Spinning Tales of Marketing Magic

How Simple Conversations and Clever Tricks Can Boost Your Business Beyond Just Clean Clothes Imagine strolling through your favorite mall. You know, the one where you always stop for a pretzel or to sneak a peek into that clothing store. As you’re wandering around,...

Laundroworks, Cents Join Forces

Business management platform Cents and loyalty card payment system provider Laundroworks have joined forces. The companies have teamed up by pairing Laundroworks’ on-machine payment system with Cents’ full-service laundry point-of-sale and business management system....

By the Book

The Silent Power of the Well-Crafted Employee Handbook On busy laundromat weekends – where washers hum, dryers tumble, and customers jockey for prized folding space – one essential tool quietly steers the course of business – the employee handbook. Whether overseeing...

Pending Legislation Seeks to Extend Sales Tax to Laundromats in Nebraska

As part of the 2024 legislative session, various lawmakers in Nebraska have introduced no fewer than eight bills that seek to expand the sales tax base within the state. Currently, self-service laundry is exempt from the collection of sales tax in Nebraska. However,...

PlanetLaundry Podcast

America’s #1 Resource for Vended Laundry News & Info

PlanetLaundry is the official publication of the Coin Laundry Association and is trusted by thousands to deliver the latest news and industry-specific topics for laundry owners and professionals.

PUD: Your Game Plan for Success

PUD: Your Game Plan for Success

Building and Promoting Your Laundromat’s Pickup-and-Delivery Business Waleed Cope believes that we’ve only just scratched the surface of what residential laundry pickup and delivery can be. “As more and more people incorporate more service-based businesses into their...

Knowing When the Price is Right

Knowing When the Price is Right

Laundromat Owners Share the Pricing Philosophies They Utilize to Keep Their Self-Service Customers Happy – And Their Bottom Lines Healthy [This is the second of a two-part series on vend price strategies for today’s self-service laundry businesses. Read Part 1 here.]...

Building the Basics

Building the Basics

Growing Your Self-Service Laundry Business in a Full-Service World These days, running the self-service portion of your laundromat business can feel a bit like swimming upstream – with the traditional laundromat model at times appearing, at best, quaint and perhaps...

Headlines

Speed Queen Laundry Franchise Expands into Florida

Speed Queen has announced the continued expansion of its Speed Queen Laundry franchise with the brand’s first store in Florida. The new 2,500-square-foot Speed Queen Laundry is located in Boca Raton. “With high-performance equipment in capacities up to 80 pounds,...

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Unlock a New Level of Efficiency for Your Laundry Business with ChatGPT I recently was speaking with a seasoned laundromat operator who had reached a point in her business where she was having difficulty finding qualified applicants to offer wash-dry-fold services....

New Distributor Partners with B&C, Announces Open House

Prairie Commercial Laundry Services, based in Chicago, has announced that it has teamed up with B&C Technologies of Panama City Beach, Fla., to introduce B&C’s new line of commercial vended washers and dryers in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan....

HappyNest Adds Laundromat Partner in Virginia

Laundry pickup-and-delivery service HappyNest has expanded its offerings to residents and businesses in and around the Richmond, Va., area through the company’s new partner, Neighborhood Laundromat. The 3,600-square-foot vended laundry provides HappyNest services to...

Speed Queen Spring Show Slated for June 1

Alliance Laundry Systems Distribution – South Region will host its Spring Show on June 1. The event, to be held from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., will be held at Victoria Palms RV Resort in Donna, Texas. The show is geared toward current and prospective laundromat owners...

Lucy Doll Retires from Mountain Electronics

After 13 years with Mountain Electronics, Customer Service Representative Lucy Doll has announced her retirement. Mountain CEO Whitney Brasington remembers hiring Doll: “The clinic she was working for was getting ready to close, so she ran a classified ad in the local...

Lavanett Named GNA’s Top Canadian Distributor for 2022

Girbau North America recently recognized Lavanett, headquartered in St. Laurent, Quebec, with its third consecutive Canadian Distributor of the Year Award for exemplary performance in the vended and on-premises laundry markets. Owned by Earl Eichen, Lavanett employs...

ACI Unveils Redesigned Website Promoting Cold-Water Washing

The American Cleaning Institute has launched a redesigned website for its Cold Water Saves initiative, which is a joint effort of ACI and The Sustainability Consortium to promote the power of cold-water washing. Originally launched in 2016, Cold Water Saves aims to...

The Unattended Laundromat

Successful Multi-Store Operators Explain How They Make This Business Model Work for Them For many laundromat owners, building a quality, reliable, and affordable staff has always been the most difficult piece to completing the small-business puzzle. And with lingering...

