American Coin-Op - November 2018

At Dexter, we take the American Dream to heart. We build high-quality laundry equipment that our customers can trust, right here in the heart of America. With lifetime technical support and our DexterLive management system, we try to give our customers the freedom and peace of mind to realize their dreams. But this is more than just their dream. This is the American Dream, and that dream is made possible thanks to those who serve.

To all the veterans and active military here at Dexter, those across the country and our allies around the world, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

GOIN’ WITH COHEN: SOFT SERVE MEETS SELF SERVE

When it’s time to decide whether to do laundry or grab a bite, you’ll find both on the menu at Sweets & Suds. The one-stop combo has put the enterprise on the map in northwest Indiana.

IN THE BEGINNING ...

Remember the work you put in when you were just getting started, the expectations you had of self-service laundry ownership? American Coin-Op checks in with three newer store owners to see how closely the realities of today matches their expectations of yesterday.

COIN-OP 101: WDF SUCCESS STARTS WITH QUALITY ... AND CREDIT CARDS

Wash-dry-fold (WDF) service can be a nice additional source of income or at least offset the cost of having attendants, says Dallas store owner Adam Naxon, provided the service is done right.

Customers complain, and you will continue to experience unhappy customers on a regular basis for years to come, says columnist Paul Russo. Handling complaints is far more important today than in the past because a customer’s negative online review can tarnish your reputation. If you want to change a potential 1-star review into 5 stars, here’s what’s needed.

LOOK

CONVENIENCE IS CALLING

ADDING RESIDENTIAL PICKUP & DELIVERY

As a society, there are few, if any, household chores that we like to do less than laundry. And, like it or not, our “app-powered economy” has embraced convenience; you can order just about anything for delivery.

These two truths combine to create a perfect opportunity to offer—if your area’s demographics will support it—residential pickup and delivery service. Who wouldn’t love to leave a bag of dirty clothes outside their front door one day and come home the next day to find all had been washed, dried and folded for a reasonable price?

For my story starting on page 6, I spoke to three store owners who offer such a service. While they each have their own approach to providing it, they agree that our society’s affection for all things convenient makes now a perfect time to offer pickup and delivery.

THE BEST WAYS TO HANDLE UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS

Owning a service-oriented, customer-facing business means that dealing with customer complaints is a way of life for you. While some may be unfounded, you’ll still want to handle them properly to avoid provoking a customer into posting a nasty online review that tarnishes your reputation.

With more than 40 years of New York store ownership experience, Paul Russo dealt with his share of complainers. If you want to change a possible 1-star review into 5 stars, he’s got the tools you’ll need, starting on page 22.

AND THERE’S MORE...

This month’s issue also includes a Goin’ with Cohen visit to Indiana’s Sweets & Suds, a Coin-Op 101 column about wash-dryfold service success, my In the Beginning... story featuring newer store owners, and much more. Enjoy!

Bruce Beggs Editorial Director

Charles Thompson, Publisher

E-mail: cthompson@ATMags.com Phone: 312-361-1680

Donald Feinstein, Associate Publisher/ National Sales Director

E-mail: dfeinstein@ATMags.com Phone: 312-361-1682

Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director

E-mail: bbeggs@ATMags.com Phone: 312-361-1683

Roger Napiwocki, Production

Manager

Nathan Frerichs, Digital Media Director

E-mail: nfrerichs@ATMags.com Phone: 312-361-1681

ADVISORY BOARD

Kurt Archer Ann Hawkins Wayne Lewis Kathryn Q. Rowen

Main: 312-361-1700

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Bruce Beggs

Customers’ growing desire for convenience is doorway to opportunity

by Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director

n our “app-powered” economy, adding a residential pickup and delivery service expands a store’s reach, boosts turns per day and increases revenue. But just what does it take to get such a service up and running?

American Coin-Op spoke with a trio of store owners who offer pickup and delivery service. Each has a slightly different approach but all agree that our society’s affection for all things convenient makes now a perfect time to offer pickup and delivery.

GETTING STARTED

Dave Menz owns four Queen City Coin Laundry stores in the Cincinnati area. This month marks the two-year anniversary of his pickup and delivery business called Laundry Magician. Including those working pickup and delivery, his laundry businesses employ around 35 people.

Covering a service territory of about 100 square miles, from Hamilton, Ohio, to Florence, Ky., Laundry Magician charges weekly customers $1.79 per pound (“on demand” customers pay $1.89 per pound). Large bedding and household items are priced by the piece.

