A Literacy Theme Runs Throughout Famed New Orleans Laundromat/Restaurant Combo
Jane and Scott Wolfe, who own Wash World laundromat in New Orleans, are not novices when it comes to incorporating a literacy theme into their business ventures.
In fact, the Wolfes also operate Melba’s, a po’ boy take-out restaurant located adjacent to their vended laundry business. And Melba’s has become quite famous for more than just its food. The restaurant has initiated a community awareness literacy project that regularly features a “Gift of Literature Day,” on which 100 free copies of a featured author’s signed book are handed out to customers.
For the first hour of these events, the guest author is at Melba’s either in person or via Zoom to greet those who come through the book line.
Therefore, when the couple learned about the LaundryCares Foundation and discovered they could add a literacy-rich, early childhood learning space to Wash World, they jumped at the opportunity.
Jane distinctly recalls one of her first interactions with a child in the laundromat’s newly installed Family Read, Play and Learn Center.
“I’ll always remember watching a child draw on the chalkboard, as he had X’s and O’s everywhere,” said Jane, who also teaches world religions at the University of Holy Cross and the Tulane School of Professional Advancement. “Eventually, I asked him, ‘What are you drawing?’ Excitedly, he replied, ‘I’m playing coach!’
“That’s the moment when I truly realized that this isn’t just a reading center – it’s an imaginative teaching ground as well.”
Wolfe recently shared her thoughts on early childhood literacy, as well as the value of the LaundryCares’ RPL Center, with PlanetLaundry:
How has installing a Family Read, Play and Learn Center impacted your store and its operations?
It’s been easy for our staff to incorporate the upkeep of this space into their day-to-day operation. Basically, you just need to keep the books straight and the table cleaned.
Approximately how many families and children benefit from this literacy- and learning-focused area?
Every month, 200 families benefit from our literacy/learning area. However, the tentacles of the space go much deeper. All customers benefit from the space, as the children are not running around the store doing nothing. The literacy space holds the kids’ attention. Therefore, the entire laundromat is a more peaceful place.
How has the RPL Center helped your business – both tangibly and intangibly?
With regard to corporate social responsibility, I believe that, when you walk into a business, you should feel what it’s doing. The special literacy space at Wash World fuels a human emotion that knows reading is important. I’m grateful to the LaundryCares Foundation for helping us to create the most beautiful feeling inside our laundromat business.
How has this early childhood literacy space affected the community’s attitude toward your laundry business?
When a customer without children takes time to tell you how good the space is for kids and parents, you know you’ve hit a home run.
All these years I’ve been in business, and I’ve never had the academic world turn its head toward my business. But the academic community is especially pleased with this literacy space we’ve created. That’s probably what I’ve noticed most of all – teachers, librarians, professors, social workers and psychologists have all voiced their positive approval of what we’re doing at Wash World.
How does Wash World’s literacy space complement Melba’s literary events?
The literacy initiative of the LaundryCares Foundation pushed me to look deeper into the aspects of our po’ boy business, to think about how can I teach to the 30,000 customers walking through Melba’s doors every month.
LaundryCares opened my eyes, and I’m wholeheartedly convinced that the book-signing events at Melba’s and the RPL Center in Wash World work in concert with one another – just like a fine gumbo.
And this entire literacy format is opening the eyes of fellow businesspeople toward what a good business is capable of doing for the community it serves.
What would you say to store owners who may still be on the fence about installing an RPL Center in their laundromats?
Over the last 41 years in the retail industry, we’ve bought and sold many locations. And, with every location, I’ve reflected on what we’ve learned. One thing I know for certain is that installing the LaundryCares’ RPL Center has been one of the best business decisions I’ve ever made in my life.
Business is not all about the money. It’s about what you’re doing inside the community in which you serve. Adding the literacy space is a decision you will never regret. I only wish we had done it sooner.
[For more information about the LaundryCares Foundation, its programs for store owners and how to get involved, contact Dan Naumann at: [email protected]; or visit the organization’s website at: www.laundrycares.org.]