Wash with Wally: How to Starch Tuxedo Shirts

I’ve recently been offered a tuxedo rental account, which would require me to wash and starch about 400 shirts each week. How do I starch these shirts in my washers? During which cycle would I need to insert the starch? To starch the shirts in your laundromat’s...

Invest in Your Operations

A Look at Chicago-Based Distributor Midwest Laundries From a young age, Jim Schultz was drawn to the idea of owning his own business. And, with a number of family members already involved with the laundry business, he quite naturally became very familiar with the...

Choose Your Words Carefully

Here’s What to Consider When Creating Your Laundromat’s Next Promotional Campaign One of the most tried-and-true adages in advertising is that what people hear is more important than what you actually say. After all, humans, by and large, are interpretive organisms....

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Navigating Tax Season: Laundromat Owner’s Guide

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This Month's Issue

 

  • By the Book: The Silent Power of the Well-Crafted Employee Handbook
  • Business Management: Practical Advice for Handling Organizational Change – And Helping Your Employees Embrace the Transition
  • Digital Marketing: Boost Business with Simple Conversations and a Few Clever Tricks
  • New Member Spotlight: GE Explores the Future of Clean with Advanced Technology and Customer-Centric Solutions
  • And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

CG West to Host Customer Appreciation Days

Continental Girbau West will host a three-day customer appreciation event on September 12-14 at the company’s headquarters in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. This free event, which will run from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day, is open to current and potential CG West...

Eastern Funding Bolsters Sales Team

Eastern Funding LLC – a financial lender to laundromats, industrial laundries, car washes, commercial vehicles, and other businesses – has announced that Raina Bass has joined the company as loan officer. Bass, who will focus on commercial laundry financing, joins...

Whirlpool Unveils New Technology Center

Whirlpool Corp. has unveiled a new, 153,000-square-foot technology center in St. Joseph, Mich. The more than $60 million project expands and replaces much of the current St. Joseph Technology Center – and represents the first of a three-phase plan to redesign an...

WashClub Expands DoorDash Partnership

WashClub, a New York-based on-demand laundry and drycleaning service, recently announced the expansion of its partnership with DoorDash to serve laundry customers in the Bronx. The laundry service first launched this offering to residents of Brooklyn and Queens in...

American Trade Magazines Names New Publisher

American Trade Magazines, LLC – the parent company of textile-care B2B publications American Coin-Op, American Drycleaner, and American Laundry News – has announced a change in leadership. Effective August 1, Associate Publisher and National Sales Director Donald...

FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

Columns

The Laundry Doctor

Shifting Expectations of ‘Laundry Day’

Shifting Expectations of ‘Laundry Day’

Drycleaners Raise Awareness of Wash-Dry-Fold Services One of the biggest potential opportunities for store owners offering full-service laundry programs in the current and post-COVID-19 world is – and will be – the heightened awareness of outsourced laundry. Much of...

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The Business Mind

Anger Management

Anger Management

Seven Psychologically Sound Ways to Deal with Angry, Irate or Emotionally Difficult Customers Every laundromat owner is going to come face to face with angry, difficult or emotionally challenging customers from time to time. After all, you can’t please everyone....

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Wash With Wally

Wash with Wally: Cleaning Ceramic Tile

Wash with Wally: Cleaning Ceramic Tile

I have 5,000 square feet of ceramic tile in my laundromat. It has a non-slip surface that is hard to clean. What is an effective, inexpensive way to clean it without adding more soap and leaving streaks? Most ceramic floors should be cleaned with an acid-based...

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Viewpoint

Don’t Stop Now!

Don’t Stop Now!

Congratulations! Your laundromat survived 2020 and the first half of 2021 – a time during which an incredible number of brick-and-mortar retail businesses in the U.S. failed and simply disappeared. For all owners, the past year and a half has been historically...

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Digital Marketing

Tips for Social Media Success

Tips for Social Media Success

When it comes to social media marketing, businesses often face a difficult decision: what type of content should they post – be it on Facebook, Instagram or somewhere else? The answer isn’t always clear-cut, as different platforms have different audiences and...

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Strategic Corporate Allies Program

Our Strategic Corporate Allies support CLA’s mission through advocacy, education, and innovation to strengthen the industry, advance our members’ businesses, and prepare the next generation of laundry professionals for the future.

Interested in becoming a Strategic Corporate Ally of CLA? Contact President & CEO, Brian Wallace via email at [email protected] or call (630) 491-0499.

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