The former telephone lineman says a “few different things” prompted him to

look into adding pickup and delivery.

“The primary one was we have a dropoff laundry service at three of our four stores, and all of our drop-off laundry services, our customers are very loyal,” Menz says. “That tends to be a repeat business type of thing. I was at one of the stores one day and an older gentleman who’s a great customer of ours came in. I was making small talk. He said this drop-off laundry thing—he was a middle-class gentleman, single—was, in his opinion, the greatest thing ever.

“As he was leaving, he made the comment that, ‘The only thing that would make this better is if you came to my house and got it from me.’

Menz called it a “light bulb moment.” He attended the 2015 Clean Show in Atlanta where there were a few vendors offering software for pickup and delivery service. “By the time I left the Clean Show, the combination of all the information I had gathered, I was like, ‘This is a nobrainer. I have to do this.”

Since 2014, Daniel Sofranko has owned Perfect Wash Express Laundry Center, a Huntington Beach, Calif., store that offers self serve, drop-off, commercial, and residential pickup and delivery services utilizing Continental Girbau laundry equipment. His local “delivery zone” centered

in Huntington Beach runs south of the 405 freeway, extending from Seal Beach on the northwest to Newport Beach on the southeast.

Regular two-day service costs $1.65 per pound, with a 20-pound minimum for local customers and a 25-pound minimum for non-locals. Rush service is an additional 50 cents per pound.

“This store is an 1,800-square-foot Laundromat. … It was always supposed to be part of a multi-store model,” Sofranko says. “So I’ve worked much, much harder and longer for one store, but it’s more than that, because this is where the whole system is being created, developed and perfected.

“I promise that it will always be selfservice, but fluff and fold and pickup and delivery were always part of the plan. Fluff and fold came first, and we knew we had to get that right before pickup and delivery came along.

“What I would say to people is that it’s a much easier transition to go from self-service only to self-service plus fluff and fold than it is from offering fluff and fold and then going to pickup and delivery. That is a separate business. The foundation totally relies on the equipment and the drop-off service, but it is an entirely different business that will double your workload on top of everything else.”

(Image Composite: ©iStockphoto/wowomnom & Ljupco)

In Sofranko’s case, his workforce jumped from 4.5 to 9 employees. One van is used full-time plus he has a “peripheral” vehicle that can be put into full service as needed.

Omar Kasi owns four Bubbles & Suds Laundromat locations in the Bay Ridge and Sunset Park areas of Brooklyn, N.Y. From the time he started offering pickup and delivery in late 2014, staff had to juggle processing orders in the Huebsch equipment around walk-in customers in his 2,300-square-foot store on 5th Avenue.

“I went into the pickup and delivery

business, honestly, because some customers just started asking for it,” Kasi says. “At that point, I had a truck, so I started doing it myself. I set up the hours. Customers would call in. Over the next few months, the business did start to grow, we started getting good reviews online, and I ended up hiring my first driver.”

There had to be a balance between his walk-in business and processing orders for pickup and delivery, he says. The two

had to co-exist.

“The store that I was processing everything out of is also a regular drop-off store and a self-service store, so I was always very conscious of outgrowing it and alienating my self-service customers,” he says. “I did have a long-term vision that I would finally find a pickup and delivery store with no self-service. But I didn’t want to do that here.”

Indeed, his operation evolved to the point that, in May, Bubbles & Suds opened a dedicated Pickup and Delivery Center on 75th Avenue; it does between 10,000 and 12,000 pounds per week. He employs roughly 15 people strictly for pickup and delivery work, including three fulltime drivers. Three vans are in service in covering much of Brooklyn, an area of roughly 12 square miles.

“I made a conscious effort of going toward downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, where I believe the clientele is more geared for the pickup and delivery,” Kasi says. “You’re talking about younger, more professional people working, really don’t want to do their own laundry.”

Standard pricing is $20 for a 10-pound minimum, and $1.30 per pound beyond the minimum. Individual household items are priced by piece.

