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 adjustments to their equipment mix in order to better serve the area’s booming vacation rental market.
“Our goal was to take our very nice laundry and increase its revenue and profit for a more viable business,” Keith Reed said.
When Opportunity Knocks
When purchased in 2018, the 4,500-square-foot Sparklean Laundry was predominately a self-service operation with an equipment mix of hard-mount washers, complementing dryers and a payment/management system.
“There are a lot of vacation rentals in the area, and we noticed cleaning firms coming in to do self-service laundry,” he noted. “As it turned out, there was a big demand for the high-end processing and ironing of bed and table linens. We wanted to tap into that commercial market and maximize our fluff-and-fold business. That’s when I started looking into ironers.”
Making the Investment
As a result of his research, Reed contacted Jason McAninch of Continental Girbau West, a distributor headquartered in Santa Fe Springs, Calif.
“I met with Jason, and we clicked right away,” Reed said.
To wash and iron large-dimension items, including king-size sheets and duvets, McAninch recommended – and later installed – a heated-roll Continental Express Ironer and two 80-pound-capacity washers with automatic chemical injection. To make room for this new equipment, Reed eliminated a second restroom, removed two stack dryers and relocated a wall.
At the end of the day, the ironer was installed in the middle of the laundromat, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass.
“Our customers love watching it in action,” Reed noted.
In addition, the store’s new soft-mount washers are located just outside of the ironer room for easy access.
“We already had four 80-pound-capacity, hard-mount washers at the front of our store for customers to use,” Reed said. “The newer soft-mount washers spin at a much higher rate, so they remove more moisture from laundry.”
In turn, according to Reed, it requires less time to dry loads and speeds up the ironing process. This improves production and conserves natural gas, he pointed out.
To simplify the new full-service operation, detergents and softeners are automatically injected into each wash cycle, according to the washer program selected. Operators simply load the items, enter a program number and start the machine.
While the business’ self-service customers continue to utilize the facility for personal use, the laundry attendants are busy processing both commercial and residential wash-dry-fold laundry loads – carefully tracking each specific order to assure that all client laundry is kept separate from other orders.
It’s important to note that, while towels and blankets are quickly washed and dried, ironed goods, such as bed and table linens, bypass the dryer and move directly from the washer to the ironer.
The heated-roll ironer can be operated by either one or two staff members. The unit automatically dries, irons and partially folds items, including tablecloths up to 12 feet in diameter, king-size sheets and duvets, pillowcases, and napkins.
“The ironer does 75 percent of the work for us,” Reed said. “After ironing, it performs the lengthwise fold, and we do the final two or three folds.”
Sales Skyrocket
Fast forward two years and the Reeds’ business has surged, in large part thanks to the store’s ironer, according to Keith Reed.
“We bought the laundry in 2018 and installed the ironer in December of 2019,” he explained. “From 2019-2020, our fluff-and-fold revenue increased 125 percent. From 2020-2021, it grew another 80 percent. It doesn’t even seem possible, but the ironer has been a gold mine for us.”
In fact, Sparklean now processes 8,000 pounds of commercial and residential wash-dry-fold laundry per week.
“We recently added a third shift because our business is really expanding,” Reed said. “I just recently received an account for another 1,500 pounds per day.”
Meanwhile, the Reeds report that the self-service segment of their laundry business remains steady.
The result is a laundromat that offers the best of two worlds – and benefits from both.
On the self-service side, which contributes 60 percent to store’s total revenue, customers enjoy modern equipment and a clean, bright and cool environment. On the full-service side, which accounts for 40 percent of total revenue, hospitality, vacation rental and residential customers appreciate a quality product delivered quickly to their doors.
