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.
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
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...
Pricing for Profit
Industry Experts Discuss Pricing Strategies for Self-Service Success [This is the first of a two-part series on vend price strategies for today’s self-service laundry operations.] It’s an art and a science. It requires an experimental attitude coupled with an...
Headlines
Speed Queen Spring Show Slated for June 1
Alliance Laundry Systems Distribution – South Region will host its Spring Show on June 1. The event, to be held from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., will be held at Victoria Palms RV Resort in Donna, Texas. The show is geared toward current and prospective laundromat owners...
Lucy Doll Retires from Mountain Electronics
After 13 years with Mountain Electronics, Customer Service Representative Lucy Doll has announced her retirement. Mountain CEO Whitney Brasington remembers hiring Doll: “The clinic she was working for was getting ready to close, so she ran a classified ad in the local...
Lavanett Named GNA’s Top Canadian Distributor for 2022
Girbau North America recently recognized Lavanett, headquartered in St. Laurent, Quebec, with its third consecutive Canadian Distributor of the Year Award for exemplary performance in the vended and on-premises laundry markets. Owned by Earl Eichen, Lavanett employs...
ACI Unveils Redesigned Website Promoting Cold-Water Washing
The American Cleaning Institute has launched a redesigned website for its Cold Water Saves initiative, which is a joint effort of ACI and The Sustainability Consortium to promote the power of cold-water washing. Originally launched in 2016, Cold Water Saves aims to...
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...
Wash with Wally: How to Starch Tuxedo Shirts
I’ve recently been offered a tuxedo rental account, which would require me to wash and starch about 400 shirts each week. How do I starch these shirts in my washers? During which cycle would I need to insert the starch? To starch the shirts in your laundromat’s...
Invest in Your Operations
A Look at Chicago-Based Distributor Midwest Laundries From a young age, Jim Schultz was drawn to the idea of owning his own business. And, with a number of family members already involved with the laundry business, he quite naturally became very familiar with the...
Choose Your Words Carefully
Here’s What to Consider When Creating Your Laundromat’s Next Promotional Campaign One of the most tried-and-true adages in advertising is that what people hear is more important than what you actually say. After all, humans, by and large, are interpretive organisms....
EPA Maintains ‘Safer Choice’ Status of Chemistry Used in Detergent Packaging
The Environmental Protection Agency has rejected a petition requesting increased testing and a change to the safety status of key chemistry used to make concentrated detergent unit-dose packets and sheets from its Safer Choice program. At issue was a call from a...
GNA Honors Fowler Laundry Solutions
Fowler Laundry Solutions, based in Union, N.J., has received its fifth consecutive Girbau North America Multi-Housing Distributor of the Year Award for outstanding service, sales, and support in the multi-housing laundry market. Led by Doug Fowler and founded in 1952,...
Navigating Two Male-Dominated Industries
An Interview with Nancy Robles of Eastern Funding Nancy Robles is president and compliance officer of Eastern Funding LLC, a leading commercial lender to the laundry industry based in New York City. She is responsible for all of the finance company’s day-to-day...
‘I’m Pushing for Our Younger Generation’
Former Educator Brings Learning to the Laundromat Once a teacher, always a teacher. Laundromat owner Sheleah McPherson is a former educator who knows first-hand the importance of early literacy to a child’s future success. And now – as the operator of Leah’s...
SPONSORED CONTENT
SPONSORED CONTENT
Scaling Wash & Fold Operations
Learn how to grow your wash & fold from an offering into a money-making operation.
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
Wash-Dry-Fold POS Unveils New Logo, Brand Refresh
Since its inception in 2016, the Wash-Dry-Fold POS logo has been characterized by a simple icon of a desktop computer on top of washer icon in navy blue and off-white. Celebrating the transition to the modern hardware and cloud-based software it now sells, the...
Eastern Funding Adds Brendan Ristaino to Commercial Financing Sales Team
Eastern Funding LLC, a financial lender to laundromats and other businesses, recently announced that Brendan Ristaino has joined the company as a loan officer. Ristaino joins Eastern Funding with several decades of experience in the laundry industry. He began his...
Paystri Introduces New Program to Protect Laundry Owners from Chargebacks
Paystri, a payment processing company based in Salem, Mass., has launched Laundry Guard, a new program created to protect its laundry-owner customers who utilize Card Concepts Inc. payment equipment from chargebacks and fees that cut into profits. According to...
Milnor Promotes Brock Pellerin to Vice President
Pellerin Milnor Corp., headquartered in Kenner, La., has announced the promotion of Brock Pellerin to the position of vice president. Pellerin began his career with Milnor in 2006 as a member of the company’s Application Engineering Department. However he previously...
LG Expands Relationship with WASH
LG Electronics recently announced that it has grown its relationship with WASH, one of the largest laundry route businesses in North America. The new agreement will enable LG to increase its position within the multi-family housing and university dormitory laundry...
FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS
Columns
The Laundry Doctor
WDF 101: Back to Basics, Part 2
Consistently Folding and Professionally Packaging Your Customers' Garments Are Keys to a Successful Wash-Dry-Fold Business[This is the second in a series on running a successful wash-dry-fold service. Part One appeared in the April issue.]Last time, I discussed how to...
The Business Mind
Feeling Emotional (Part 2)
How to Use Emotional Intelligence to Better Manage Yourself and Your Laundry Business [This is the second of a two-part column. Part One can be read here.] While emotional skills may come more naturally to some due to their background and upbringing, there are ways...
Wash With Wally
Wash with Wally: Restaurant Laundry, Store Windows, Bedbugs and More…
I have been asked to wash towels, dishcloths and oven mitts for a local café. These items have gray stains from the restaurant's aluminum baking pans. They soak the towels, but the cloths and mitts are badly stained. What can I use to get this laundry white again?...
Viewpoint
A Decade of Transformation
“Call me crazy, but I like to see other people happy and succeeding. Life is a journey, not a competition.” I read that quote years ago on a billboard somewhere, and it just resonated with me. So, when I became a CLA Board member, I knew my purpose was to help others...
Digital Marketing
‘Web’ Site Selection
Developing a Strong Online Community for Your Laundry Business We all know that finding just the right site for your laundromat can make all the difference in whether or not your new business is a success. And the same goes for your “digital site” – that is, your...
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.