GETTING ORGANIZED

Menz’s staff processes all pickup and delivery orders in his largest store, which is equipped with 36 Huebsch washers and 32 dryer pockets. His goal was to grow to

Laundry Magician vans are fully wrapped with promotional and informational graphics, acting as traveling billboards while traversing routes in and around Cincinnati. Owner Dave Menz (inset; file photo) chose to organize his pickup and delivery service separately from his Queen City Coin Laundry: “They’re two separate businesses. And they’re marketed toward two different clienteles.” (Photos courtesy Dave Menz)

Omar Kasi (center), owner of four Bubbles & Suds Laundromat locations in Brooklyn, N.Y., poses with store employees during a recent event. At right is his company’s dedicated Pickup and Delivery Center, which just opened in May. (Photos courtesy Omar Kasi)

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the point that there would be a third-shift production crew that would start work just as the store was closing to self-service each night. The store, he envisioned, would basically become a factory overnight.

“One of my stores is a little more centrally located in Cincinnati than the other ones. It’s my biggest store, about 5,000 square feet. I was like, ‘I can run this business out of this store and grow it to a pretty good-size business before I need to think about anything else. That’s kind of how the thought process went and the due diligence went.”

He initially planned to launch the service simply, managing it on his personal cell phone and utilizing a website with a contact form. But conversations with software providers changed his mind and he ultimately chose to utilize a software suite from Springboard.

“There was a time where I considered launching our pickup and delivery business without the software,” Menz says. “Then once I grew it to the point where I physically couldn’t manage it anymore through a manual process, I would then add a software package to it. I ultimately determined that the tools that were in the software package would not only help me manage the process but it would help me impress my customers.

“We were going to have a new name, a new brand, and everything. I wanted to appear a little bit bigger and more legitimate. The other side of it was I knew the tools they had would help me gain new customers. I ultimately determined that having a software package like this would help me grow the business a lot faster. That’s why I launched with it from day one. Everything has worked out perfectly.”

When Kasi’s business first started offering pickup and delivery, he admits it was “pretty old-school.”

“Customer would call in. We have a POS system in the store. Put the customer’s information in there, print up a little tag and go pick up a bag, do it that way. About a year into it, we set up something through the website where somebody can actually enter their information in and schedule the pickup, which would then come to the store. I’m not sure of the exact date I started with Starchup. They built our branded app and then we launched it to our customers.

“I think for anybody that’s gonna want to grow their business on that side of it, you

would need some type of app business,” Kasi says. “In this day and age, most people do not want to call, do not want to speak to people on the phone. They want to be able to pay for something seamlessly on their card. A lot of our customers, we don’t even see them. They schedule on their app, their bag is left outside their door or with their doorman, it’s paid for when we drop it off. And that’s it.”

“My store has a POS system that’s good for in-store drop-off,” Sofranko says. “The pickup and delivery, we facilitate them the same, only there’s different tagging procedures.”

He has purchased an app-based platform but has not yet implemented it. It’s the solution he’ll need, he believes, once Perfect Wash puts its second van into full service and/or has a second facility up and running (Sofranko says it will be a mixed hybrid, with a dedicated commercial processing area separated from the self-service equipment).

BRANDING AND EXPANSION

Kasi and Sofranko offer their pickup and delivery services under the banners of their Laundromats.

“Being in business for a little while at that point and having two stores when we started it, I believe we had a nice, loyal customer base,” Kasi says. “I wanted to continue that and let customers know that it was still us. … Why put it under a different name? That might confuse some customers.”

Menz chose to draw a line between his store brand and his pickup and delivery brand.

“I played around with the idea of both. … Ultimately, we decided to separate the two because, although they’re being processed through the same facility, they are two completely different entities,” Menz says. “They’re two different businesses. And they’re marketed toward two different clienteles. I mean, there’s really nothing

about them that is the same, other than it’s laundry. That’s it.”

Menz isn’t concerned about expansion.

“We definitely have the capacity to do four or five times the volume we’re doing now,” he says. “Right now, we’re only doing pickups four days a week. … We have a tremendous amount of capacity. That’s not an issue for us.”

Additionally, he’s in the process of building a fifth store that he says will be larger in size and capacity than his current largest store. Once it’s ready, he’ll be dividing the Laundry Magician work between it and the current site.

“ON THE RIGHT TRACK”

“One of the things we found … is that there weren’t that many people doing it,” Menz says of pickup and delivery. “Even three years ago to now, the number of people doing pickup and delivery is astronomically different. It has grown so much in a very short period of time, and that just confirms that we’re on the right track.”

Menz believes pickup and delivery will a $5 million business in Cincinnati alone.

“Just to give you an idea … we haven’t even completed our second year of business and in delivery business alone, we’re going to reach right around the half-milliondollar mark in 2018. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

“We launched at just the right time where society’s mentality of how they’re serviced has shifted to a point there this is normal and very acceptable.”

