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....

Member Spotlight: Lab-Tested, Laundry-Approved

How Laundry Labs Plans to Change the Industry In today’s business world, efficiency and quality are paramount – and the commercial laundry industry is no exception. Recognizing the need for superior cleaning solutions specifically tailored to laundromat operators,...

Wash-Dry-Fold POS Launches New Feature

Wash-Dry-Fold POS® has announced its new Attendant Checklist Feature. According to Managing Partner Ian Gollahon, it is a simple but integrated tool that is so powerful, it’ll make you wonder how you ever ran your business without it. "You can monitor the checklist...

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.

Taking Care of Business

Jan 27, 2015

Originally posted - Jan issue/2012 Here's How Four Laundry Owners Diversified Their Operations with Commercial Accounts In the laundry business, an idle machine is a missed chance to gain needed revenue – and it's an opportunity that can never be recovered. Perhaps no...

Industry Showcase

Jan 27, 2015

Originally posted - June issue/2012 The Latest Products and Services from the Coin Laundry Industry's Leading Companies Alabama Bag Co. Alabama Bag Co., established in 1908 and is located in Talladega, Ala., provides high-quality canvas money bags for coins and...

Competing

Jan 27, 2015

Originally posted - Sep issue/2012 How to Respond When a New Laundromat Enters Your Market When the closest competitor to one of Brian Brunckhorst's coin laundries in northern California lost its lease, the multi-store owner was understandably overjoyed – and his...

Headlines

Great Lakes Commercial Sales Hosts Successful Spring Events

More Than 200 Attend Midwestern Product Expos and Service Schools Great Lakes Commercial Sales, Inc. welcomed more than 200 laundry owners and potential investors to its annual product expos, which were held throughout the Midwest during April and May. The events -...

Business Bio: 1 Clean Laundry

Ed & Rachael Ellis 1 Clean Laundry Saint Cloud, Fla.Before Getting into the Laundry Business…The Ellises owned a property management company, which specialized in short-term vacation rentals.Store OpeningThe couple's first laundromat opened in December 2009. They...

Texas Laundry Offering Relief for Flood Victims

Wash Day Laundry – through Project Laundry Love – is now offering free laundry services for those affected by the devastating floods in Wimberley, Texas, located southwest of Austin. Until June 5, 2015, volunteers will wash, dry, fold and bag laundry with a 24-hour...

Aaxon Names Multi-Housing Account Executive

Bill Brown to Oversee the Central Florida Market Aaxon Laundry Systems recently appointed Bill Brown to the position of multi-housing account executive for the central Florida market. "I'm honored and excited to be part of the Aaxon family," said Brown, who will be...

An Ounce of Prevention

How to Safeguard Your Laundry Business from Theft It's 4 a.m., a brick just crashed through your store window… and you're out of town. Do you really feel comfortable having your spouse go to the store alone? This is the type of question many people ask themselves...

Making a Statement

The ‘What,' ‘Why' and ‘How' of Mission Statements In a long history of looking at mission statements, researchers and practitioners have almost universally acknowledged the value of a singular mission as a driving force for companies – and yet have been inconsistent...

Dirty Bird Laundry

Ryan and Bernadette Hansen Dirty Bird Laundry Fresno, Calif. www.DirtyBirdLaundry.com Before Getting into the Laundry Business… Ryan was the operations manager for a produce distributor, and Bernadette worked at Costco. Store Openings Store 1: November 2009 - Fresno...

‘We Turn a Laundromat into a Community Center…’

An Interview with The Laundry Project's Jason Sowell Jason Sowell founded Current of Tampa Bay in 2008. It's a non-profit organization dedicated to helping meet the needs of low-income communities. Sowell is a former youth pastor and executive pastor in the Tampa...

Wash with Wally: Hair Dye Stains

One of my commercial accounts is a hair salon. Can you tell me the best way to remove dark hair dye from the white towels my client brings to me? Hair dye can be a real problem because different manufacturers use different types of bases for dyes. Some use a metallic...

Going ‘Undercover’

Forced to Take a Fresh Look at His Laundry Business, the Author Gained an Entirely New Perspective on His Overall Operation When is the last time you went "undercover?" No, I'm not suggesting you sneak into one of your competitor's laundries, pretending to be a...

Business Bio: Wash-n-Go

Dewayne Bohannon Wash-n-Go Columbia, S.C. Before Getting into the Laundry Business… Dewayne has been in the self-storage industry for 25 years, and he is also in the coin-operated amusement business. Store Opening Wash-n-Go in Columbia opened two years ago. However,...

Making the Call

How to Prepare for Sales Calls with Potential Commercial Clients In my last column, I discussed some of the profitable niches available to self-service laundry owners within the vast realm of commercial laundry accounts. This time, I'd like to follow up on that...

This Month's Issue

Metrics That Matter: Profit, Performance, and Planning in Vended Laundry
Women In Laundry: Haley Gould Finds Perfect Fit
Company Close-Up: Company Founded to Help Small Businesses Shines
New Member Spotlight: How Robotics Could Change Laundromat Industry
And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

Giant Wash to Kick Off ‘Wash & Learn’ Program During Free Laundry Day

Giant Wash Coin Laundry, located in St. Paul, Minn., will launch a new "Wash & Learn"program on May 12, in conjunction with a free laundry day at the store. The laundromat will host the free laundry event in celebration of the new program, and offer community...

Clean 2017: Exhibit Space Sold Out

For the first time in 20 years, exhibit space for the Clean Show is completely sold out. The biennial event, which is celebrating its 40-year anniversary this year, is scheduled for June 5-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.In addition, attendee registration also is...

CBORD, Washlava Partner to Provide a More Convenient Student Laundry Experience

CBORD, a provider of technology solutions for colleges and universities, and Washlava, a technology company modernizing self-service laundry through its mobile application, have announced their partnership, which features the integration of Washlava into CBORD's...

Profit Symposium Attracts Record Numbers

Continental Girbau West and Elite Business Investments recently hosted the Conference of Champions Profit Symposium in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. The event, which focused on ways to improve vended laundry profits and attract new customers, drew record numbers. The...

WASH Upgrades Laundry Rooms with PayRange Mobile Payment

WASH Multifamily Laundry Systems - which has more than 7 million people doing their laundry in its WASH-branded laundry rooms every week throughout the U.S. and Canada - has selected PayRange to be the technology provider of its mobile payment solution, thus marking a...