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...

LaundroLab Celebrates National Laundry Day – April 15

LaundroLab to Offer Free Laundry, Resources Nationwide for National Laundry Day In celebration of National Laundry Day on April 15, 2025, LaundroLab—an innovative laundromat brand focused on reimagining the wash experience—is giving back to local communities by...

I’d Like to Speak to the Manager

On the Front Lines with Some of the Laundry Industry’s Leading Store Managers In an industry once dominated by unattended, self-service operations, the role of store managers in laundromats has never been more critical. As laundries evolve into full-service businesses...

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.

PUD: Your Game Plan for Success

PUD: Your Game Plan for Success

Building and Promoting Your Laundromat’s Pickup-and-Delivery Business Waleed Cope believes that we’ve only just scratched the surface of what residential laundry pickup and delivery can be. “As more and more people incorporate more service-based businesses into their...

Knowing When the Price is Right

Knowing When the Price is Right

Laundromat Owners Share the Pricing Philosophies They Utilize to Keep Their Self-Service Customers Happy – And Their Bottom Lines Healthy [This is the second of a two-part series on vend price strategies for today’s self-service laundry businesses. Read Part 1 here.]...

Building the Basics

Building the Basics

Growing Your Self-Service Laundry Business in a Full-Service World These days, running the self-service portion of your laundromat business can feel a bit like swimming upstream – with the traditional laundromat model at times appearing, at best, quaint and perhaps...

Headlines

Wash-Dry-Fold POS Names New Sales Representative

Wash-Dry-Fold POS has hired Rebecca Clay as a sales representative. To ensure that every member of its team grasps the challenges that laundromat owners face daily, Wash-Dry-Fold POS follows a unique approach to training. Immediately after hire, Clay underwent an...

EVI to Acquire ALCO Washer Center

EVI Industries Inc. recently announced that it has executed a definitive agreement to acquire ALVF Inc. – dba ALCO Washer Center, a distributor of commercial laundry products and provider of related technical installation and maintenance services to the laundromat and...

A Fresh Spin on Your Laundromat’s Profits

Marketing Strategies to Boost Business with Ancillary Revenue Streams You know what’s impressive? A laundromat owner with big dreams. I was chatting with one the other day who wasn’t content with just making money from washers and dryers. She wanted to use every inch...

Wash with Wally: The Keys to Cleaning Cloth Restaurant Napkins

I have potential commercial account that would require us to launder cloth napkins for an Italian restaurant. The napkins are red and most certainly will have oil and other food stains. The client wants these napkins laid out flat for delivery. What are the best...

Relatively Speaking

How to Navigate the Minefield of Working with Family Members Years ago, after earning my master’s degree in clinical psychology, I went to work in my father’s foundry business as the company’s director of sales. At the time – and as is likely the case today as well –...

Alliance Distribution Announces Fall Shows

Alliance Laundry Systems Distribution-West Region in California has released its fall show schedule, which kicks off on September 8 in San Diego and wraps up September 16 in San Francisco. The Fall Laundry Festival will feature special rebates on Speed Queen models,...

ACI Unveils Bilingual Laundry Safety Resource

The American Cleaning Institute recently convened with hundreds of top safety experts and partners at the Safe Kids Worldwide Childhood Injury Prevention Convention for four days of conversation focused on preventing unintentional childhood injuries. During the event,...

All the Buzz

An Interview with Katy Chen of Laundrybee Katy Chen is the founder and CEO of Laundrybee, a chain of nine, branded laundromats located within the five boroughs of New York City. Ms. Chen has owned and operated numerous laundromats over that last 20 years. And, in...

At Your Service

Planning for Full-Service Offerings at Your Laundromat A growing number of vended laundries are now offering full-service wash-dry-fold and/or residential/commercial laundry services. And for good reason. After all, through this type of diversification of services,...

Alliance Distribution Expands West Region

Alliance Laundry Systems has acquired the distribution assets of Dynamic Sales and Service, based in Kirkland, Wash. Dynamic has more than three decades of experience providing commercial laundry solutions in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. “We remain committed to...

PayRange, Turns Announce Exclusive Partnership

PayRange Inc., a provider of mobile payments for unattended retail operations, has announced an exclusive licensing agreement with laundromat and drycleaning software provider Turnsapp Inc. “We are particularly impressed by the scope and caliber of Turn’s offerings,”...

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...

SPONSORED CONTENT

Business Solutions

Laundromat Marketing

CleanCloud talks to industry experts about the tactics they use to attract new customers and encourage repeat business in our latest webinar

Watch Webinar

SPONSORED CONTENT

Kick off your digital marketing strategy with tips and tricks that won’t break the bank. Download the free guide today!

Download Guide

FC_plmag_March25_161x211px

This Month's Issue

 

  • ‘I’d Like to Speak to the Manager’: On the Front Lines with Some of the Laundry Industry’s Leading Store Managers
  • Business Management: Generate Additional Income Through Greater Market Penetration
  • Company Close-Up: Western State Design Has Been Helping Laundry Owners Thrive for More Than 50 Years
  • New Member Spotlight: How Laundry Labs Plans to Change the Industry
  • And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

Laundry Industry Mourns Jerry Schantz

Set-O-Matic founder Jerry Schantz recently passed away at the age of 90. Mr. Schantz had been involved in the commercial laundry business since his teen years, serving the industry in several facets – from the distribution of washers and dryers to the manufacturing of...

Drycleaning Trade Associations Team Up to Strength Industry Events

In an unprecedented move, the sponsors of the four largest regional drycleaning and laundry trade shows in the country are collaborating to strengthen these events. The South Eastern Fabricare Association, the California Cleaners Association, the Southwest Drycleaners...

Eastern Funding Bolsters Commercial Financing Sales Team

Industry financial lender Eastern Funding LLC has announced that Cameron Clark has joined the company as a loan officer. An industry veteran with more than 18 years of experience, Clark previously managed a successful family-owned distributor of commercial laundry...

Bill to Regulate Commercial Washers Introduced in Illinois

A bill has been introduced in the Illinois State Senate that would require new washing machines for both commercial and residential use to be equipped with microfiber filtration systems featuring a mesh size of not greater than 100 micrometers. This legislation,...

FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

Columns

The Laundry Doctor

Changing the Game

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...

read more

The Business Mind

The Randomness of Business Life

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....

read more

Wash With Wally

Wash with Wally: Parking is Paramount

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...

read more

Viewpoint

Make 2020 Count

Make 2020 Count

“The more people, the more dirty clothes.” – Ancient laundromat wisdom Time flies, as do the decades. Despite the ongoing pandemic and economic concerns, there’s a headcount to be made in 2020. The original constitutional edict from the framers comes to life in the...

read more

Digital Marketing

Marketing by the Numbers

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....

read more

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.