Daniel Sofranko owns Perfect Wash Express Laundry Center in Huntington Beach, Calif. Running fluff and fold service properly was needed before he could add pickup and delivery, he says. (Photo courtesy Daniel Sofranko)

Meets Self Serve Soft Serve

Indiana’s Sweets & Suds offers tasty twist

by Laurance Cohen

It’s approaching noon, time to decide whether to do some laundry or grab a bite to eat. You’ll find both on the menu at Sweets & Suds. Here, front loaders start at $3, and so do the mouthwatering burgers. Fill machines along with your stomach — a one-stop combo that

has put this tiny enterprise squarely on the map in the northwest Indiana town of Griffith.

Forget dine ’n dash. It’s dine ’n wash for regulars like sisters Lisa and Andriana Gaston as they munch down on chili cheese dogs while Lisa’s daughter Adryn

nibbles some fries at the folding table. What may be strictly taboo in other laundries is just another day at this coin-op where soap and softener meet ketchup and mustard.

“We were amazed by both the convenience of the food and being able to wash our clothes at the same time so we thought we’d come here,” Lisa says, telling me the siblings bypass two other laundries along the drive from their Merrillville, Ind., home to clean up for $20 and eat up for another $10.

FOODIE AT HEART

Satisfying a coin-op crowd craving more than washers and dryers is Bertha “Bertie” Goodrich. From late morning to early evening, she churns out 40 freshly prepared food menu items and dozens of ice cream creations just a laundry pod’s throw from the front loaders.

That hot Reuben sandwich and tossed chicken Caesar salad will be ready to be enjoyed alfresco or in the wash aisle well before the rinse cycle completes. Be sure to leave room for a colorful cone or the “Charlie Brown” specialty sundae — topped with hot fudge, marshmallows and peanuts.

Sweets & Suds may be soft serve ice cream and self-serve coin-op, but its owner is a foodie at heart. Dishing out edibles next door to where the public is cleaning unmentionables wasn’t the intention of this one-time general manager for the fastcasual Boston Market dining chain — it just washed out that way.

Filling stomachs and machines is on the menu at Bertie Goodrich’s Sweets & Suds tandem snack shop coin-op.

(Photos: Laurance Cohen)

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GOIN’ WITH COHEN

Goodrich longed to run her own eatery and decided 15 years ago to trade the corporate world for an aging storefront restaurant in downtown Highland. But leasing space was merely a stepping stone; owning a property was on this entrepreneur’s radar.

The search led her to an unassuming coin-op and drop-off service hawking pop and penny candy a short drive away. With a footprint not much larger than a doublewide trailer, the building was small in size but big on opportunity.

“I didn’t want to do laundry. I just wanted to open a restaurant,” she says of the acquisition 13 years ago.

Goodrich chucked the wash-dry-fold, which occupied about 400 square feet on the western third of the building, and shoehorned in all-new food service equipment. And while she knew her way around the kitchen, the laundry was uncharted waters.

“People would come up and ask how to remove a stain, and it was ‘OK, I’ve got to Google this one because I don’t know,” the operator recalls, later confiding, “I’m not very good at doing laundry.”

The equipment on offer had few working pieces. She scrapped the top loaders

for new ones. What front loaders were salvageable received attention from an independent contractor and the balance replaced. The tumblers — all single pockets — were eventually given the heave-ho, swapped out for new stack models to bring wash and dry capacity into sync.

Getting the laundry back into full operation and outfitting a whole new kitchen came at a price tag of $70,000, the owner reports.

PATRON FEEDBACK SHAPES LAUNDRY

Being an industry novice, Goodrich

leaned on her patrons to improve the laundry. She employed a comment box in the round-the-clock operation to serve as a conduit for feedback and customer suggestions during the hours the place was unmanned, as well as keeping her apprised of what things needed tweaking.

The sudsy side of Sweets & Suds has 15 washers positioned along two walls and 14 dryer pockets lining a third inside the modest 20-foot-by-36-foot trade area. With its long common folding table bisecting the space, congestion along the 4-foot-wide aisles is inevitable, requiring patrons to

Sweets & Suds promotes its offerings to both local passersby and bicycle traffic along the Erie Lackawanna Trail near its doorstep.

Patron Lauren Hong (left) stops by for a flavor-striped ice cream cone after finishing a load of wash in the adjacent self-service laundry.

