Store Owners Share Profitable Business Options and Service Offerings They Run in Tandem with Their Laundromat Operations
Successful laundromat entrepreneurs have always focused on two things – customer service and efficiency.
In other words, best serving the customer through the most efficient use of the space and labor at hand.
Give a savvy store operator an extra 600 square feet, and be prepared for the unveiling of a new customer offering in the coming months – whether it’s a tangible profit center or simply a new element that elevates the laundromat’s user experience.
This month, we asked seven owners to share the additional products and services they provide customers in concert with their laundromat operations.
Mutts at the ’Mat
We had a small, closed-off area separate from our laundry, and decided to build it out and install a few automatic, self-serve dog washes. We call it the O-Town Dirty Dog LaundroMUT.
This area has its own entrance, and while it looks like it’s part of our laundry, it’s completely sealed off and separate – so laundry customers don’t have to endure “wet dog smell” while doing laundry.
Our attendants keep it clean. We’ve found that, as long as we have staff already on site, the dog wash requires no extra labor.
We have tiled the entire space up to the ceiling, and we’ve installed drains in the floor so that it’s like a big bath tub in the space. And all we do is spray the entire area down after a busy day.
We have five levels of drainage filtration in there, because the amount of hair is insane. If you don’t have a huge porous filter for the hair, it will indeed back up and flood. So, it just takes a bit of vigilance – but really no different than a lint trap or a drainage trough screen found on bulkhead drain troughs.
In addition, we’ve installed a special HVAC fan that keeps fresh air in there and keeps an eye on the humidity.
Previously, we had a barber in that space; however, it also was a much larger space with him in there. He was paying us $1,000 per month in rent. When I bumped the rent to $1,200, he ended up moving out. At that point, my general laundry manager at the time suggested the dog wash idea.
The dog wash has benefitted the laundromat, because it has enabled us to add nearly 1,000 square feet to our store, while also allowing us to replace the income from the hair salon.
At first, I wasn’t sure a dog wash could make up for the salon’s rent. However, it has done incredibly well lately and is bringing in about $400 per week. We believe it will only get better as time goes on. It was stuck at $100 to $200 per week for about a year and a half – but for the past year it’s been in the $400- to $500-per-week range. And we’ve never truly marketed it.
One reason I think the income has jumped is because Google Maps has finally allowed us to list the dog wash separate from the laundromat, which immediately doubled our income – and it has since tripled. Within the last year, we’ve seen the Dirty Dog LaundroMUT replace and surpass the monthly rent we received from the salon.
We printed up some door hanger flyers for the dog wash, so our next step will be to go door to door to all of the apartment buildings around our store.
The biggest challenges of running this type of profit center: It’s high-maintenance, for sure. It requires a lot of manpower to keep it looking and smelling nice. However, we have a 6,000-square-foot laundry attached to it, with 120 machines and seven full-time employees to keep it looking and smelling nice.
The best advice for other laundromat owners: You must have a completely separate space from your main laundry operation. When it gets busy at the dog wash, it gets dirty and stinky.
Joe Jepsen
O-Town Laundry, Salt Lake City
Massage Therapy
At The Wash Basket, we recently added a simple, new profit center that we purchased at last year’s Clean Show.
It’s a massage chair.
We’re always thinking of what else we can sell or offer that will occupy our customers’ time in the hour or so that they’re with us. And, in talking to our customers, this seemed like a no-brainer.
We currently charge $1 for three minutes. In all, it adds about 5 percent to our bottom line. However, intangibly, we are the only business – not just laundromat – within at least 20 miles that offers this type of customer perk. In fact, we know that the massage chair has tipped the scales in our favor for some customers, and even non-customers, to visit and use our store – and this has increased our total volume, even during our traditional “off season.”
This and our other vending options have helped our business and built our reputation as a fun place to go, while doing something that’s not necessarily so much fun.
We also leverage our new addition to the store as an easy “customer appreciation” reward. For instance, if we see people waiting for their laundry, we’ll give them three or maybe six minutes “in the chair” for free. Moreover, not only does our attendant use the chair as a stress reliever (with her own money), but we’ve also empowered her to give away free trials as a customer thank-you and yet another way to build loyalty.
Although the massage chair is a small source of income, we like to look at it as a way to also give back to the community. We look for ways to earn “a little extra” so that we can sponsor a banner for the school gym; sponsor a hole for the Lions Club golf fundraiser; sponsor a graduating senior’s banner that the community hangs on our light poles on Main Street; and sponsor a band for our Tuesday night community event that features music, a food truck, and local vendors. Having that extra income stream helps us to give back to our small community.
The biggest challenges of running this type of profit center: None whatsoever. We bought it, assembled it, plugged it in – and it made $100 the first time we checked the till.
The best advice for other laundromat owners: Don’t buy the cheapest massage chair, or the most expensive one. Use it as a positive element to your business and a way to make customers feel comfortable while in the store. It’s about brand loyalty. People want to be at The Wash Basket.
