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....

PlanetLaundry Podcast

Subscribe to Our Podcast

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

PlanetLaundry is the official publication of CLA and is trusted by thousands of laundry professionals to deliver the latest news and industry-specific topics.

‘Tapping’ into Today’s Technology

Jan 29, 2015

Orignally posted - Dec 01, 2014 For the most part, our industry is the same throughout from store to store. Each laundromat features basically the same setup: washers and dryers for a set price, folding tables, carts, maybe some vending machines and possibly an...

Making a Name for Ourselves

Jan 29, 2015

Originally posted - Mar 27, 2012 What is our industry's brand? I'm fond of the following motto that I derived from the insightful consumer research conducted by the Coin Laundry Association: Our customers want time-savings and convenience in a clean, safe environment...

Take Notes – And Then Take Action

Jan 29, 2015

Originally posted - Aug 15, 2012 Each year, one of the most valuable things a self-service laundry owner can do is attend distributor shows. And please notice that I didn't just say "your distributor show." The reason for this is because I personally go to several...

Headlines

Creating an Emotional Connection

Chicago-Area Owner Tom Benson Discusses the Customer-Focused Programs That Set His Business Apart from the Crowd Ten years ago, Tom Benson reopened the doors to his rebuilt and renovated laundry business, World's Largest Laundromat, after it had been destroyed by a...

Meeting the Demand for On-Demand Laundry

Here's a Look at Four of the Industry's Leading App-Based Players Last month, I touched on the growth of app-based, on-demand laundry businesses, along with the general public's increased awareness of such services. In this column, I'd like to discuss a few of the...

Laundry, Real Estate Veterans Partner on New Brokerage Service

Wash Broker to Serve Chicago-Area Vended Laundry Market Laundry and real estate industry veterans Robert Renteria and Joe Hollendonner recently announced that they've joined forces to create Wash Broker, Ltd., a laundry brokerage service based in the Chicago area....

Western State Design Names New Vice President

California-Based Distributor Promotes Todd Hyrn Western State Design, Inc. has promoted Todd Hyrn to vice president. Most recently, Hyrn served as director of operations for the company and has been a member of the WSD management team for 25 years. "The company has...

IPSO Adds Belenky to Distribution Network

Long-Time Distributor to Serve Vended, OPL Customers in Northern Ohio IPSO recently added Belenky Inc., based in Akron, Ohio, to its distributor network. The company will now offer IPSO's complete line of vended and on-premises laundry equipment to customers in the...

Clean Show Management Company Relocates to New Headquarters

Riddle & Associates, the long-time management company for The Clean Show, has moved to new offices. The company's new address is: 2751 Buford Highway, Suite 100, Atlanta, Ga. 30324. The phone number remains (404) 876-1988, while the new fax number is now (404)...

Survey: Small-Business Outlook Mixed

The National Small Business Association has released its 2015 Year-End Economic Report, which shows mixed results among small business. Small-business owners expressed a less positive outlook on the overall economy; however, 75 percent are confident in their own...

WASH Laundry Names District Sales Manager

Edward Coon to Serve Oregon Multi-Family Laundry Market WASH Multifamily Laundry Systems, based in El Segundo, Calif., has named Edward Coon as its new district sales manager for Oregon. From the Portland branch office, Coon will be responsible for expanding sales...

R&B Wire Products Celebrates 70 Successful Years in Business

When R&B Wire Products (then known as RB Company) was founded in 1946, the self-service laundry industry was still in its infancy. World War II had just ended, and the ingenuity of product design and development had shifted from the war effort to more practical...

WASH Laundry Teams Up with Alaska-Based Distributorship

WASH Multifamily Laundry Systems recently announced that it has partnered with Harold's Commercial Laundry, a distributor of vended and commercial laundry equipment based in Anchorage, Alaska. This new partnership will enhance the breadth of services available to both...

Tide Enters On-Demand Laundry Arena

Proctor & Gamble Brand Now Offers App-Based Delivery Service in Select Chicago Markets Cincinnati-based consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble has begun testing a new on-demand, app-based laundry and drycleaning delivery service in select Chicago markets. This...

WashClub Opens New Branch in Miami

New York Company Brings On-Demand Laundry Services to Busy South Florida Market WashClub, an on-demand laundry and drycleaning service headquartered in New York City, recently opened its newest branch in Miami. WashClub Miami is owned and operated by Dave Carlson....

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

A Second ‘Language in the Laundromat’ Location Opens in Chicago Suburb

A second laundromat in the Chicago suburb of Elgin, Ill., has installed a bookcase, books and signs encouraging families to turn the downtime during the washing and drying process into a learning and literacy-building experience for their children. The second...

Electrolux, Laundrylux Announce Development Collaboration

Electrolux Professional, the professional products division of global appliances manufacturer Electrolux, is collaborating with Laundrylux, the North American importer and distributor of Wascomat and Electrolux branded professional laundry equipment, to develop...

Laundrylux Annouces Acquisition of CESCO

Laundrylux, headquartered in Inwood, N.Y., has acquired the assets of CESCO Equipment, based in SeaTac, Wash. “Laundrylux is delighted to partner with Rich Boyd, whom we have worked with for many years, to turbo-charge the Pacific Northwest market and accelerate...

WASH Laundry Names New CEO

WASH Multifamily Laundry Systems – headquartered in El Segundo, Calif. – has appointed Jim Gimeson as the company’s new chief executive officer. Gimeson will focus on strengthening the WASH brand as well as driving consumer and industry engagement, while guiding...

Laundrylux Acquires Golden State Laundry Systems

Laundrylux, headquartered in Inwood, N.Y., has acquired the assets of California-based Golden State Laundry Systems. “We are thrilled to partner with Mike and Laura Hurrell and the Golden State team in San Diego, Los Angeles and the Bay Area to serve the...