
Of course, they had some of those old Westinghouse coin-operated drycleaning and a lot of Westinghouse toploaders. My recollection is that they were charging either 20 cents or 30 cents for the toploaders, and I think a dime got you 10 minutes or longer in the dryers.
They gradually expanded to about a dozen stores and, along the way, the business got more competitive. As a result, once I graduated from college, they hired me to oversee those stores, as well as to get them down to a manageable number. They had some very successful ones, some dogs and some in between. We ended up shrinking the chain down to three successful stores.
However, it’s funny, because the one I ended up with was one of the dogs. We were closing it, and we actually terminated our lease. This was in 1978; however, I ended up buying the real estate from the estate of the landlord and that truly was the beginning for me.
What attracted you to this business?
The economy was tough at the time. I was living in Colorado, and truth be told, I really wanted to stay there. However, my job opportunities consisted of positions such as being the assistant manager of the tire department at Kmart – so this seemed more interesting. I knew something about the business. It was a challenge, and we had a plan.
My store, which had previously been a car dealership, opened in in 1968. It wasn’t a successful store. The previous owner added a car wash to the property adjacent to the laundromat in an effort to shave some of the rent cost, but that was a dog as well.
So, as I mentioned, we terminated the lease when the option came up. We were going to run away from it, but the landlord passed away and the estate didn’t know what to do with it.
My father and his partner hadn’t put any money into the store in those last few years. In fact, we’d taken some equipment out. It was kind of a stripped-out dog of a business. But I saw it as my opportunity to actually doing something myself, to build my own business. After all, I knew I wasn’t going to work for my family forever.
What are the keys to a successful self-service laundry business in 2015?
I think it’s still those core ideals that have been the same for 50 years, or at least since I’ve been in the business – cleanliness, quality equipment, quality staffers and owner involvement.
I think personal involvement – connecting to the staff – cannot be overstated. I think there’s something in one’s heart; the better operators care about what they’re doing. They just enjoy it, and they relate to their employees and customers.
I think the owners who are strictly into the business model, without having an interest or a “connection” to it, with do fine for a few years; however, if you’re going to be successful in this business decade after decade, you’ve got to figure out how to do it right and actually like what they’re doing.
What are the biggest changes you’ve noticed in the industry since you’ve been involved in it?
Some 50 years ago, this was a 4,000-square-foot store with 60 toploading washers and four frontloaders. Today, there are no topload washers and maybe 40 frontloaders, but the capacity is two or three times what it was. And it’s all high-speed equipment. Therefore, we’re able to produce a lot more product in the same square footage than ever before.
It’s a much more efficient process for customers today than it was. We’ve got automatic front doors, wider aisles and a lot of laundry carts. The big machines are right up front for convenience.
Plus, we’re a card store these days. The quarter was a barrier – there’s no doubt about it. We’re a rural market, and when we switched over some washers about five years ago, it was a risk; it was a large investment, but it worked out just fine. I’ve never looked back. To me, the modern way of cleaning your clothes have nothing to do with coins.
Also, in the old days, we didn’t compete with the home machines. If people had washers at home, they wouldn’t come to us, because all we essentially had were home washers ourselves. Today, our customers don’t have the type of equipment we have, which are large-scale, high-capacity machines to get in and out of here fast. In fact, we have regulars who come in here to do their larger towels and other big items done simply because they don’t have time to do them at home or they don’t have the capacity.
The larger capacity has been wonderful. Of course, today, the machines at home are at least the size of a 20-pound washer, so in that sense, we’re competing with an entirely different market in terms of washing machines than we were 30 years ago. All laundry owners should be aware of this – that 20-pound washer in your store is the same thing many of your customers have at home, so we all better continue to look at moving up in capacity.
I’ve got some 18-pounders in here, and I’m thinking about getting rid of them and replacing them with 60-pounders; thus, having nothing smaller than a 30-pound washer in the store. We’re just a small rural market, but that’s why customers come here – they have a load of clothes, and they want to jam them in and get out of here as fast as they can. That’s what it’s all about.
Over the years, how has the “job” of being a laundry owner evolved?
I’ve done a lot of things in my life. The laundry business has enabled me to do a lot of different things. I have some pizza locations in Hawaii. I also went back to school to earn my master’s degree in counseling, and I have a small marriage counseling practice.
It’s been a wonderful industry for me personally. It’s not like I’ve been a slave to it. I give it what it needs, and it gives me a lot back.
How many laundries have you owned during your career?
For me personally, just this one. My family had 14 at one point. When my father retired, we sold those off. However, most of them are still in business. In fact, we do our drycleaning at a store in the next town over, which was my family’s original flagship store that opened in 1960.
When you first got into the business, what did you charge for a load of laundry?
It cost 35 cents for a topload wash and 50 cents for the Big Boys, which were 35-pounders. We didn’t have any machines that were priced above $1. And it cost 10 cents to dry.
Today, I’ve got 50-pounders that go for $4.79.
In what ways have laundromats changed over the years?
As I sit in this laundry that was built in 1968, I think as much as anything the customer base has changed.
We’re in a rural area. And, 45 years ago, Monday was the day to wash clothes. We would be very busy during the daytime on Mondays. At the time not a lot of women were working outside the home, and our business had a significant white, female component to it; these women came in during the daytime hours on Monday through Friday – when their husbands were at work.
