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.

CLA Member of the Year

CLA Member of the Year

An Interview with Multi-Store Owner Michael Finkelstein Michael Finkelstein began his professional career as a broker manager for Georgia Pacific, where he worked with supermarkets in the Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia territories. In 1983,...

Maintaining the Ideal: The Keys to Optimum Dryer Care

Maintaining the Ideal: The Keys to Optimum Dryer Care

An Interview with Whirlpool Customer Relations Manager Joe Carrita Joe Carrita has spent more than 23 years in the commercial laundry industry, with a special focus on the on-premises laundry market and customer service. He recently discussed the latest in dryer care...

2019: The Year in Review

2019: The Year in Review

Laundromat Industry Experts Review the Past 12 Months – And Share Thoughts on What May Lie Ahead It’s impossible to recap the past year in the laundromat business without acknowledging the clear-cut success of the Clean Show, which attracted more than 11,000 attendees...

Headlines

Get Down to Business

There’s Never Been a Better Time to Boost Your Bottom Line with Commercial Accounts In the laundromat business, idle machines represent missed revenue that can never be recovered. Every store operator knows that it’s all about “turns per day.” And no one understands...

Create Enthusiasm for Your Wash-Dry-Fold Business

Four Basic Steps to Marketing Your Full-Service Offerings Wash-dry-fold services can be an incredible boon to your customers. You’re offering them a time-saving, hassle-free way to get their laundry done. You’re helping today’s customers stay on top of their busy...

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...

What, Me Worry?

You’ll Never Eliminate Anxiety from Your Business Life, But Here’s How to Control It “Stop worrying about what can go wrong, and get excited about what can go right.” I’m confident you’ll agree that owning a business such as (but not limited to) a laundromat can be,...

A Change of Heart

The Laundry Doctor Reconsiders His Perspective on the Profitability of the Wash-Dry-Fold Business For 20 years, I’ve warned laundromat owners against letting their wash-dry-fold operations interfere with and encroach upon the self-service end of their businesses....

PlanetLaundry Podcast Episode 21: An Interview with Neal Shapiro

In this episode, you will hear PlanetLaundry Editor Bob Nieman interview Chicago laundromat owner Neal Shapiro. In 2014, Neal – and his wife, Kate – purchased their first laundromat in Chicago. Since then, the Shapiros have become fully immersed in the laundromat...

HappyNest Now Available Throughout New Jersey

Laundry pickup-and-delivery service HappyNest is now available in southern Ocean County, N.J., through the company’s new partnership with Main St. Laundry Tuckerton. As a result, HappyNest serves nearly 200 cities and towns throughout New Jersey, including Morristown,...

CLA Surveys Store Owners on Worker Shortage

As laundromats begin to return to pre-COVID operations and start to increase business, the Coin Laundry Association has been hearing from a number of store owners who are experiencing issues with finding and retaining employees to operate at maximum capacity. As a...

‘Like a Fine Gumbo’

A Literacy Theme Runs Throughout Famed New Orleans Laundromat/Restaurant Combo Jane and Scott Wolfe, who own Wash World laundromat in New Orleans, are not novices when it comes to incorporating a literacy theme into their business ventures. In fact, the Wolfes also...

LaundryCares to Host Free Laundry, Literacy Day in Indianapolis

On Thursday, June 10, the LaundryCares Foundation will host a Free Laundry and Literacy Day, in collaboration with Too Small to Fail and Big Heart World. This event will be held from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Indyland II Laundromat in Indianapolis. Free Laundry and...

HappyNest Adds Customer Service Manager

Laundry pickup-and-delivery service HappyNest has named Alexandria Messom as manager, customer success. Messom previously served as team lead, customer onboarding at custom sports apparel provider, SquadLocker. “Our customers’ happiness is of utmost importance, as...

The Future of Wash-Dry-Fold

A Look at the Evolving Full-Service Laundry Business Model Long before COVID-19 turned many – at least for a while – into semi-reclusive shut-ins venturing out only as far as the front porch to retrieve their latest Amazon packages, numerous companies offering...

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September Magazine Issue

This Month's Issue

 

  • House of Laundromats: Real Estate Trends and What to Watch
  • Member Spotlight: Bringing a Century of Expertise to the Evolving Laundromat Industry
  • PlanetLaundry Podcast: Reimagining Community: How the Hub Laundromat Cafe is a Change Catalyst in Detroit
  • Women In Vended Laundry: How Adrienne Hurrington Keeps the Wheels Turning as SAMCO
  • And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

Tennessee Laundromat, Local Cafe Team Up for Food Drive

Cycle Laundromat in Clarksville, Tenn., will team up with Manna Cafe to host a food drive on August 9-11. The Cycle Laundromat team will host the food drive to give back to the community they serve. Those interested in participating can bring in at least four cans of...

HappyNest Adds Second Partner in Charlotte Market

Laundry pickup-and-delivery service HappyNest has added Sunshine Laundromat as its second laundromat partner in Charlotte, N.C. As a result, HappyNest’s services are now available to residents and businesses in Cornelius, Davidson and Huntersville, as well as...

ACI Names Senior Manager of Public Health

The American Cleaning Institute, the trade association for the cleaning products supply chain, has appointed Audrey McCalley as senior manager, public health. “Audrey joins ACI with a background in public health, clinical research, policy and sustainability,” said Dr....

A Surprise Trend: ‘Inflation Relief’ Tax Policy

Rising inflation levels have hit consumers hard, and state lawmakers have spent time trying to provide relief, including indexing income tax brackets, issuing taxpayer rebates, and adopting new sales tax exemptions. Georgia, Idaho, Indiana (with an expansion of a...

COVID Relief Bill Introduced

Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Ben Cardin recently introduced legislation to create what’s being called the Hard-Hit Small Business Relief Fund (S.4471). For small businesses demonstrating substantial losses in 2020 and 2021 due...

FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

Columns

The Laundry Doctor

The Doctor’s Diagnoses

Originally posted - Dec 27, 2013 I recently conducted a webinar for the Coin Laundry Association, dealing with commercial stain removal. After my presentation, I received a number of great questions from the attendees, so I thought I would share of few of them here...

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The Business Mind

Going Off-Script

How to Raise Your Laundry Business Above and Beyond the CompetitionYou might assume – understandably so – that most customers select a specific laundry based essentially upon location, vend prices and hours of operation. But that just isn't so.Let me explain...

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Wash With Wally

Viewpoint

Mid-Year Report Card

I hope the first half of 2015 has been successful for you and your businesses. Recent surveys and economic indicators are all showing positive results, and it looks to stay that way for some time to come. In addition, the Coin Laundry Association accomplished some...

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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.