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...

Metrics That Matter

Profit, Performance, and Planning in Vended Laundry The laundromat business is like most businesses in that you need to do a lot of things right to be successful. But how do you know if it’s working? According to successful owners, you just need to look at the...

Startup to Scale

How Western State Design Has Been Helping Laundry Businesses Thrive for More Than 50 Years For more than five decades, Western State Design has been a leading provider of turnkey laundry solutions across the vended, on-premises, and commercial/industrial markets....

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Staying on Schedule

Jan 29, 2015

[ Originally posted - Apr 11, 2012 All dryers require regular attention to keep them operating at their peak performance level. Failure to address routine maintenance issues on dryers can significantly increase operating costs and, in the case of coin laundries, can...

Put Your Energy Costs in ‘Reverse’

Jan 29, 2015

Originally posted - Apr 11, 2014 Written By: Mustafa Oluwa If your business is located in an area where energy has been deregulated, identifying and locking in the lowest electricity and natural gas rates is, of course, the prudent thing to do. The benefits of energy...

Remote Possibilities

Jan 29, 2015

Orignally posted - May 01, 2014 Roseville, Calif., November 2012 – The phone rings at 11:30 p.m. Caller: Hello, Ms. Dower? Me: Yes? Caller: This is Roseville Police Department. Me: How may I help you? Roseville Dispatcher: You have a customer who has called 911...

Headlines

Back to School

Strengthen Your Business by Earning Your Ph.D. in ‘Laundrology' I recently got the idea to add a new category to the long list of scientific "-ology" subjects that exist in our world today. I've decided to create a brand new discipline and call it "laundrology," which...

Wash with Wally: Calculating a Workable Retail Rent, Bidding on a Commercial Account and More…

My rent payment is killing me. Is there some type of calculation as to what percentage of gross the rent should be? Ideally, your rent should be between 15 percent and 25 percent of your gross volume. When you venture into that 25 percent range, have debt service on...

Dexter Announces Leadership Changes

Dexter Laundry Inc. and its parent company, Dexter Apache Holdings Inc., have announced that Andy Kretz has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Dexter Apache Holdings. Most recently president of Dexter Laundry, Kretz assumes operational and...

Business Bio: In & Out Laundromat

Jack and Mary Lanning In & Out Laundromat Lowell, Mass. Before Getting into the Laundry Business… Jack was a manufacturer's sales representative while also managing his parents' tax services business. Mary is a stay-at-home mom. Store Opening December 2015...

Growing Pains

HR Management Technology Tips to Help You Survive Your Business' Growth So, you own a self-service laundry that is either partially attended or fully attended, meaning that for some significant portion of the day for which your store is open to the public you have...

Caught on Camera

Here's What to Consider Before Purchasing a Security System for Your Laundry Business I recently experienced a "slip-and-fall" incident at one of my stores. However, I was immediately suspicious that this claim might simply be a play for a settlement. Here's what...

Caught on Camera

Here's What to Consider Before Purchasing a Security System for Your Laundry Business I recently experienced a "slip-and-fall" incident at one of my stores. However, I was immediately suspicious that this claim might simply be a play for a settlement. Here's what...

Two for One

The Doctor Tackles a Couple of Common Laundry Questions Recently, a number of self-service laundry owners have asked me about two specific topics related to their businesses. As a result, I thought I would address each issue in this month's column. One of the topics...

South Carolina Operator Named Huebsch Store Owner of the Quarter

Huebsch has named Dewayne Bohannon its latest Store Owner of the Quarter for his seven successful Wash-n-Go Laundry locations in South Carolina. "Dewayne is an accomplished laundromat owner with a keen grasp on what it takes to run a prosperous business," said Kathryn...

Industry Veteran Howard Herman Retires

Laundrylux's Howard Herman has announced his retirement "from full-time employment" after 43 years with the company – from its early days as Bermil Industries to its current business model. "Howard has been a stalwart of our industry for more than four decades, with...

Time to Retool?

Laundry Owners Open Up About Their Recent Renovation Projects During last year's Clean Show in Atlanta, the Coin Laundry Association presented a seminar dubbed "Flip My Laundry," in which laundry owners discussed the highlights of their recent store renovation...

CLA Gears Up for Excellence in Laundry Conference 2016

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. – March 29, 2016 - In 2012, the Coin Laundry Association (CLA) launched its first-ever Excellence in Laundry Conference – an unprecedented event that brought the self-service laundry industry's most successful people together for two days of...

This Month's Issue

Green is Good Business: Green Operations Increasingly Important to Feed Consumer Demand
Women In Laundry: Lee Ann Geurts Loves a Challenge
Store Profile: Kings Laundry Kicking it in Los Angeles
Untapped Growth Opportunities
And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

Statewide to Open New Georgia Facility

Statewide Laundry Equipment recently announced that it will open a new office in Smyrna, Ga. The new facility will feature sales and service teams, as well as a showroom, an equipment warehouse, and a fully stocked parts department. In addition, the company will host...

Aaxon to Host Seminar for Laundry Investors

Aaxon Laundry Systems has announced that it will hold an investment seminar this May at the company’s headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Aaxon Consultant Frank P. D’Annunzio will lead this educational session, which will include insight into securing laundromat...

CLA Connect LIVE Turns a Triple Play in February

Current laundry owners and potential investors – along with distributors and manufacturers – gathered in Burbank, Calif., on February 20, in Seattle on February 21, and in Raleigh, N.C., on February 27 to network, enjoy a nice meal and sharpen their business knowledge...

United Financial Adds Industry Veteran Kirk Stone

United Financial Corp., a nationwide leasing and equipment financing company based in West Des Moines, Iowa, recently announced that laundry industry veteran Kirk Stone has joined the company and will oversee its new Commercial Laundry Finance Division. Stone formerly...

CLA Announces 2019 Board of Directors

Trade Group Adds Three Store Owners and a Distributor to Its Current Board Lineup For 2019, the Coin Laundry Association has added four new laundry professionals to two-year terms on its Board of Directors. These new directors include one distributor and three store...