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GOIN’ WITH COHEN

beg their pardons when ferrying clothes between washers and dryers.

Although the creature comforts are limited to an overhead TV and a few barstools, the basics are all there: a variety of clean, working machines; ample folding space; and easy access to convenient offstreet parking.

The decidedly intimate interior gives way to plenty of leg room outside, where tables and benches offer a front-row view of the passing parade of bicyclists and joggers making their way up and down the Erie Lackawanna Trail, a paved recreational path stretching 18 miles from Hammond to Crown Point on what was once a railway line leading to the industrial belt at the southern tip of Lake Michigan.

As the nature trail grew in popularity, so did Sweets & Suds, the owner says. Bikers pedal on over and brake for a snack while laundry customers take advantage of the path’s close proximity to pass the time or

burn off calories.

Rick Stephenson pops in for a mixed berry smoothie before his return bike ride to Chicago’s Chinatown, some 70 miles to the north. In between sips, he mentions that Sweets & Suds is the perfect midway stopping point.

While this particular weekend saw him riding solo, Stephenson and his friends

have made the little spot their destination for years to not only fuel up, but to take in a taste of Goodrich’s warm hospitality.

The banter between the genial host and those filtering in either at the front door or through the coin-op’s passageway makes for a lively scene as outdoor enthusiasts and laundry customers queue up at the counter and look on in anticipation as

The sudsy side of Sweets & Suds offers an assortment of 15 washers of varying capacity and 14 dryer tumbler pockets.

Chicagoan Rick Stephenson stops by Sweets & Suds to enjoy a mixed berry smoothie before heading home on his 140-mile round-trip bike ride.

GOIN’ WITH COHEN

food is prepared before their eyes.

DON’T MIND WAITING A LITTLE

Like the coin-op, the kitchen is compact and gets the job done. A flattop grill is the main attraction as Goodrich lays down thick, hand-packed burger patties to put on a sizzling show for those inside. As she deftly moves between the refrigerator, cutting board and cooking apparatus, the anticipation builds for the next red basket to make its way out.

“Everything is fresh and cooked to order,” she says. “That’s what people like and don’t mind waiting a little for.”

Most sandwiches are priced in the budget-friendly $3 to $6 range, catering to both a captive coin-op crowd watching quarters, as well as those passing through on the run. Cool treats — from flurries and floats to cones and sundaes — are customized to a patron’s liking with their choice of Flavor Burst-striped soft serve ice cream.

For a small venue, the place is hard to miss. A bright blue awning extends along

most of the building’s perimeter, capped by a rooftop sign boasting a twist cone. At street level, the wind may get its way with some of the letters on a changeable message board, but the comings and goings of laundry baskets offer a telltale reminder that clean clothes are always on the menu.

The Sweets & Suds duo is strictly a oneperson operation, and Goodrich prefers to go it alone rather than leave her business to others: “I just rely on myself. I don’t take a day off.”

Her grueling seven-day work schedule is interrupted at Thanksgiving and Christmas when she locks up shop for a week and heads off to Florida with family.

When it comes to cooking versus cleaning, this operator is quick to respond.

“Running a restaurant is a lot more work. You’ve got to have a lot of dedication on the restaurant side,” she explains, noting that the nature of self-service laundry is dependent on equipment ready to do its job for the patron.

Being at the helm of a tandem business does have its memorable moments, like the time four teens biking along the trail got caught in a torrential downpour and sought refuge inside the laundry.

The drenched girls soon spilled the beans that they would face an even bigger storm when their parents caught wind of their journey. With no customers in sight, the fast-thinking operator had them strip off their rain-soaked shirts and tossed the tops into the dryer while covering them in towels from the lost-andfound box.

Goodrich chuckles, recalling the sight of the girls huddled by the dryers all wrapped up and digging into their ice cream as they awaited a car ride home. An adventure that soured, but turned into something sweet.

Laurance Cohen crisscrosses the country seeking out the most unique vended laundries. He served as American Coin-Op editor in the early 1990s and currently operates Laundry Marketing Concepts based in Hallandale Beach, Fla. He can be reached at goinwithcohen@outlook.com.

ACO

The Gaston family bypasses two other coin-ops for the one-stop convenience of satisfying their hunger and tackling the weekly wash.

Goodrich turns out 40 freshly prepared food menu items and dozens of ice cream creations from her compact kitchen.

