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...

Metrics That Matter 

Profit, Performance, and Planning in Vended Laundry  The laundromat business is like most businesses in that you need to do a lot of things right to be successful. But how do you know if it’s working? According to successful owners, you just need to look at the...

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....

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.

A Southern Gentleman

An Interview with Veteran Laundry Distributor Lamar ThomasLamar Thomas, president of T&L Equipment Sales Co., got his start in the laundry industry in 1954, delivering washers and dryers to coin laundries in the Charlotte, N.C. area. In 1967, he joined his father...

Language in the Laundromat

Store Owners Launch Early Childhood Literacy and Learning Program in the Chicago SuburbsLaundry operators Bill Norteman and Jim Cowen know what it's like to try to do the family laundry with children in tow. As the co-owners of JetXpress Laundry in Elgin, Ill., they...

Marketing, Technology And Making More Money

Boost Your Digital Marketing Success with Automation Techniques, Solid Analytics and a Retargeting ProgramTechnology is a game-changer.Since the year 2000, we've seen the invention, adoption, and removal of advancements like MySpace, multiple generations of...

Headlines

Florida Franchisor Looks to Expand National Footprint

WaveMAX Laundry – a vended laundry franchisor based in Jacksonville, Fla., currently with 16 laundromat locations across multiple states – is looking to aggressively boost its share of the market. The brand has an additional 24 locations under development and nearly...

Planning for a New Normal

Key Considerations for Laundry Owners in the Post-COVID-19 World These days, I find myself spending a good chunk of my time thinking about my laundry business – not necessarily about what to do with my PPP stimulus money or how to run my operation in the middle of...

Make 2020 Count

“The more people, the more dirty clothes.” – Ancient laundromat wisdom Time flies, as do the decades. Despite the ongoing pandemic and economic concerns, there’s a headcount to be made in 2020. The original constitutional edict from the framers comes to life in the...

Clean 2021 Booth Sales Now Open to 2019 Exhibitors

The Clean Show is now accepting booth space contracts for next year’s event from all of the exhibitors who participated in the 2019 show. Space is assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Sales will open to all other companies interested in exhibiting this fall....

CLA Board of Directors Issues Statement Rejecting Racism

Today, the Coin Laundry Association’s Board of Directors issued the following statement: The Coin Laundry Association’s mission is “to advance the self-service laundry industry by providing store operators with the industry research, connectivity, education and other...

Clean 2019 Listed Among Top Trade Shows

Trade Show News Network, which covers the latest news and trends in the trade show industry, has ranked the Clean Show at No. 83 in its listing of Top 250 Trade Shows of 2019. The annual list is based on net square feet of paid exhibit space. Clean 2019 in New Orleans...

Speed Queen Opens 700th Branded Laundry

Speed Queen recently reached a milestone by opening its 700th branded laundromat, with the launch of its new store in Orbassano, Italy. “New investors and entrepreneurs continue to leverage the brand equity and our proven business model of Speed Queen-branded...

What’s on My Bookshelf?

The ‘Best of the Best’ from the Author’s Own Personal Business Library I’ve had the same office in the same building for the last 15 years – from which my brother, Fred, and I run our laundry machinery distributorship. As with most repetitive actions, when I arrive to...

Let the Buyer Beware

What You Should Never Do When Looking to Purchase an Existing Laundromat In recent years, thanks in part to writing for this magazine, as well as getting the opportunity to speak to store owners through the Coin Laundry Association’s Connect LIVE program, I’ve been...

Staying Power

Looking Ahead to the Future of Laundromats The coronavirus outbreak has significantly impacted all of our lives in some way or another. Some of us have witnessed the dangers of this virus first-hand and the very real health concerns it presents. Many others have lost...

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June 2025 Cover of PlanetLaundry Magazine

This Month's Issue

 

  • Green is Good Business: Green Operations Increasingly Important to Feed Consumer Demand
  • Women In Laundry: Lee Ann Geurts Loves a Challenge
  • Store Profile: Kings Laundry Kicking it in Los Angeles
  • Untapped Growth Opportunities
  • And More…

THE LATEST ON LAUNDROMATS

Industry News

Rinse Buys FlyCleaners, Launches in New York City

Laundry and drycleaning service Rinse recently acquired its New York-based competitor, FlyCleaners, and has launched in New York City. Founded by Ajay Prakash, James Joun and Sam Cheng, the San Francisco-based startup said it will expand its laundry...

Laundromat Contributes to Local Nonprofit

Washin’ Coin Laundry, based in Anniston, Ala., recently donated a percentage of the proceeds from its operations to 2nd Chance Inc., a local nonprofit group that provides support for the victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Laundry owner Ken Barrett presented a check...

Whirlpool Commits to ‘Low-Carbon’ Future

The U.S. Department of Energy has recognized Whirlpool Corp. for committing to reduce portfolio-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent within 10 years and to work with the DOE to share successful solutions and decarbonization strategies. As a...

Curbside Laundries Announces Client Appreciation Dinner

Curbside Laundries will host a dinner reception on July 29 – the day before the opening of Clean 2022 – in appreciation of the company’s clients. According to the company, more than 130 Curbside clients will be attendance at the free dinner reception in Atlanta, which...

Attendee Registration Now Open for Clean ’22

Attendee registration for this year’s Clean Show has officially opened. The four-day event – to be held from July 30 through August 2 in Atlanta – will attract thousands of laundry and textile-care industry professionals from all around the world to discover the...

FROM YOUR FAVORITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

Columns

The Laundry Doctor

The Laundry Doctor’s Inbox

The Laundry Doctor’s Inbox

Originally posted -Feb 01, 2013 Since I opened my coin laundry, and especially since I started writing for PlanetLaundry, I notice that the Laundry Doctor receives quite of bit of e-mail – from laundry owners and laundry "doers" alike – asking my advice on everything...

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The Business Mind

What If…?

Four Common Questions That Keep First-Time Laundry Owners Up at Night First-time laundry owners are an interesting group. Based on my 30 years of experience as a distributor working with many of them, the typical rookie operator is overflowing with nervous enthusiasm...

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Wash With Wally

Viewpoint

Vital Signs

Neglect Your Store's Signage at Your Own Risk Because a laundromat is a self-service business, there is the tendency among some owners to have a "build-it-and-they-will-wash" attitude toward their stores. In other words, the focus is primarily on the equipment offered...

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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.