Of course, today the customer base is multi-ethnic and multi-generational – there are no rules. It’s a completely different and widely diverse population of people using this store. With that said, we now are getting the grandkids of some of our earlier customers; they came here as kids and now they do their laundry here as adults. So, I guess the lesson here is that, even though there have been a lot of changes, everything remains the same in the end.
How has the laundry industry improved itself since you first broke into the business?
I think the distributors today that have made it through these last few economic downturns are solid businesspeople. It used to be that it didn’t take much to get into the distribution business – people would pop up, sell stuff and then they’re gone.
Today, at least in our area, the distributors have been around longer, and they seem straightforward and willing to help. I don’t know if that’s necessarily a big change, because I’m sure good distributors have always been around.
In our case, we’ve had strong distribution relationships for decades. We’ve been working with Teeters, and have built good relationships. They’re smart people who know what they’re doing, and they give good support.
I think the industry has really improved itself with today’s new equipment. It just makes so much sense to have large equipment in a self-service laundry when you’re trying to compete with the modern home washers and dryers.
In your opinion, what is the major hot-button issue for laundry owners today?
The future of water and sewer costs is scary. I’ve heard [CLA President and CEO] Brian Wallace talk about all of the water infrastructure improvements that are necessary. All communities are going through that or will go through it, and they adding on fees to pay for upgrades. There’s no end to how they’re going to have to increase water costs, and that’s scary.
Over the years, I’ve been through the other utility cycles, which go up and down. For instance, natural gas will go up, and everybody will freak out. But then things will settle down again. And I’m sure these water issues eventually will be OK, but I see water costs as going nowhere but up – and there’s no way around it.
As long as everyone is in the same boat – that is, as long as homeowners also have to pay $80 or $120 a month for water – I’m OK. However, if somehow lawmakers start dumping the burden more heavily onto the commercial side, or the guy next door isn’t hooked up to the municipal water system and doesn’t get dragged down by it, then that would be a huge concern. With all of the other utilities, we’re all in the same boat – if they triple the natural gas or electric rates, everybody else is going to have to factor in those costs, just like me.
What’s the biggest concern you hear from other laundry owners in your area?
They’re concerned about getting new equipment and getting the right stuff in there. “Am I still doing quarters? Do I want to buy a big machine with coins on it?” Overall, everyone seems to be more satisfied with the direction of the industry than they were a few years ago. When I go to distributor shows, everybody is interested in being sure that they’re spending their capital wisely and spending enough to stay on top of the next phase of the industry.
Nobody wants to get “caught.” Unfortunately, I’ve been caught over the decades. I thought my store was good, and then another guy comes in and shows me that maybe it’s not. We’re all concerned with the idea of being sure that we’re all on our game and that we’re all keeping our stores upgraded.
Do you have a business philosophy that guides your decisions?
We make all of our employees memorize our mission statement, which is: “We help our customers feel better by providing fast, friendly and professional service in a clean environment. When we accomplish that as a team, we prosper.”
What’s your favorite aspect of this business?
I still have fun coming in and trying to stay on top of it. It’s just about a human being trying to be effective in the world. It’s that undefinable energy that all of us have to have at some point, after you’ve made enough money to quit. What are you still doing it for? For me, it’s just an enjoyable business. Yes, this business has endured a lot of different challenges over time, but again I don’t have to be strapped to it every minute of the day either.
In your experience, when a self-service laundry business fails, what is the most common reason for that failure?
I think you can go back to cleanliness, equipment, staff and owner involvement. The keys to a successful store are simply not present in an unsuccessful one.
Of course, location also can play a role. If you have a lousy location and everything else is working, you still might have a challenge on your hands.
Personally, what’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in this business?
The biggest mistake was probably thinking I had it together, thinking I was on top of it when I wasn’t. Thinking “who wouldn’t want to come here to do laundry?” Well, the answer was the people who are going to the newly equipped store down the street – those people.
It was thinking that somehow “doing good” is good enough. It isn’t. You’ve got to have all of your ducks lined up.
What are your top business goals for 2016?
We’re looking at some vend price increases and, as I mentioned, we may possibly replace some 18-pounders with 60-pounders.
In addition, we’ve hired a young man to run our car wash, laundromat, fitness center, tanning salon and drycleaning store. And, hopefully, that’s going to be part of our exit strategy. We’ve been working on that for the last couple of years.
I don’t want to get out of the business, but I know I’m not going to be able to do this forever. I need to have a plan for getting out. In small rural areas, these stores are not that easy to sell. That’s eventually an issue for all of us who have been in it for a long time.
What advice would you give a new owner just getting into this business?
Pay attention. Know your numbers. Learn from all of the other people in the business. Join the Coin Laundry Association. And get on the CLA’s online Open Forum twice a week or more.
Where do you turn for business advice?
It depends on the issue. I may go to a handful of other operators, not in direct competition with me but in the same geographic area. I also would go to the CLA, if it were a question I thought the association could help with. I might go to my distributor.
There also are people I go to for marketing advice, as we try to stay relevant in the digital age. We’re trying to figure out reputation management, and that’s a new paradigm for us. We’ve had to find individuals who know more about it than we do. As I get older, I notice it’s not as easy as it used to be for me to comprehend it, so I have to rely on others who are more adept at technology than I am.
It gets back to always paying attention and never thinking you have it together – because you don’t. Always be looking around and always be working on your plan for the next few years. If you don’t have one, you’re in trouble.
What does the future look like for the self-service laundry business?
I better put on my sunglasses, because the future looks bright.
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