FROM PAULIE B

THE BEST WAYS TO HANDLE UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS

Customers complain. We’ve all been there—many times—and you will continue to experience unhappy customers on a regular basis for years to come. But why?

Sometimes you’re at fault, and sometimes you’re not.

Some customers are habitual complainers, almost to the point of being in their DNA! But some customers have good reason to lodge a complaint against your Laundromat, your employees, or you personally.

Some complain graciously, but some can come at you angrily. Don’t take it personally—this is part of the business.

Handling customer complaints is far more important nowadays than in the past because, quite frankly, they have power ... to leave you a bad review that can tarnish your online reputation!

So, if you want to change a potential 1-star review into a potential 5-star review, here’s what’s needed:

REALIZE THAT EVERY COMPLAINT IS AN OPPORTUNITY It’s true, every complaint is an opportunity to trans-

form an unhappy customer into a happy one, which will create a sales rep for your business. Here’s how to approach them:

• Acknowledge their complaint in a sincere manner;

• Handle it quickly and pleasantly, and thank them for alerting you to a problem; and

• Make it right for them in a manner that is more than they expected!

Let’s begin with the most common complaint: “I put the money/card in and the washer/dryer didn’t start.”

Yes, some customers will try to scam you, but experience has taught me that the vast majority are telling the truth, or think they are telling the truth, due to an error in their operating the machine that they are not aware of.

It’s your duty to help them, not give them an annoyed look or a sarcastic remark. Since most of them think they are telling the truth, a snide remark can easily make them furious enough to never come back and/or leave you with a poor rating online.

Best response? “I’m so sorry. Let me help you by checking the machine.” Then you or your attendant quickly check if the machine is operating properly; do it in a pleasant manner, not like you are trying to catch them in a lie!

Checking a machine often requires another insertion of money. If the machine starts with your attempt, then pleasantly leave the customer with something like this: “It started this time, but thank you for the heads-up because it may not start for the next customer. Let me know when it’s finished, so we can give the machine a complete checkup.”

Then, when the customer tells you the cycle is finished, place an “Out of Order” sign on the machine in clear view. This validates to them that you really did believe them, which of course makes them feel good that they have chosen a mat with excellent customer service, that they will never get cheated by you.

Congratulations! You have now gained their trust and confidence, and they may just speak of that little interaction with family and friends, and possibly even post a nice online review. What did it cost you? One wash or one dry? Cheap advertising! A tiny price to pay to ensure that customer will keep coming back.

Paul Russo

If this customer spends only $10 a week in your mat, you make up that wash or dry credit on their next visit! A year later, that customer has spent $520 in your store that you would not have if you brushed them off.

And, if you brushed them off and they left your business a bad review, it could cost you thousands in future business!

It all boils down to this: It’s far cheaper to keep existing customers than to find new ones!

Now, if the machine doesn’t start on your try, then you thank the customer for letting you know about a problem. Put their laundry in another machine, then put the original machine “Out of Order,” smiling while doing it. Smiles don’t cost anything. Acknowledge that these things happen and make the customer feel that you have his/her back when they do.

Here’s another thing to consider: Oftentimes, this refunding scenario is played out right in front of other customers! Many will be watching.

So, depending on how you satisfy the complainer, your response could be multiplied in a positive or negative fashion without you even knowing it.

People are made uncomfortable by public arguments in “their” Laundromat, so unless you have a really unreasonable customer, try to avoid arguing with them.

Now, I know what you are thinking: If I just give in every time a customer wants a refund or credit, won’t the onlookers pile on? Won’t that customer try again?

Well, yes and no. Most will not pile on, and most will not try again.

For the ones that do try to take advantage of you, the solution is simple: a refund book.

Every time you or your attendant gives a refund or credit, enter the refund in the book by machine number, cause of refund, time/ date, attendant name, and customer name. Have the customer sign the notation.

This can be handled with a simple book, but if you’re a real techie, and have the hardware and software, the customer can sign it digitally, just like you sign for a UPS package.

Having the customer sign for the refund will obviously show them that you are keeping a record of refunds and send a subliminal message that they can’t come in every time and declare that a machine “did not start.” Keeping a record puts the brakes on that, and it works. The book is also necessary to help you keep track of attendants’ handling of refunds.

With some card systems, a credit on a customer’s card can be easily recorded.

In the case of “My dryer stopped and my clothes are still wet,” you or your crew need to check the machine as usual. Sometimes, the dryer is really not putting out enough heat, or the dryer’s stove

did not light up at all, or another customer came along and opened the dryer door, realized it wasn’t her dryer and then just left it stopped with the timer ticking away.

