Longtime Laundromat Owner on 23 Years of Service, Challenges, Community Impact

For more than two decades, Lee Ann Geurts has been a steady force in her Brooklyn Park community in Minnesota, running three laundromats that have become known not just for clean clothes, but for connection, comfort, and care. What began as a business venture for her...

Green is Good Business

Green Operations Increasingly Important to Feed Consumer Demand When Green Laundry Lounge co-owners Pulin and Krishna Dasai got into the vended laundry industry, they wanted to change a narrative: laundromats are water and energy-intensive businesses. “The...

Leveling the Playing Field

John Um wanted to make sure small business owners could get fair pricing and access to reliable suppliers without needing to have significant buying power. As a leader whose career spanned several major retail and e-commerce companies, he had seen firsthand how hard...

Staying Fierce: Haley Gould Finds Perfect Fit in Vended Laundry

Haley Gould is the Director of Partner Success for HappyNest. She manages an internal team while leading more than 100 partners across the United States building a successful pickup and delivery operation in addition to running their laundromat business. A consummate...

PlanetLaundry Podcast

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Shattering the Myths

May 4, 2015

Veteran Laundry Operators Dispel Some Popular Industry Misconceptions – And Share Their Own Personal Business Surprises The good news is that today there in more information available to new laundry owners and prospective investors than ever before. The bad news is...

Running ‘In the Margin

Apr 29, 2015

Here's How to Control Costs and Prioritize Your Self-Service Customers, While Building a Strong Wash-Dry-Fold Business Perhaps you returned from the recent Clean Show in Atlanta with a renewed interest in getting into the wash-dry-fold business, or maybe now you're...

Choosing a Lender?

Mar 27, 2015

Three Key Factors to Consider When Seeking Acquisition and Equity Financing Whether you're a new investor in the self-service laundry industry or a seasoned multi-store owner, there will come a time when you will need to invest – or reinvest – in your business....

Headlines

Sizing Up a Potential Laundry Location

Demographic and Competitive Analyses are Time-Consuming and Maybe a Bit Boring – But They Can Be Critical to Finding a Winning Store SiteDemographic and competitive analyses can be useful tools for assessing whether or not a location has the potential to be a...

2016: The Year in Review

A Look Back at the Past 12 Months – And a Peek at What Lies Ahead for the Laundry Industry in 2017It’s that time of year again – a time to reminisce about the 366 days gone by (yes, it was a leap year)… and to try to get a feeling for what the...

We Were Determined to Give Them the Very Most

An Interview with Reginald Milton, Executive Director of the South Memphis Alliance – And a Laundry Operator Reginald Milton is executive director and founder of the South Memphis Alliance, which is a nonprofit organization established in 2000. The SMA’s...

Mapping Out Your Marketing Future

Here’s a Look at the Major Marketing Trends of 2016 – Along with a Few Predictions for the Coming YearCartography, the art and science of creating maps, has reportedly been around for more than 4,000 years. The ancient Babylonians etched maps on clay, the...

Minimizing Payroll, Maximizing Productivity

With Labor Costs on the Rise, Getting the Most Out of Your Staff is Critical to the Success of Your Wash-Dry-Fold and Commercial Laundry Business As a small-business owner, you’re very likely aware that there’s a movement in cities and states across the...

Business Bio: Laundry Clinic

Dr. Nick Ogunmola Laundry Clinic Haltom City, Texas Before Getting into the Laundry Business… Dr. Ogunmola is currently a pediatric gastroenterologist at Cook Children’s Hospital in Ft. Worth, Texas. Store Opening The Laundry Clinic opened on August 20,...

Continental Names New Staff Members

Continental Girbau Inc. recently welcomed Peter Grasee of Ripon, Wis., as inside sales and customer care associate; Sarah Griffin of Fond du Lac, Wis., and Courtney Krepline of Brillion, Wis., as graphic/web designers; Mike Lynch of Oshkosh, Wis., as Girbau Industrial...

Oshkosh Express Laundry Donates $1,860 to Breast Health Fund

Oshkosh Express Laundry Center, based in Oshkosh, Wis., recently presented a check for $1,860 to the Aurora Health Care Foundation’s Oshkosh Pink Possible Breast Health Fund. The Pink Possible campaign, held throughout October each year, engages local businesses...

Dexter University Hosts Sales Academy

Dexter Laundry recently honored the fall 2016 graduating class of Dexter University – Sales Academy. This class was comprised of Dexter authorized distributors from around the world, representing five countries and totaling more than 350 years of experience in...

Laundry Systems of Tennessee Now Carries Primus Equipment

Primus has announced a new partnership with Laundry Systems of Tennessee. The commercial laundry equipment distributor will now offer Primus equipment to self-service laundries and on-premises laundry facilities in Kentucky and Tennessee. “We are thrilled to...

Clean Show Registration, Housing Now Open

Those planning to attend Clean 2017 in Las Vegas, June 5-8, can now register for the show and make their hotel reservations on the show’s website. For the first time, members of any of the five national sponsoring associations can register for a discounted fee...

Registration and Housing Opens for Clean 2017

People planning to attend Clean 2017 in Las Vegas June 5-8 can register for the show and make their hotel reservations starting November 17 on the show’s website. The Clean Show is the world’s largest exhibition of commercial laundry, drycleaning and...

Scaling Wash & Fold Operations

Learn how to grow your wash & fold from an offering into a money-making operation.

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This Month's Issue

Tech on the Rise: How Operators Are Using Innovation to Run Smarter, Faster Laundromats: From AI phone systems to real-time data tracking, operators and suppliers share how technology is reshaping the modern laundry business and what’s coming next.
Business Profile: Delivering a Superior
Laundry Experience
Member Spotlight: Rick Rome –
Innovating Laundry, One Customer at a Time
Guest Column: How AI Changed Google Reviews (What Laundromat Owners Need to Know)
And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

Huebsch Honors Top Distributors

Huebsch recognized six of its distributors for excellence at the 2019 Clean Show in New Orleans. Those recipients are: Universal Laundry Machinery, Westland, Mich. ¬– Innovation and Investment Partner Award National Laundry Equipment, Nashville, Tenn. – Emerging Star...

Laundry Literacy Coalition Unveils Read, Play & Learn Kits

The Laundry Literacy Coalition – comprised of the LaundryCares Foundation and Too Small to Fail – has partnered with Lakeshore Learning and Scholastic to offer new Family Read, Play & Learn kits, developed specifically for vended laundries. The kits are uniquely...

Alliance Buys Former Crane Facility to Expand Production

Alliance Laundry Systems, headquartered in Ripon, Wis., recently closed on the purchase of the former Manitowoc Crane Company plant in Manitowoc, Wis. The more than 330,000-square-foot location will be used to help grow production at Alliance’s Ripon facility. In...

Western State Design to Host Fall Service Seminars

Western State Design, headquartered in Hayward, Calif., will host free service seminars for vended laundry operators. Attendees will learn best practices for optimal operation and maintenance of Dexter Laundry equipment. The training sessions – scheduled for 9 a.m. to...

Textile-Care Industries Mourn David Cotter

Textile Care Allied Trades Association CEO David Cotter passed away on August 9 in Polk County, Fla. Since April 1993, Cotter, 64, served as the chief executive officer of TCATA, which is an international trade association representing the manufacturers and...