Jennifer and Matt Gabris
The Wash Basket, Central Lake, Mich.
Buying Bitcoin
Beyond of the normal laundromat offerings, we also feature a Bitcoin ATM, which provides customers with the ability to insert cash into the machine and receive Bitcoin, Ethereum, and several other types of cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency was hot and being talked about a great deal, so I wanted to be the first in my market with this service. Nearly two years ago, we partnered with Cash2Bitcoin, which leases the space for the ATM from us, as well as paying a commission.
It’s been an easy way to generate approximately $2,000 in additional revenue annually with no hassle and no cost to me.
Plus, I’ve found that the ATM has brought in additional business. Typically, the cryptocurrency customer is going to be someone with disposable income. As a result, we’ve been able to turn several Bitcoin ATM users into wash-dry-fold laundry customers.
What’s more, Cash2Bitcoin promotes us on its website, and we cross-promote the ATM on our laundromat website. Plus, it’s a simple, stand-alone machine, so it doesn’t require any extra effort from our attendants. They just have to direct any new Bitcoin buyers in the direction of the machine.
The biggest challenges of running this type of profit center: The only challenge so far has been explaining to non-cryptocurrency customers that the ATM only takes money – it doesn’t dispense cash, and it can’t be used like a traditional ATM.
The best advice for other laundromat owners: If you’re interested in offering this, don’t wait. It’s my understanding that the cryptocurrency ATM companies only place a few machines within each market. You want to be among the first in your trade area.
Ed Ellis
1 Clean Laundry, St. Cloud, Fla.
Coffee Break
We opened the laundromat in February 2016, and the coffee shop in May of that year.
When we purchased the existing store, there was an attached apartment on the back of the building. Not being interested in residential income, we began looking at other options for the space. Our original business partners had the idea of a drive-through coffee shop, and we agreed to run the laundry side of the business, while they ran the coffee side.
However, our partners decided to move before the laundry was even open, and we basically inherited the coffee shop portion of the business as well. Although we contemplated not moving forward with the coffee shop, the equipment had already been purchased and the remodeling initiated. As a result, we approached our daughter, who was living in the Caribbean at the time, about the idea of opening a coffee shop.
Fortunately, she decided to move back to Texas and prepare to open the shop. The coffee side of things is her business. Although my wife and I provide support service, the success of that coffee shop is all hers.
As far as revenue, the laundry and coffee businesses are about 50/50. The laundromat led revenues the first couple years, but as the coffee shop became more established, it has evened out in contributed revenues.
Overall, the coffee shop doesn’t contribute much to our self-service laundry business, but it definitely has catalyzed our wash-dry-fold business – with many of our WDF clients starting as coffee customers first.
Of course, we absolutely cross-promote both businesses at every turn. We’re in a small town of about 2,600 – so nearly everyone knows us as “the laundromat with the coffee shop.”
With our employees, the lines tend to blur between the two businesses at times. The baristas will jump over and help with our wash-dry-fold customers during slow periods at the coffee shop. And, in fact, some of our part-time help actually do shift work at each business, separately.
Do economies of scale come into play? Perhaps if we had multiple locations it might. The two profit centers are so different that just about the only leveraging we can do is in the form of limited membership discounts with some of our suppliers.
The biggest challenges of running this type of profit center: Staffing. The coffee shop is not a career type of employment opportunity, so we hire mostly high school and college students, who are upwardly mobile and certainly not looking for long-term employment as baristas.
We have no full-time laundry attendants. My wife and I manage the equipment, building and grounds maintenance, as well as opening, closing, and daytime wash-dry-fold duties. Our daughter helps in the afternoon, if the coffee shop is slow.
The best advice for other laundromat owners: As with any business, research your demographics extensively. The coffee shop business is expensive to get into – as is the laundry business as far as equipment goes – and with much smaller margins. Our coffee shop works for us and our small town, but it’s because of our daughter’s strong creativity, reputation in town, and our ability to maintain all of the equipment in-house.
Mark Thompson
Clean Brew, Van, Texas
Service from Head to Toe
At the Soap Box, we provide two main services beyond traditional laundry – in-house sneaker care/cleaning and drop-off drycleaning, which we outsource.
We’ve offered sneaker care for the past two and a half years, and have handled drycleaning for five years.
We began taking in drycleaning after I simply got tired of seeing our clients come in with laundry, but with drycleaning items still in their cars, and hearing them say that their next stop would be at the cleaners.
As far as sneaker care, a client of ours came in one day and asked me what she needed to do to start a business. I walked her through it, and she came back months later and mentioned she did everything and was now working on building a sneaker-cleaning business. Eventually, I ended up adding it to our service line, to bring in additional business for both of us.
