PlanetLaundry 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.
More Than Just Laundry
Store Owners Share Profitable Business Options and Service Offerings They Run in Tandem with Their Laundromat Operations Successful laundromat entrepreneurs have always focused on two things – customer service and efficiency. In other words, best serving the customer...
Teamwork
Store Owners Share Their Tactics for Creating a Motivated, Effective Staff of Laundry Attendants It’s easy for the uninitiated to underestimate the job that laundromat attendants perform. However, their duties couldn’t be more significant. After all, if a customer has...
The Unattended Laundromat
Successful Multi-Store Operators Explain How They Make This Business Model Work for Them For many laundromat owners, building a quality, reliable, and affordable staff has always been the most difficult piece to completing the small-business puzzle. And with lingering...
Headlines
ACI Supports Adding New Laundry Products to EPA Programs
The American Cleaning Institute has recommended new product categories be added to the Environmental Protection Agency’s potential expansion of its Safer Choice and Design for the Environment programs. The Safer Choice and DfE programs allow companies to receive an...
ByNext Acquires Laundry Angels
ByNext, a tech-enabled clothing and premise care company, has acquired Laundry Angels, a tech-enabled laundry and drycleaning pickup-and-delivery services company based in New Jersey. The move is part of the ByNext strategy to expand its omni-services and omni-channel...
Wash with Wally: How to Safely Clean Bar Towels
We have accounts with several large restaurants to wash their bar mops, towels, and rags. I’ve heard of rags and towels – even clean ones – spontaneously combusting. Is there a specific process to help guard against this, as well as a recommended timeline in which to...
12 Steps to Success in Life and Business
Some Common Sense Advice to Make You a Stronger Laundry Owner – And a Better Person Believe it or not – there is a strong relationship between the behavior patterns of your personal life and your business life. Although there are several different ways to measure...
CG West to Host Customer Appreciation Days
Continental Girbau West will host a three-day customer appreciation event on September 12-14 at the company’s headquarters in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. This free event, which will run from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day, is open to current and potential CG West...
Renovate, Renew, Reimagine
Best Practices for Transforming Existing Laundromats for Greater Profit Breathing new life into that old laundromat you just bought may present as many challenges as opportunities – at least in the beginning. Navigating the journey of laundromat renovation requires a...
Give Your Bottom Line a ‘Boost’
Veteran Operators Partner with Digital Marketing Expert to Launch New Industry Marketing Company Are you happy with your current marketing strategy? Does your laundry business even have one? Marketing is often referred to as a necessary evil. In an industry that’s...
Eastern Funding Bolsters Sales Team
Eastern Funding LLC – a financial lender to laundromats, industrial laundries, car washes, commercial vehicles, and other businesses – has announced that Raina Bass has joined the company as loan officer. Bass, who will focus on commercial laundry financing, joins...
Digital Marketing’s Role in Your Laundromat’s Makeover
Merging Physical and Digital Transformations with Your Store Renovation One morning, I walked into this quaint neighborhood coffee shop that I frequent occasionally, and something just felt off. The rustic tables had been replaced with sleek, minimalist designs. There...
‘We Have Become a Force in This Industry’
An Interview with Ana Figueroa of Alliance Laundry Systems Distribution Ana Figueroa is the vice president of operations and finance for Alliance Laundry Systems Distribution – West Region, headquartered in South Gate, Calif. Ms. Figueroa graduated from California...
Whirlpool Unveils New Technology Center
Whirlpool Corp. has unveiled a new, 153,000-square-foot technology center in St. Joseph, Mich. The more than $60 million project expands and replaces much of the current St. Joseph Technology Center – and represents the first of a three-phase plan to redesign an...
WashClub Expands DoorDash Partnership
WashClub, a New York-based on-demand laundry and drycleaning service, recently announced the expansion of its partnership with DoorDash to serve laundry customers in the Bronx. The laundry service first launched this offering to residents of Brooklyn and Queens in...
SPONSORED CONTENT
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
CleanCloud Unveils New Website Builder
Laundry and garment-care software provider CleanCloud has launched a new website builder designed exclusively for CleanCloud customers. This tool empowers laundromat and drycleaning operators to easily create and enhance their online presence. The website builder,...
Tide, Walmart Team Up to Promote Cold-Water Washing
Tide and Walmart have announced a joint effort to steer Americans toward a more sustainable, eco-friendly choice when doing their laundry – washing in cold water. The multi-month campaign, which launched in conjunction with Earth Day on April 22, will include in-store...
Laundry Service CEO Named Among Emerging Young Entrepreneurs
The National Minority Supplier Development Council recently named Daniel Ellis, chief executive officer at Aloha Laundry Life, to the organization’s ninth cohort of its Emerging Young Entrepreneurs program. Ellis’ laundry pickup-and-delivery service is currently...
Whirlpool Partners with Organization Bringing Washers to Communities in Need
Whirlpool has partnered with international grassroots organization, The Washing Machine Project, to deliver washing machines to those in low-income and displaced communities around the world, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. In the first five years,...
HappyNest Continues to Expand PUD Availability
Laundry pickup-and-delivery service HappyNest expanded its availability in 20 states across the U.S. in 2023. To meet the growing demand for laundry PUD services, the company launched new partners in such markets as Tucson, Indianapolis, Austin, Tampa, Memphis, and...
FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS
Columns
The Laundry Doctor
Changing the Game
Today’s Technology Can Reach Out to Potential Wash-Dry-Fold Customers Even Before They Realize They Have a Need for Your Laundry Services Last month, I used this space to discuss digital marketing and the need to develop an online presence in order to grow a...
The Business Mind
The Randomness of Business Life
The Statistical Concept of ‘Regression to the Mean’ – and How It Impacts Your Laundry Operation I’m presently working toward a doctorate degree in clinical psychology. And, as part of the program, I’ve been required to take a number of courses in advanced statistics....
Wash With Wally
Wash with Wally: Parking is Paramount
I own a 4,000-square-foot laundromat that does a good business. However, I’ve noticed that on Saturdays and Sundays we often turn business away because we simply don’t have enough parking availability on those busy weekends. The building next to us is for sale. Do you...
Viewpoint
You’ve Never Been More Essential
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass You’ve likely had a few pressing issues on your mind these last several months. Namely, the health and well-being of your family, employees and customers – not to mention, quite possibly, that of...
Digital Marketing
Marketing by the Numbers
Four Key Performance Indicators All Laundry Owners Need to Track I’m going to make you do some math in this article. But I promise it’s the good kind of math – the kind that lets you know if your marketing plan is actually doing some good for your laundromat business....
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.
