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...

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.

Your Store

Avoiding ‘Dogs with Fleas' Take Advantage of Key Data in the CLA's New Quarterly Reports to Better Run Your Laundry Business By Tom Rhodes In May 2008, I purchased a rundown laundromat for $25,000 from a part-time operator who wasn't reinvesting in the store. The plan...

A Long Time Coming

A Long Time Coming

Jason's Laundromat in Uniondale, N.Y., first opened its doors in July 2011. However, if co-owners Eddie Yacoub and Randy Shami had their way, the store would have been serving the community a lot sooner than that. For some time, Yacoub had identified the Uniondale...

The Card Game

The Card Game

In today's highly competitive market, there is no business that can afford to lag behind in technology. With smartphones becoming the norm, and various forms of credit and debit cards dominating payment choice, consumers increasingly base their buying decisions on...

Headlines

Master the Changeup

Originally posted - Sep 12, 2013 "Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations." – Faith Baldwin, U.S. author and novelist We are living in a time when the rate of change is like none other in history. Today, the slow path is reserved for those on a fast track to...

To ‘Coin’ a Phrase

Originally posted - Apr 25, 2014 The most popular and traditional way to keep up with information about one's specific business or profession is by simply reading information offered by knowledgeable individuals who also reside within, or are closely related to, that...

Go Public

Originally posted - Feb 27, 2013 "If I was down to my last dollar, I'd spend it on public relations." – Bill Gates If you asked 10 people to define public relations, you'd likely get 10 different answers. Within the broad scope of marketing, public relations is one of...

Listen… Really Listen!

Originally posted - Nov 08, 2013 "One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody is listening." – Franklin P. Jones, American journalist Humans (and most other animals) are born with two ears and one mouth – which can be interpreted to mean...

What If?

Originally posted - Nov 25, 2014 "Write the bad things that happen to you in the sand; that way they can be easily erased from your memory." - Middle Eastern proverb I've noticed that very often when things "go wrong"based on one's past decisions - either from a...

Get Psyched Up!

Originally posted - Oct 04, 2013 Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom" – Aristotle In my view, the only thing perpetually common to your laundry business is you. Customers come and go, attendants come and go, landlords come and go… even machines eventually...

How to Build a Better Marketing Program

Tips and Tactics for Impactful, Cost-Effective Print and Television Promotional CampaignsI know more about your specific laundry than you may realize.That's only because – no matter what kind of laundry you operate and no matter who you are, where you're located or...

Get on Your Customers Nerves

Originally posted - Aug 27, 2012 Originally developed by a group of psychologists at Harvard University in 1990, an exciting concept called "neuromarketing" is now creating a significant buzz within the business world as perhaps being the key to more thoroughly...

Have a Good One!

Originally posted - Oct 30, 2013 "The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." Henry David Thoreau American Author, Poet and Philosopher I would estimate that there are - give or take - about 35,000 self-service laundries within the United States....

Thoughts Off the Top of My Head

Originally posted - Nov 17, 2014 By nature, I can be very philosophical. As a result, I'm endlessly fascinated by what others have to say about life and about their personal rules of living. I tend to collect these thoughts and sayings – most of the time forgetting...

What’s In It for Me?

Originally posted - Jun 18, 2012 For the majority of small-business owners, many of the aspects of running their operations just come naturally. However, in most cases, writing technically correct advertising copy simply isn't one of them. In a nutshell, what I mean...

Say What?

Originally posted - Oct 21, 2014 In past columns, I've mentioned that communication is controlled by the receiver – not by the sender. And it is so true. People hear and interpret what others say through a series of built-in personal filters, which include their age,...

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September Magazine Issue

This Month's Issue

 

  • Connecting, Learning, Advocating: CLA Maximizes Impact at Clean Show 2025
  • Member Spotlight: Finding a Niche in the Laundromat Industry
  • PlanetLaundry Podcast: Turning Setbacks into Success: Saichelle McNeill’s Journey
  • A Laundromat With Heart: Inside Cherry Drive’s Customer-First Approach
  • And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

Aaxon Hosts Free Service School

Aaxon Laundry Systems wrapped up its first service school of the year at the company's Fort Lauderdale headquarters on May 3. This event focused mainly on Huebsch washer-extractors. Laundry owners and service technicians in the south Florida area were invited to...

LaundryCares to Kick Off Clean 2017 with Free Laundry Day

On June 4, the day before the opening of Clean 2017, the Coin Laundry Association’s LaundryCares Foundation will host a free laundry day in Las Vegas. This event will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Las Vegas Coin Laundry #6, located at 1200 W. Owens Ave. Free...

Alco Washer Hosts Laundry Owners at Renovated Showroom

Alco Washer Center, headquartered in New Castle, Pa., recently welcomed nearly 50 laundry owners, along with several industry experts, to its newly remodeled showroom for “a day of savings, service and seminars,” according to the company. Those who attended this Alco...

Southern Automatic Grows Sales Team

Southern Automatic Machinery Co. recently added Lane Young to its sales team. Young has more than 20 years of experience in outside sales - nine of which were spent at EcoLab. When asked to describe his sales approach, Young quotes Douglas Adams: "To give real...

FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

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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.