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.

The Best of Both Worlds

The Best of Both Worlds

With a Few Equipment Tweaks, California Laundromat Owners Expand Their Business – Catering to Self-Service and Full-Service Clients Alike Shortly after purchasing an existing laundromat near Palm Springs, Calif., Keith and Jacqueline Reed decided to make a few...

‘Helping Youth in Need’

‘Helping Youth in Need’

New York Laundry Owner Shares His Thoughts on Adding a Literacy Element to His Business Model Multi-store owner Steve Levine may be the perfect role model for the LaundryCares Foundation’s literacy programs and Family Read, Play & Learn Centers. After all, he’s...

Life of a Salesman

Life of a Salesman

An Interview with Bryan Maxwell of Western State Design Bryan Maxwell is the senior laundry specialist for Western State Design, a major laundry equipment distributor, headquartered in Hayward, Calif. Maxwell began with Western State in 1988 – selling industrial OPL...

Headlines

Ohio Bank Donates Books to Local Laundromats

The Kiwanis Club of Southern Hills Region in Ohio has received more than 100 books donated by the Southern Hills Bank in Georgetown. The bank recently collected books from its employees, clients and the Brown County (Ohio) Public Library. The books will be given to...

Laying It on the Line

Why Laundromat Entrepreneurs Take the Risks They Do Starting or buying a business is… well, risky business. After all, research tells us that roughly one-third of all small businesses fail within the first two years. So, why do people do it? What could these...

Growing Your Full-Service Laundry Business

Nine Suggestions to Help Maximize WDF and Commercial Accounts Profits The real question isn’t whether or not you should grow the full-service side of your laundromat business. It’s why wouldn’t you? Harnessing the right technology and equipment, you can enter new...

Wash with Wally: Maintaining Your Main Drain Line

Is there a chemical and/or preventive maintenance procedure that will keep our main drain line clean? Occasionally, we experience a backup of water, which seems to be due to a buildup of a black greasy residue within the line. Would you recommend a periodic flush of...

Leading the Industry into the Future

An Interview with Julia Milch of Laundrylux Julia Milch is the vice president of growth strategy for Laundrylux, based in Inwood, N.Y. Prior to joining the company, Ms. Milch spent three years with Microsoft as a CRM solutions specialist and in business development....

EVI Reports Fiscal First-Quarter Results

EVI Industries Inc. has reported record operating results for the first quarter of its fiscal year, ending June 30, 2023. The first quarter financial highlights are: • Revenue increased 31 percent to a record $83.4 million. • Gross profit increased 39 percent to a...

HappyNest Grows Pickup-and-Delivery Service

Laundry pickup-and-delivery service HappyNest has expanded its availability to Norwood, Mass., through the company’s new partner, South Norwood Laundromat. Located 15 miles from Boston, the store now provides HappyNest laundry services to residents and businesses in...

The Perfect Business Partner, Part 2

Maximizing Your Laundromat’s Vending Operation [This is the second of a two-part feature article on how to build a profitable vending operation within your laundromat. You can read Part 1 here.] Leading laundromat owners discuss the vending operations at their...

Wash with Wally: Cleaning Ceramic Tile

I have 5,000 square feet of ceramic tile in my laundromat. It has a non-slip surface that is hard to clean. What is an effective, inexpensive way to clean it without adding more soap and leaving streaks? Most ceramic floors should be cleaned with an acid-based...

The Perfect Business Partner, Part 1

Maximizing Your Laundromat’s Vending Operation [This is the first of a two-part feature article on how to build a profitable vending operation within your laundromat.] Beyond washers, dryers and folding tables, perhaps the most commonly found pieces of equipment in...

Whirlpool Opens New $52 Million Plant in Argentina

Whirlpool Corp. has announced the opening of its new $52 million production plant in Fátima, within the district of Pilar in Argentina. “With more than 30 years in Argentina, Whirlpool has become known as one of the main appliance brands in the country,” said Joao...

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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

HappyNest Hosts Annual Partner Conference

Laundry pickup-and-delivery service HappyNest, headquartered in East Greenwich, R.I., hosted its 2nd annual Partner Conference on June 20-22 in Newport, R.I. – with more than 50 of the company’s laundromat partners from across the U.S. gathering for the event. The...

Wash-Dry-Fold POS Names New Sales Representative

Wash-Dry-Fold POS has hired Rebecca Clay as a sales representative. To ensure that every member of its team grasps the challenges that laundromat owners face daily, Wash-Dry-Fold POS follows a unique approach to training. Immediately after hire, Clay underwent an...

EVI to Acquire ALCO Washer Center

EVI Industries Inc. recently announced that it has executed a definitive agreement to acquire ALVF Inc. – dba ALCO Washer Center, a distributor of commercial laundry products and provider of related technical installation and maintenance services to the laundromat and...

Alliance Distribution Announces Fall Shows

Alliance Laundry Systems Distribution-West Region in California has released its fall show schedule, which kicks off on September 8 in San Diego and wraps up September 16 in San Francisco. The Fall Laundry Festival will feature special rebates on Speed Queen models,...

ACI Unveils Bilingual Laundry Safety Resource

The American Cleaning Institute recently convened with hundreds of top safety experts and partners at the Safe Kids Worldwide Childhood Injury Prevention Convention for four days of conversation focused on preventing unintentional childhood injuries. During the event,...

FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

Columns

The Laundry Doctor

A Profitable Partnership

A Profitable Partnership

Teaming Up with Your Local Drycleaner May Be the Ideal Way to Grow Your Laundry Business. Find Out How at Clean 2017! The Clean Show is just around the corner. And the 2017 event – which will be held June 5-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center – marks the first time...

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The Business Mind

Coming to Their Senses

Coming to Their Senses

Leverage the Five Senses to Impact Consumer Behavior As members of the human race, we all experience the world largely through our senses. And, by the way, so does the animal kingdom. However, unlike animals, we also boast well-developed intellectual skills that can...

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Wash With Wally

Wash with Wally: Cleaning Yoga Blankets

Wash with Wally: Cleaning Yoga Blankets

I have been approached by a potential commercial client about cleaning yoga blankets. They are heavy wool blankets about the size of a twin bed sheet. This client doesn’t want to dryclean the blankets. What’s the best way to wash them? And how would I dry these items...

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Viewpoint

Partners in Laundry

To say the least, business partnerships of any kind are always going to be challenging. In fact, the majority of partnerships I've ever seen have failed, rather than succeeded. What's the problem? I believe the issue is that a business partnership is much like a...

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Digital Marketing

Marketing During Times of Crisis

Marketing During Times of Crisis

Some Promotional Do’s, Don’ts and Considerations as We All Try to Navigate the COVID-19 Crisis It’s easy to get downhearted about the state of the world in the middle of COVID-19’s madness. With social distancing measures, self-quarantines in place and a heightened...

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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.