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.

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...

Pricing for Profit

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

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....

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...

GNA Adds to Headquarters Staff

Girbau North America recently welcomed Barb Kramer as national accounts coordinator and Paige Paulick as inside sales associate. Kramer handles multiple duties in support of national accounts sales and customer relations, including order processing, assisting...

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Scaling Wash & Fold Operations

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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

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...

Eastern Funding Launches Workshop Series for Laundry Businesses

Industry financial lender Eastern Funding LLC recently announced the launch of its latest round of workshops for laundry businesses. These in-person sessions are designed to provide a forum for laundry owners, prospective investors, and other industry participants...

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...

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The Business Mind

Feeling Emotional (Part 2)

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...

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Wash With Wally

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...

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Digital Marketing

‘Web’ Site Selection

‘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...

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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.