Longtime Laundromat Owner on 23 Years of Service, Challenges, Community Impact

For more than two decades, Lee Ann Geurts has been a steady force in her Brooklyn Park community in Minnesota, running three laundromats that have become known not just for clean clothes, but for connection, comfort, and care. What began as a business venture for her...

Green is Good Business 

Green Operations Increasingly Important to Feed Consumer Demand  When Green Laundry Lounge co-owners Pulin and Krishna Dasai got into the vended laundry industry, they wanted to change a narrative: laundromats are water and energy-intensive businesses.   “The...

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...

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‘From Wall Street to Main Street’

Originally posted - Aug 06, 2013 At first glance, Bronxville, N.Y., is perhaps one of the last places one would even consider opening a coin laundry. According to the most recent U.S. Census figures, the median household income in Bronxville is $144,940, and the...

Lesson Learned

Originally posted - Aug 26, 2013 Before her retirement this past January, Colleen Unema had spent decades as a nationally certified high school science teacher in Bellingham, Wash. However, it was a self-imposed break from teaching that actually prepared Unema for her...

Small Package… Big Concept

Originally posted - Dec 18, 2012 Scott Moses had a leg up on his competition long before he entered the coin laundry business almost three years ago. As an economics major at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, Moses landed a position in the banking industry after...

Headlines

It’s the Economy, Stupid!

Originally posted - Sept issue/2012 An Interview with Leading Economic Forecaster Alan Beaulieu One of the country's most informed economists, Alan Beaulieu is a principal at ITR Economics, where he serves as president. Since 1990, he has been consulting with...

An Allied Force

Originally posted - March issue/2012 David Cotter has worked for trade associations for nearly 30 years, holding various positions at five different associations. He was named executive director (now CEO) of the Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA) in 1993....

Think Like an Entrepreneur

Originally posted - Feb issue/2012 Cliff Michaels is a writer, speaker, strategist and entrepreneur. For more than 20 years, he has built companies in real estate, technology, publishing and consulting. He also is the former president and a board member of the Young...

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...

At Your Service: What Laundry Customers Really Want

Orginally posted - Sep 11, 2013 Attracting and retaining more customers are the keys to any successful business. As a result, figuring out just what it is your laundry customers really want or need to spend their money on – and then giving it to them – is the "holy...

Gaining a Competitive Advantage

Originally posted - Jan 24, 2014 Dr. Chuck Bamford is the founder of Bamford Associates, LLC. He has worked with thousands of managers over the last 20 years in the development of implementable strategic plans and an entrepreneurial orientation to growth. He worked in...

Teamwork

Originally posted - Jun 25, 2014 [This is the first of a two-part series on ways to build a successful team of laundry attendants.] Perhaps it's easy for the uninitiated to underestimate the job that self-service laundry attendants perform. However, their duties...

Get in the Game

Originally posted - Aug 26, 2014 For many self-service laundry owners, the coin-operated amusement industry may be an untapped business opportunity. Games and other arcade-style machines offer outstanding profit potential for store operators who are willing to pursue...

2013: The Year in Review

Originally posted - Dec 09, 2013 In odd-numbered years, nothing that happens in the self-service laundry business can top the spectacle of The Clean Show. And 2013 – with the industry's trade show and convention in New Orleans – was no exception. "One of the major...

Turning Point

Originally posted - Jun 17, 2014 Erik Sparks has been a professional pilot for more than 20 years, having spent the last 18 of those years flying for a charter airline – Ryan International Airlines. Over the years, Sparks has flown a diverse list of operations. Those...

Upwardly Mobile

Originally posted - Oct 02, 2013 On average, adults spend more than two hours every day on their smartphones or using their tablets, according to research by Advertising Age. What's more, nine out of 10 mobile searches lead to an action, and more than 50 percent lead...

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June 2025 Cover of PlanetLaundry Magazine

This Month's Issue

 

  • The Business of Laundry: Models That Work
  • PlanetLaundry Podcast: AI as a Business Partner – Changing the Game for Laundromat Owners
  • Member Spotlight: Redefining Utility Access for the Modern Laundromat
  • CLEAN SHOW 2025: Schedule of CLA Events
  • And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

LG Breaks Ground On Home Washer Plant in U.S.

LG Electronics recently took a ceremonial step closer to domestic manufacturing when dignitaries, including U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, joined management in breaking ground on the company's first U.S. appliance plant....

Florida Laundry Owner Donates Swimming Lessons to Local Youth

Florida multi-store owner Tom Rhodes has always given back to his community through a variety of programs, such as washing blankets for a local faith-based outreach center or donating a percentage of his laundries' profits to charitable organizations.However, Rhodes...

Western State Design to Host Training Seminars

Western State Design, headquartered in Hayward, Calif., will sponsor four free Dexter Laundry service training seminars this fall – one in Seattle and three in California. These events will provide vended laundry owners and operators an opportunity to learn "expert...

Overbuilding Slows Multi-Family Housing Market

Over the last year, the multi-family housing market has been lukewarm, to say the least. In fact, ITR Economics - which produces quarterly economic reports for Coin Laundry Association members - recently noted that the single-family market currently outnumbers the...

FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

Columns

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Strategic Corporate Allies Program

Our Strategic Corporate Allies support CLA’s mission through advocacy, education, and innovation to strengthen the industry, advance our members’ businesses, and prepare the next generation of laundry professionals for the future.

Interested in becoming a Strategic Corporate Ally of CLA? Contact President & CEO, Brian Wallace via email at [email protected] or call (630) 491-0499.