Florida Couple Builds Thriving Laundry Business in the Aftermath of Hurricane Michael
In October 2018, Hurricane Michael unleashed its wrath upon Panama City, Fla. – making landfall near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base.
The Category 5 storm produced devastating winds and a deadly storm surge along the coast, causing approximately $25 billion worth of damage. No doubt, the rebuilding of this decimated portion of Florida’s panhandle continues today.
As the new proprietors of Local Spin Laundromat in Panama City, Holly and Tim McKinney have played an integral role in that rebuilding effort.
In 2019, as the area was still assessing the aftermath of the hurricane, the couple, who had retired to Florida from Iowa, saw an opportunity – to create a retirement income and, more importantly, to help revitalize the community they’d grow to love.
“After Hurricane Michael, we made the decision to purchase a piece of property and build a laundromat,” Tim said. “Michael had hit so severely, and it hit where we actually live. So, we wanted to be part of the rebuild.
“We felt that a laundry would be a great cash-flow business for us and a great way to accomplish our goal of helping build back the community. And it’s been very satisfying for all of us.”
Tim wasn’t exactly a newcomer to the laundromat industry. Before retirement to Florida, he was a service manager for Dexter Laundry for more than 20 years.
“We decided to get back into it as a retirement business,” he said.
And both agree that coming out of retirement has been nothing by positive.
“We enjoy our customer interactions,” Holly noted. “We encourage a sense of community.”
In fact, the McKinneys appreciate the customer interactions and sense of community so much that they scrapped their original plans to operate Local Spin as an unattended, 24-hour operation.
“We built the store to be an unattended business,” Holly explained. “However, we chose to attend it initially, just to see what our customers’ wants and needs were. They clearly communicated to us that they wanted to feel safe. They wanted cleanliness. They wanted working equipment. And they wanted friendly service.
“After receiving feedback like that over and over, we decided that an unattended business model was not what we wanted, nor was it what the community wanted.”
As a result, the store now boasts business hours from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. seven days a week – and is fully attended by four part-time employees, as well as the two co-owners
Despite purchasing the property in 2019, Local Spin didn’t actually open its doors until last May. A few minor issues, such as a global pandemic and major supply-chain disruptions, saw to that.
“It took us a long time to get here,” Tim admitted. “We probably would have been open in 2021 had it not been for the supply-and-demand issues. We looked all over the country trying to secure building materials for the store.”
Despite the numerous delays and equally numerous headaches over the last few years as their laundry project slowly came together, the McKinneys remained steadfast in their plan and confident that they’d acquired the perfect location.
The 1,790-square-foot structure is a former Texaco gas station that was built in 1965.
“It’s strong,” Tim marveled. “After all, it withstood Hurricane Michael.”
The gas tanks had been removed from the site in the early 1990s, and the location served a vehicle repair shop for years after that. In recent years, the building sat vacant.
“We wanted to work with an existing building, as opposed to starting from scratch,” Holly explained. “Personally, we like rehabbing older buildings and bringing them back, versus tearing down something and disturbing the wildlife.
“Plus, we knew there was a huge growth factor in this area, with upgrades to nearby Tyndall Air Force Base being a huge part of that,” she continued. “We knew what was going into the renovation of the base, as well as how many additional troops were coming in. And we had a good idea of how many contractors would be around to do all of that work – contractors still wrapping up Hurricane Michael work, along with those working at the Air Force base.”
“Tyndall is being built back as the base of the future, and there’s only one way in,” Tim pointed out. “In our particular location, there’s only one bridge that allows you to get to the military base, which happens to be a major highway running along the coast – and we’re located at the foot of the bridge.”
Although still evolving in the aftermath of Michael, the area of Panama City surrounding Local Spin is heavily tourist-driven as well. The store features water views on both sides and benefits from five RV parks within a couple of miles – with marinas, restaurants, parks and waterfront residential projects rounding out the mix.
“The area is still growing, and a lot of commercial property is still being torn down today, due to Michael,” Tim said. “They’re finally starting to clean up the area and get settled, but you never know what type of commercial or residential building will be accepted back, with the city requirements quite high.”
One project that was accepted is a 250-unit apartment complex, to be conveniently located directly across the street from Local Spin.
To assure they get their fair share of the renter, tourist and contractor business, the McKinneys promote their new venture through a continually updated website; online marketing campaigns on Google, Facebook and Nextdoor; regular spots on local television; and strong word-of-mouth advertising. In addition, according to its owners, Local Spin differentiates itself from other laundromats by featuring the latest equipment, a mobile payment option, and an obsession with cleanliness.
“Being a former surgical technician, cleanliness is kind of an OCD thing for me, so our store is very clean,” Holly stated. “Clean, friendly and functioning. Our customers want a clean environment, friendly service, and working machines.”
The plan seems to be working.
“After a year of operation, we have people traveling 30 to 40 minutes to use our store,” Holly said. “It’s amazing to me that people are willing to drive that far to come to our laundromat.”
Holly and Tim also are surprised at how their customers have taken ownership of the new laundromat in the neighborhood.
“Our customers are cleaning up after themselves,” Holly explained. “They’re actually helping us maintain the level of cleanliness we’ve established. Although paper towels and other cleaning supplies are available to them, it still has been so surprising to see them do that. We have a very nice customer base – just good, friendly people.
“I’m also surprised that I enjoy the business as much as I do.”
Holly and Tim admitted that they’re both enjoying their “retirement business” so much that, given the unique real estate market in the area, they’re actually looking at other opportunities.
“We’re keeping our options open,” Tim divulged.
“From what I’ve seen, consumers really want a newer and quicker way to get things done,” Holly explained. “There is definitely a craving for more customer service in today’s market, and not just in laundry – in everything.
