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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On the Front Lines

Jan 27, 2015

Originally posted - Aug issue/2012 Store Attendants Discuss the Laundry Business from Their Perspective It's easy to underestimate the job that self-service laundry attendants perform. However, their duties couldn't be more significant. After all, if a customer has a...

It’s a Small World

Jan 27, 2015

Originally posted - Oct issue/2012 Alliance Laundry Systems Helps Grow the Self-Service Laundry Business on a Global Level (This is the first in a series of articles that will focus on the international scope of the self-service laundry business, while examining the...

Chain Reaction

Jan 27, 2015

Originally posted - Oct 30, 2014 One of every four self-service laundry owners today operates multiple locations, according to the Coin Laundry Association's 2014 Coin Laundry Industry Survey. And that number has risen consistently. Each year, more and more...

Headlines

Continental Announces Two New Distributor Partners

Atlantic Laundry Equipment, The Laundry Shop Added to the Manufacturer's Distribution Network Continental Girbau, Inc. has partnered with two new vended laundry distributors - Atlantic Laundry Equipment in St. John's, Newfoundland, and The Laundry Shop in Pembroke...

Taylor Houseman to Host Educational Event

Profit Symposium Scheduled for November 4-5 in Northern California Taylor Houseman, Inc. will host a profit symposium on November 4-5 at the company's headquarters in Pittsburg, Calif. The Taylor Houseman Profit Symposium – which will run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m....

Wash with Wally: Bleach, Irons, Yoga Blankets and More…

My wash-dry-fold and commercial laundry business is going very well, and my attendants are busy all day. However, I recently landed a contract with a security company to do their shirts. This client wants the shirts washed and ironed. Unfortunately, I've been having a...

Four Qualities to Look For When Selecting a Distributor

Your Business Partner Should Have an Excellent Reputation, Industry Knowledge, Loyalty and Comprehensive Support Starting and maintaining a successful laundry operation takes much more than simply finding a space and buying equipment – partnering with an experienced...

The Art of the Laundry Deal

Negotiating Strategies and Tactics for Your Next Laundromat Lease Since there have been self-service laundries, there have been landlords. And, since there have been landlords, there have been leases. Of course, in the beginning, these were simple one- or two-page...

Business Bio: Best Price Cleaners

Tahir Kakar Best Price Cleaners Knightdale, N.C. Before Getting into the Laundry Business... With a background in medicine, Kakar came to the United States from Afghanistan in 2001. While in school to earn an American medical degree, he took a part-time job in the...

Coupon Clippers Just Don’t Cut It

Coupon Discount Offers Are the Wrong Way to Try to Build Your Wash-Dry-Fold Business I don't know how many times I've been bombarded by salespeople representing Groupon or some other online coupon service, trying to cut into my wash-dry-fold revenue. In fact, I've...

Become a Show Off

Grab a Larger Share of Your Market Using Carefully Crafted Television Commercials During the last 15 years or so, I'll wager that I've written, directed and/or appeared in about 50 television commercials to advertise my self-service laundry business – or to help...

Been There, Done That

An Interview with Industry Veteran David Horton David Horton has spent his entire adult life in the commercial laundry business – selling equipment, brokering businesses and building stores – from California to the East Coast to the Central Plains, with stops in...

Eastern Funding Names VP of Sales and Marketing

Commercial Lender Hires Industry Veteran Anthony Regan Commercial lender Eastern Funding, LLC has named Anthony Regan its new vice president of sales and marketing. Regan will be responsible for company-wide sales and marketing across Eastern's coin laundry,...

Lease Negotiation: Mistakes to Avoid

When putting together your self-service laundry business, the lease is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. Here are some of the most common – and dangerous – pitfalls to avoid when hammering out your next laundry lease: • Failure to secure exculpation of...

Laundrylux Names Business Development Manager

Manufacturer Adds Industry Veteran Tim Seitz to Its PLUS Division Laundrylux has named industry veteran Tim Seitz the new business development manager of the company's PLUS division for on-premises laundry. Seitz's laundry industry expertise spans nearly two decades....

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

Procter & Gamble to Purchase Chicago-Based Drycleaning Startup Pressbox

Chicago-based drycleaning startup Pressbox is being acquired by consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, according to the two companies. However, the terms of the deal were not disclosed. Pressbox - launched in 2013 by entrepreneurs Vijen Patel and Drew McKenna -...

Laundry One to Host Open House

Laundry One will hold an open house on September 20 at the company's headquarters in Canal Winchester, Ohio. This free event is being held to help educate store owners and potential investors about the latest products available from Dexter Laundry and other industry...

PWS Named Speed Queen Distributor of the Year

Speed Queen has presented its highest distributor honor - the 2017 Distributor of the Year Award - to PWS-The Laundry Company. PWS, headquartered in Los Angeles, has a rich history with Speed Queen and remains one of the most prolific developers of vended laundries in...

Giant Wash Hosts Free Laundry Day, Launches Wash & Learn Program

On May 12, Giant Wash Coin Laundry, located in St. Paul, Minn., kicked off a new Wash & Learn program, in conjunction with a free laundry day at the store. The laundromat hosted the free laundry event in celebration of the new program, offering community members...

Laundry Owner Adds ‘Little Free Library’ Stand to His Business’ Offerings

Although Brockton, Mass., has long operated three branches of its main public library, the city now boasts six branches of its "Little Free Library" program as well.The Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association recently unveiled Brockton's newest Little Free Library...