Miami native Clint Gulley II, who operates seven McDonald’s franchises, recently signed a five-store agreement with LaundroLab, to bring the laundromat franchise to his home city. Gulley’s wife, Melissa, will be a co-owner of the business.
After nearly a decade in hotel and restaurant management, Gulley followed in the franchising footsteps of his father. He invested in a collection of McDonald’s franchises throughout the state of Florida and has been a franchisee for more than 11 years. Together, he and his father now own 11 separate McDonald’s locations.
The flexibility of the laundromat business model piqued Gulley’s interest for investing in the LaundroLab stores.
“With McDonald’s, it’s far from an absentee model, because you have to be involved in your business,” Gulley said. “My decision to join LaundroLab was a matter of being in a business that is essential, one that can withstand a pandemic and be profitable. The brand has a manageable business model, and my interaction with the corporate team has felt good as well.”
“We believe there is a market for our brand virtually everywhere, and we’ve noticed that the housing market in Florida is something that can drive a lot of traffic into our locations,” explained Alex Smereczniak, co-founder and CEO of LaundroLab.
“Miami has a strong forecast of household income, population density and percentage of rented households, and we’re looking forward to developing through those demographics,” Gulley added.
LaundroLab has a separate franchise agreement already in motion for three new stores in Tampa, and the brand believes dozens of locations will be able to succeed throughout Tampa and Miami.
Although Gulley’s initial agreement is for five laundry locations, he sees an even greater need for the LaundroLab service throughout South Florida and believes the brand can develop itself for years to come.
“I’m hoping we can continue to scale and grow this brand,” he said. “There’s enough of a need for it in this state.”
