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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‘I’m Behind in My Rent! What’s Next?’

Jan 22, 2015

As the title character, Harold Hill, in the Broadway musical, "The Music Man," observes, "Trouble! Right here in River City!" Substitute the name of your hamlet for River City and the message should be clear. In most states, a three-day notice to pay rent or quit must...

Some Advice on Giving Advice

Jan 22, 2015

A member of the Coin Laundry Association recently called me regarding an adverse ruling in small claims court, which resulted in a $770 judgment against the laundry owner. Apparently, an attendant employed by the owner assisted a customer – at the customer's request –...

Laundry Leases: Exercising Your Option to Renew

Jan 22, 2015

The most important asset of your self-service laundry business is your lease. Washers and dryers produce little income in storage or in a parking lot. As you probably know, coin laundry operators are repeatedly advised to enter into long-term lease arrangements,...

Headlines

You Need to Get Your Hands Dirty

Originally posted - Feb 21, 2013 The first thing most people notice when walking into Pokomoke Laundry are the dryers - or, more specifically, the area around and above the dryers. Instead of the usual painted drywall littered with the typical laundromat signage, this...

‘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...

I Educated Mysel

Originally posted - May 24, 2013 When it comes to a new business venture, Danny Delmarco is a big believer in doing one's homework. So, when he and his business partner, Lloyd Webb, decided to open a self-service laundry - in a building co-owned by Webb and Delmarco's...

People Need to Do Laundry

Originally posted - Jun 14, 2013 Mischelle Romesberg is accustomed to taking matters into her own hands. As director of plant operations for the personal care branch of Energizer Holdings, she's responsible for making sure some of today's leading over-the-counter...

Not Your Father’s Drycleaner

Originally posted - Apr 19, 2013 The Drycleaning & Laundry Institute has been the premier international trade association for garment care professionals since 1883. Representing retail drycleaning and laundry facilities in the United States and around the world,...

Buying Time?

Originally posted - Sep 06, 2013 Curtis Kroeker is group general manager for BizBuySell.com and BizQuest.com, the internet's largest and most heavily trafficked business-for-sale marketplaces. Since 1996, BizBuySell has offered tools that make it easy for business...

‘Clean, Filled and Working’

Originally posted - May 30, 2013 Emily Jed is senior editor of Vending Times magazine, the leading trade publication providing information to operators within in the vending industry. She's been a journalist for more than two decades, most of which has been spent in...

Wash with Wally: Fire-Damaged Dryers

Originally posted - Sep 16, 2013 I have a huge problem with my insurance company. I had a dryer fire, in which half of my dryers were totally destroyed. The other half had minor heat damage, but a lot of smoke and stain damage. The problem I'm having is that the...

Wash with Wally: Fragrances and Scents

Originally posted - Dec 10, 2014 I have a question about fragrances and scents. Is there any way to add something different to the wash to get it smelling fresh, aside from the normal scented detergents or fabric softeners? Sometimes I wish there was something to add...

Wash with Wally: What to Consider Before Adding Drop-Off Drycleaning

Originally posted - Aug 13, 2012 I have a coin laundry and am interested in adding a drop-off drycleaning business. Can you give me any suggestions regarding things I might need to know and/or do before adding this to my current operation? First of all, you have to...

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

CG West Adds Commercial Laundry Sales Specialist

Continental Girbau West - headquartered in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. - has named Jason McAninch its new commercial laundry sales specialist. In this position, McAninch will manage commercial vended and on-premises laundry sales and marketing efforts for the company....

Survey: Small Business Faces Major Workforce Issues

The National Small Business Association, in partnership with Cynthia Kay and Company Media Production, has released the 2017 Small Business Workforce and Labor Survey, which quantifies how workforce issues ranging from immigration to education to background checks...

Primus Adds Belenky to Distribution Network

Primus has announced that Belenky, Inc. is the newest addition to the manufacturer's distribution network. "Belenky has a 100-year history of providing excellent service to laundry equipment customers," said Mark Schram, North American sales manager for Primus. "We...

Kentucky Eyes Tax Expansion, CLA Hires Lobbyist

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin's tax reform plans include several critical components, not the least of which is planned sales tax expansion, which would require laundromat owners, among others, to collect sales tax. All signs indicate that the governor's tax reform...

Statewide Announces Fall Laundry Improvement Expos

Statewide Laundry Equipment - with offices in Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando and Miami, Fla. - has released details of its Fall Laundry Improvement Expos, which will be held in central and south Florida on September 19, 20 and 27. These programs were developed to...