In all cases, I would just credit the customer and have them sign the refund book unless it’s obvious to you that they heavily overloaded the dryer. Then you need to educate them on how to dry properly: say, “The dryer needs room for the air to flow between the laundry,” before splitting the load into two dryers. I would still pleasantly credit them somewhat so they can leave with a happy experience.

DROP-OFF COMPLAINTS

Drop-off service is a whole other ballgame. Your responsibility is higher because you are handling their laundry.

I found that the “con artists” who think they are smart in scamming you almost always attempt this with their first or second drop-off. They are basically strangers.

Your regular customers fall into the category of the article loss/ damage was real, or they think it is real.

We found sometimes that the customer or their “significant other” or family member actually left the article in question out of the drop-off bag but the customer was unaware.

So, our standard for missing items was:

• Let the customer vent their complaint without interruption. Then take their personal information—name, phone number, date/time when they dropped off, when they picked up, and ticket number (if possible)—so you can trace their order. Then, take down a description of the item, including size, color, material, etc. The more information you gather the better. You can print up a complaint form for this to guide your crew in what to ask the customer.

• Tell them the owner/manager will call them in a day or two (if he/she is not already on the premises).

• Use this time to not only do your search but to ask the customer to check at home because, in many cases, it’s the customer who finds the missing item.

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

For damaged items, our standard was:

• If the article is bleach-damaged, it could very well have happened in your place. I would just take responsibility and give them a credit.

• For rips, tears and food stains, occurring while in your mat is not as likely. If you discover stains on the front of a shirt, pants or skirt, it was most likely done by the customer when they were eating, and you can tell them so. This shifts the responsibility to them, and you can look like the good guy by saying you’ll work on removing the stains at no charge.

• If it’s a situation in which a pen, crayon, mascara or anything else has popped in the dryer, if you have a warning sign posted that tells customers to “check your pockets, as we are not responsible for...,” then you can legally avoid payment. However, is that the best response?

In claims of damage, always save the evidence! A crayon wrapper from a customer who has small children is like gold for you! Even if the customer denies it, you can always use this evidence in court … but again, is going to court the smartest move?

So now we are in the negotiating stage. Remain calm during this time, even if the customer is screaming at you.

Use evidence of pocketed items, stains on the front of shirts, etc., simply to get the cost of crediting the customer down. You know that they almost always say the item was “brand new”! If they hit you with a nice round number like $200, be on guard that they are most likely jacking up the price.

My answer to that: “Well, since you say it is brand-new, then you must still have the receipts.”

The standard reply: “Well, I don’t save receipts!” Bingo—you now have the edge.

“Well, if have to go to small claims court over this,” you answer, “a judge would want evidence. Otherwise, he will rule against you.”

Googling the item’s real price will also bring them down to earth.

In the case of item damage, your response to “I don’t save receipts” is, simply, “Then you are asking me to compensate you for used laundry. Just the fact that you brought it in to be washed makes it used.”

If it’s a missing item, the customer would clearly lose the case. If it’s a damaged item, your argument of used laundry will clearly bring the compensation price way down.

However, you don’t really want to let this go all the way to court. This is a lose/lose scenario! You want to save the customer!

What you are trying to do is to simply get the customer to realize he or she is not going to get $200 out of you because he/she wants to punish you for all the unfairness in life with a “Gotcha!”

You want to bring him or her down to earth, so you can both come to a reasonable settlement. So reasonable, in fact, that he/ she will walk away happy with what was settled, and you will feel satisfied that you gave a more reasonable settlement out of your

pocket to keep that customer happily coming back!

When I was in that position, I actually offered them a little more than they expected: a free nylon laundry bag, or an extra $10 credit.

I might have told them that I would be speaking with the crew member who made the mistake. If they disliked that crew member, I would say, “No problem! Here are the names of my best crew members. Just ask for one of them the next time you come in.”

Now, here’s where you’re gonna think I’m crazy! In some cases, when I felt the customer was still not completely satisfied, or seemed uneasy about coming back, or was going to leave a bad review, I gave them my personal cell phone number and told them to call me if they ever had another problem.

On the surface, you may be thinking, “No way!” However, doing this blows their mind in a very positive direction. They now feel that you trust them so much that you, the boss, are totally on their side!

