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.
Good Marketing Feels Like a Warm Welcome
If you want customers to keep coming back – whether they’re folding socks, dropping off towels or scheduling delivery – you need more than ads. You need to make them feel like they belong. I love throwing dinner parties. Not the stuffy kind with assigned seating and...
How Vended Laundries Might Solicit Commercial Laundry Services
Many vended laundries successfully offer commercial laundry pickup and delivery service to a variety of businesses — from small hotels to medical clinics and dry cleaners — for big gains in store revenue and profit. Moving into this sector makes good sense because it...
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...
Headlines
It’s Gotta be the Shoes … Right?
Spike Lee’s famous Nike ads with Michael Jordan were always talking about shoes as if the shoes made the magic. But we know that the shoes are just part of the equation and the real magic comes from the person wearing them. Bob Nieman spent more than two decades...
DL Expo West Set for March 2026
The Southwest Drycleaners Association (SDA) and the California Cleaners Association (CCA) are excited to announce the return of the Drycleaning & Laundry Expo West (DL Expo West), scheduled for March 27–29, 2026, at the Irving Convention Center in Irving, Texas....
CLA to Survey Laundry Owners
Each year, CLA and its flagship magazine, PlanetLaundry, publish an industry survey of laundromat owners nationwide. The purpose of the survey is to compose a profile of today's self-service laundries in the United States, and includes key data on net profits,...
Startup to Scale
How Western State Design Has Been Helping Laundry Businesses Thrive for More Than 50 Years For more than five decades, Western State Design has been a leading provider of turnkey laundry solutions across the vended, on-premises, and commercial/industrial markets....
ImonexFlex Coin Acceptors Unveiled for Electrolux, Wascomat
Imonex has introduced its ImonexFlex line of coin drops for Electrolux and Wascomat vended equipment. The mechanisms feature a built-in high value coin option allowing laundry owners to keep quarter-only pay and activate dollar coinage acceptance whenever they desire....
ZIPS Launches Military Appreciation Discount
To honor military members during May’s Military Appreciation Month, Maryland-based ZIPS Cleaners is launching a 10% discount on military uniforms for both active duty and veterans that will be valid throughout the month at all locations. Year-round military discounts...
Whirlpool Announces Special Events, Offers for Maytag® Month
Whirlpool Corporation Commercial Laundry is proud to announce the 2025 May is Maytag® Month special financing offer. Now is the ideal time to invest in reliable Maytag Commercial Laundry equipment. From May 1 through June 30, 2025, eligible buyers can receive 5.99%...
Unlocking Hidden Profits
Generate Additional Income Through Greater Market Penetration By Tod Sorensen The most successful vended laundries work to offer services and amenities designed to benefit people from all walks of life. In doing so, they better penetrate their unique demographic –...
Wash With Wally: Attracting Customers, Equipment Layout
I’m in the process of building a laundromat. I have never been in this type of business before, so I’d like to know what laundry customers want, what attracts them and what keeps them coming back. In my opinion, there are six main elements that your new laundry...
Member Spotlight: Lab-Tested, Laundry-Approved
How Laundry Labs Plans to Change the Industry In today’s business world, efficiency and quality are paramount – and the commercial laundry industry is no exception. Recognizing the need for superior cleaning solutions specifically tailored to laundromat operators,...
Wash-Dry-Fold POS Launches New Feature
Wash-Dry-Fold POS® has announced its new Attendant Checklist Feature. According to Managing Partner Ian Gollahon, it is a simple but integrated tool that is so powerful, it’ll make you wonder how you ever ran your business without it. "You can monitor the checklist...
LaundroLab Celebrates National Laundry Day – April 15
LaundroLab to Offer Free Laundry, Resources Nationwide for National Laundry Day In celebration of National Laundry Day on April 15, 2025, LaundroLab—an innovative laundromat brand focused on reimagining the wash experience—is giving back to local communities by...
SPONSORED CONTENT
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
Alliance Laundry Systems Acquires Metropolitan Laundry Machinery Sales
Alliance Laundry Systems, a global leader in commercial laundry equipment, has acquired the distribution assets of Metropolitan Laundry Machinery Sales, based in South Richmond Hill, New York. Metropolitan has served as a key player in the Northeast market for more...
Girbau Global Laundry Solutions Names Enric Saavedra International Key Account Director
Enric Saavedra was recently named Girbau Global Laundry Solutions’ (Girbau) international key account director – making him the main point of contact between Girbau and Girbau North America (GNA). Acting as a liaison, Saavedra facilitates communication and...
Empowering Women in the Laundry Industry
The CLA Women's Laundry Network (WLN) recently hosted a highly successful virtual panel discussion that brought together an inspiring group of women from various sectors of the laundry industry. The event provided a platform for these women to share their stories,...
Wash-Dry-Fold POS® Adds New Tech Support Specialist, Junior Developer
Wash-Dry-Fold POS®, a laundromat management software and point-of-sale solution for laundromat owners, announced the hiring of Cole Norton as its new Tech Support Specialist and Junior Software Developer. Cole brings a strong background in both tech support and...
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...
FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS
Columns
The Laundry Doctor
Spend Your Marketing Dollars Wisely
What Are You Getting in Return for Your Wash-Dry-Fold Promotional Budget? Business owners love to discuss and ruminate on what it costs to acquire a new customer. In the drycleaning world, the generally accepted figure is approximately $50 per customer. In the laundry...
The Business Mind
Persistence Pays Off
When Owning a Laundromat, the Secret to Success is a Constancy of Purpose Famed American writer and lecturer Dale Carnegie firmly believed that “flaming enthusiasm, backed by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.” And I...
Wash With Wally
Wash with Wally: Cross-Training Your Laundry Attendants
I recently hired a new attendant and have discovered that he possesses great mechanical skills. So, I was thinking of cross-training him to handle some of the more simple equipment issues that arise at my store, in addition of course to his attendant duties. Is there...
Viewpoint
What’s Your Secret Sauce?
In researching and writing the July cover story on the use of ozone in laundromats, one main theme kept popping up among everyone I spoke with – differentiation. Of course, some laundromat owners have been incorporating ozone into their operations for years. And,...
Digital Marketing
How to Market Your Amenities
Make Your Laundromat a Place People Love I recently renovated my house and faced a big challenge –furnishing it. I had the basics in mind but wanted everything to come together just right. So, I called a few furniture stores I liked, and one of them said something...
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.