Together, both profit centers represent about 10 percent of the overall business, but it will be increasing soon due to a new partnership with other laundromats and drycleaners. They will be shipping their clients’ sneakers to us, for us to clean and ship back.
These two offerings have enabled us to achieve more closet penetration with our clients. Now our clients bring multiple types of items to us – not just laundry anymore. Also, we now have clients who live in other states who ship their sneakers to us.
For drycleaning, our attendants will take in and tag each garment in a client’s order. For sneaker care, one team member will assess the sneakers’ condition and recommend the best treatment plan, while another team member will process the shoes.
Do economies of scale come into play? Yes. Our attendants are already in the store conducting the intake and outgo of laundry. Now, they’re also following basically the same procedure for drycleaning and sneakers. Additionally, we’ve added drycleaning and sneaker care to our pickup-and-delivery routes, so our drivers are able to grab laundry, drycleaning, and sneakers from clients, which has increased the average value per order.
The biggest challenges of running this type of profit center: The biggest challenge has been experimenting with different fabric types and products to best clean and treat these different items. Unfortunately, there is no playbook, so it has meant a lot of time on YouTube, trial and error, and experimentation.
The best advice for other laundromat owners: Don’t listen to the naysayers. I had a couple of people tell me we shouldn’t do it, and that laundromats and sneakers don’t synergize well. However, I’m glad I held fast to the plan to service our clients from head to toe.
Waleed Cope
The Soap Box, Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Cleaning Doesn’t Stop at Clothes
We’ve been offering coin-operated car vacuums at our laundromat for 20 years. I was frustrated with the overpriced vacuums at gas stations and convenience stores, and I assumed our customers were as well.
The actual revenue represents less than 5 percent of our total business, but it brings in people to use our change machine and, in turn, makes them aware of our laundry business. Plus, it gives our laundry customers something productive to do while waiting for their clothes to wash and dry.
The biggest challenges of running this type of profit center: The upkeep and maintenance of the vacuums is a constant chore. An out-of-order car vacuum will create a lack of confidence in your customers regarding your entire business.
The best advice for other laundromat owners: Be prepared and knowledgeable enough to regularly maintain and quickly repair your vacuum units as needed. At Stop & Wash, my sons oversee the operation and maintenance of the vacs. Also, unless you’re a card-operated store, be sure to have a working change machine available.
Richard DeLuca
Stop & Wash Laundry, Weymouth, Mass.
Solving Customer Problems
We’ve operated a fully attended retail shop – featuring laundry soaps, detergents, dryer balls, stain treatment, branded bags, etc. – in tandem with our laundromat operation since the business opened in 2013. In 2019, we also began outsourcing drycleaning. And we recently started outsourcing rug cleaning and outdoor gear repair.
Every time I said no to someone asking whether or not we clean curtains or rugs, I was missing out on an opportunity to gain a customer and grow the business. I realized I needed to provide people with solutions. Being able to solve customers’ problem makes it easier for them – and most are willing to pay extra for convenience.
These added services bring in an extra 10 percent to 15 percent of revenue each month. Plus, it’s a conversation piece, and it get customers thinking of Brio as a one-stop shop. Moreover, solving problems as a laundry expert builds customer trust.
In addition, this mindset eventually led to us opening our own cleaners nearby. Customers can take items to either location to get them serviced. It’s convenient, and they know we can be trusted to take proper care of whatever items are dropped off.
We try to cross-promote the various businesses. Although I typically focus on promoting our self-service laundry – which is our main income – it’s easy and inexpensive to cross-promote with posters and sandwich boards.
Also, the different services sort of market themselves. For example, often self-service customers doing laundry in the store will notice someone dropping off a load of drycleaning, and the light bulb will go on: “Oh, nice! I can drop off my dress shirts here the next time I’m doing laundry.”
Of course, with these extra businesses, our laundry attendants have to be trained to help out our customers. Offering more services requires more training and additional knowledge. Misleading or incorrect information can mean the loss of a customer. Ensure your attendant has the information and training needed to understand what services you offer.
Do economies of scale come into play? The more the merrier, until storage becomes an issue. If we have two drycleaning orders one time, and the next time we have four, our delivery expense will be spread out – but our storage space will need to double. With growth comes costs. Keep the quality up, and build your processes. Be open to changing your processes to make the operation more efficient, especially if you have several options for your customers. Tracking rugs, drycleaning, and repairs are time-consuming and require space.
The biggest challenges of running this type of profit center: Space, tracking, and training attendants. Space for orders coming in waiting to be outsourced. Tracking where items are, determining the turnaround time, and figuring the wholesale costs. What happens if a rug you sent out gets damaged? Who’s responsible? Make certain to set standards and stick to them.
The best advice for other laundromat owners: Why not give it a try? Ask yourself what services your customers are asking for that you don’t currently offer. Is it worth doing? Is there a solution to their problem? And can you profit from solving their problem?
Travis Unema
Brio Laundry, Bellingham, Wash.
