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.

10 Ways to Irritate Your Customers… Guaranteed!

Originally posted - Jan 04, 2012 The coin laundry business is a volume-driven business. In other words, the more customers the better – and your machines don't get tired, don't take vacations, don't complain and never refuse to wash and dry a load of clothes....

At Your Service

Originally posted - Jun 03, 2014 Last time, I discussed some of the questions you should ask your wash-dry-fold customers in order to best process their laundry. In this article, I'd like to take that customer service topic a bit further and talk about training your...

Grease is the Word

Originally posted - Mar 07, 2014 During a recent webinar I conducted for the Coin Laundry Association, one of the questions that came up from several of the attendees was how to handle tough kitchen grease stains – either in a residential wash-dry-fold load or a...

Headlines

Don’t Forget to Lock Up

At approximately 5:00 a.m. on a day in August, a few years back, a female tenant was assaulted in her Inglewood, Calif., apartment by an unknown assailant who was later caught and identified. The culprit had apparently entered through a window in the dining area of...

The Big Ten

Originally posted - Feb 05, 2014 Most people seem to love lists. Maybe it's because we live in an era of overstimulation, especially in terms of information - and lists tend to bring order to the chaos. Perhaps it's because lists help you remember what you have done...

Keeping the Doors Open

Originally posted - Jun 25, 2012 When it comes to how often businesses fail and how long it takes to fail, it's difficult to separate fact from fiction. Of course, if you listen to the experts, starting a small business seems to be right up there with shark-diving and...

The Times Are A-Changin’… Quickly!

Originally posted - Apr 09, 2012 Once upon a time a myth was perpetuated and accepted that all you had to do was keep your money in the stock market, and you would eventually become wealthy and retire, surrounded by palm trees, at age 65 to a life of ease and luxury....

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,...

More Lessons from the Gift Shop

Originally posted - Feb 19, 2013 Several months ago, I wrote a column entitled, "Philosophers in the Gift Shop." In that column, I mentioned how every Sunday I work in the emergency department of a large metropolitan Detroit hospital. And, within this hospital, there...

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September Magazine Issue

This Month's Issue

 

  • Tech on the Rise: How Operators Are Using Innovation to Run Smarter, Faster Laundromats: From AI phone systems to real-time data tracking, operators and suppliers share how technology is reshaping the modern laundry business and what’s coming next.
  • Business Profile: Delivering a Superior
    Laundry Experience
  • Member Spotlight: Rick Rome –
    Innovating Laundry, One Customer at a Time
  • Guest Column: How AI Changed Google Reviews (What Laundromat Owners Need to Know)
  • And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

Eastern Funding Adds Industry Veteran

Eastern Funding, LLC, headquartered in New York City, has announced that industry veteran Kirk Stone has joined the company. Stone has more than 20 years of experience in commercial laundry equipment lease and loan originations, and has proven to be skilled in...

Clean 2017: Exploring Las Vegas

Looking for things to do in Las Vegas, beyond the convention center? From major attractions to some of the best shows and restaurants in the world, Sin City is full of amazing, make-your-mouth-drop happenings. So, be sure to make some time to explore this year's host...

Statewide Laundry in Orlando Expands Service Team

Statewide Laundry Equipment – with offices in Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando and Miami, Fla. – has added Virgil Davis to its central Florida service technician team. At Statewide, he is involved in all phases of field service calls and equipment installations, while...

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...

FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

Columns

The Laundry Doctor

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The Business Mind

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Digital Marketing

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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.