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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2014: The Year in Review

Jan 27, 2015

Originally posted - Nov 26, 2014 It's that time of year again – a time to reminisce about the 365 days gone by… and to try to predict what the next 365 have in store. Everyone does it – from the largest television networks to the most niche bloggers. This month, we...

Getting Down to Business

Jan 27, 2015

Originally posted - Sep 29, 2014 The ultimate goal is to keep your washers and dryers humming from opening to closing. After all, every piece of laundry equipment sitting idle is missed revenue that will never be replaced. For certain laundry owners, the answer may be...

The Next Generation

Jan 27, 2015

Originally posted - Nov issue/2012 Building a Successful Multi-Generational Laundry Business Like most self-service laundries, the World's Largest Laundromat – located in the Chicago suburbs – is a family business. "I'm always telling people it's a family business,...

Headlines

Vital Signs

Neglect Your Store's Signage at Your Own Risk Because a laundromat is a self-service business, there is the tendency among some owners to have a "build-it-and-they-will-wash" attitude toward their stores. In other words, the focus is primarily on the equipment offered...

Choosing the Right Partner

Finding a Quality Drycleaner and Negotiating a Favorable Arrangement Are Critical to the Growth of Your Business I've recently received a flurry of calls from laundry owners who offer home delivery of their wash-dry-fold product and are now looking to expand that...

WASH Names New Executive Vice President

Paul Cummins to Oversee Sales, Marketing, Customer Service and Business Development Groups WASH Multifamily Laundry Systems – a laundry facilities management service company, based in El Segundo, Calif. – has announced that Paul Cummins will join the company as...

WashClub to Expand Service to Major U.S. Cities

WashClub - an on-demand laundry, drycleaning and tailoring service - has announced it will be expanding its service offering to reach more businesses and households in select cities across the United States. In less than three months, the company has expanded to Long...

Firestone Financial Announces Clean Show Contest Winner

Florida Laundry Owners Receive 0% APR Loan Firestone Financial has announced that Beverly and Rich Fleischer – owners of 24 Hour Laundry Zone in Amelia Island, Fla. – are the winners of the company's Clean Show contest, which awarded them a 36-month 0% APR interest...

Firestone Financial Announces Clean Show Contest

Winner Will Receive a 36-Month, Interest-Free Loan Firestone Financial Corp. recently announced it will hold a drawing to award a 36-month 0% interest loan up to $50,000 to one lucky winner at Clean 2015, which will be held April 16-19 in Atlanta. The winner will be...

Whirlpool Completes Purchase of American Dryer Corporation

Whirlpool Corp. recently announced that it has completed its purchase of American Dryer Corp. The acquisition gives Whirlpool's commercial laundry business a platform to reach new countries and channels, according to the Michigan-based manufacturer. "Acquiring ADC...

Huebsch Adds Loomis Bros. to Distributor Network

Huebsch recently added Loomis Bros. Equipment Co. to its distributor network. Headquartered in Fenton, Mo., Loomis Bros. is now an authorized distributor of Huebsch vended laundry equipment in eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northern Indiana. Founded in 1949,...

Continental Appoints New Regional Sales Manager

Wesley Kraemer To Oversee Central U.S. Markets Continental Girbau Inc. has promoted Wesley Kraemer to regional sales manager - Central U.S. Kraemer joined the company in 2010 as a management trainee - a role in which he fielded customer and distributor calls, gained...

Alliance Laundry Completes New $400 Million Asset-Backed Finance Facility

Alliance Laundry Holdings, LLC has announced that it has completed a new $400 million asset-backed finance facility supporting its business operations in North America and select European markets. "Financing is a key component of maintaining and growing our leading...

Mid-Year Report Card

I hope the first half of 2015 has been successful for you and your businesses. Recent surveys and economic indicators are all showing positive results, and it looks to stay that way for some time to come. In addition, the Coin Laundry Association accomplished some...

Darling’s Sales & Service Celebrates 50th Anniversary

This year marks the 50th anniversary for Darling's Sales & Service Co., a full-service vended and on-premise laundry equipment distributor in Blaine, Minn. "I started the business by doing service work out of my garage," said company founder Ralph Darling. "I...

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

Laundrylux Launches Disaster Relief Program for Laundries Impacted by Hurricane Florence

Laundrylux has launched a comprehensive disaster relief program for customers impacted by Hurricane Florence. "We know first-hand how destructive a hurricane can be and we want to help," said Laundrylux CEO John Sabino. "We had employees and customers who lost their...

Maytag Honors Outstanding Customer Achievements

More than 120 attendees from 16 countries recently attended Maytag Commercial Laundry's 59th Annual Meeting, held in Providence, R.I. The three-day event featured a look at Maytag's newest products, as well as offering insight into the brand's strategic approach for...

Martin-Ray Laundry Systems Hosts Women in Coin Laundry Event

As the vended laundry industry continues to draw entrepreneurs, increasingly, these new business owners and investors are women. With that in mind, Jodi Way, territory sales representative at Martin-Ray Laundry Systems, a Denver-based Speed Queen distributor,...

‘Common Sense Won Out’

CLA, Lobbying Group Intervene to Protect Laundry Owners' Sales Tax Exemption in Kentucky Laundry owners in Kentucky dodged a bullet this spring - a bullet aimed directly at their bottom line... in the form of a 6 percent sales tax. Due to the state's more than $50...

WashClub Expands Software Footprint in U.S., Europe

WashClubTrak – a provider of online laundry and drycleaning delivery software – has announced that it has expanded into three key markets within the U.S. and one in Europe. The company has extended its footprint to Seattle; Phoenix; and Orange County, Calif. – as well...