Over the years, I probably gave out my cell phone number at least 50 times. At most, five customers ever used it. That’s the truth. (Besides, you can always block them if necessary.) ACO

Paul Russo owned and operated multiple Laundromats in New York City for more than 40 years before retiring recently. He’s a regular on the Coin Laundry Association’s online forum, posting under the pseudonym “Paulie B.” He invites comments from readers at MyLaundromat@aol.com.

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

UPCOMING EVENTS

NOVEMBER

1 PAC Industries Open House & Service Seminar

Laurel, Md. Info: 717-657-0407; vickie@pacindustries.com

3 Laundry & Cleaners

Supply Inc. Open House Phoenix, Ariz. Info: 602-244-0800; https://laundryandcleaners.com

6 Laundry Pro of Florida Service & Sales Seminar Maitland, Fla. Info: 800-232-5736

7 Continental Girbau West Vended Laundry Service School Santa Fe Springs, Calif.

Info: 866-950-2449; www.cg-west.com/training/

8 Commercial & Coin Laundry Equipment Fall Show

Gulf Breeze, Fla. Info: 800-366-4168; www.clecco.com

8 Laundry Owners Warehouse Sales & Service Seminar

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Info: 954-537-1643

13 Statewide Laundry Investment Seminar

Tampa, Fla., (afternoon) or Hialeah, Fla. (evening) Info: www.statewidelaundry. com/seminar-sign-up

15 PAC Industries Open House

Harrisburg, Pa.

Info: 800-692-6214; www.pacindustries.com

FEBRUARY 2019

28 Laundry Pro of Florida Open House

Lakeland, Fla. Info: 863-701-7714 or 800-232-5736

JUNE 2019

20-23 The Clean Show New Orleans, La. Info: 404-876-1988; www.cleanshow.com

Check https://americancoinop. com/coinop-events for updates!

Beginning... In the

by Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director

Fledgling store owners compare pre-ownership expectations to industry realities

Think back to the time when you were first thinking of becoming a self-service laundry owner. Remember the work you put in researching the industry, sizing up equipment, studying the market where your store would be located?

You went into laundry ownership with certain expectations about what the experience might be like. So, does your reality of today differ from your expectations of yesterday?

American Coin-Op recently spoke with three relatively new store owners from

around the country who spoke about their experiences during the brief time they’ve been operating.

Vivian “Vivi” Bueno owns Vivi’s Laundry, a 3,500-square-foot attended store in Carson, Calif., that features Electrolux washers and dryers. She offers fluff and fold services and says she will soon be incorporating dry cleaning and alterations. She just celebrated the store’s third anniversary on Oct. 2.

Gilbert and Mary Valenzuela are the owners of Tornado Laundromat in Amarillo, Texas. Their two stores—both

around 3,500 square feet in size and offering Maytag washers and dryers—opened within the last few years, and they are preparing to open a third store in February. All locations are attended during business hours, plus require a full-time attendant to manage the new wash-and-fold delivery service.

Ceara and John Templin Jr. are brandnew store owners, having just opened their attended Laundry Lounge featuring Huebsch equipment in Winslow, Maine, in February. When Ceara found local Laundromats to be lacking, the couple

The Laundry Lounge in Winslow, Maine., just opened in February under the ownership of Ceara and John Templin Jr. (inset). John, who works full-time as a power company lineman, worked nights and weekends converting the former furniture store.

decided to open their own. John worked nights and weekends remodeling and converting a former furniture store.

While Bueno considers store ownership her only occupation after a lengthy career at Intel, the Valenzuelas own and operate a concrete and construction company, and Templin Jr. works full-time as a power company lineman.

Each of the owners say they put in quite a deal of time researching the industry, spending years learning what was involved and finding the right properties for them.

Understanding the customer-facing nature of providing a service, all believe they were prepared to interact with those who frequent their stores.

“You’ve got to create that environment for what people want,” Templin says.

“Listen to your customer base when they come in.”

What aspect of laundry ownership has

Naxon

WDF SUCCESS STARTS WITH QUALITY … AND CREDIT CARDS

We live in a “time is money” world, right? Seems like all of us are trying to pile as much as possible into a 24-hour period. This is why so many of us are willing to pay extra for convenience. Readymade items from the grocery store deli, 10-minute oil changes … heck, even many of our workouts are centered on time savings.

While a good portion of our Laundromat customers visit our stores because they don’t have equipment at home, another segment call on us for convenience.

They might be the apartment renter. This person would much rather pile their week’s worth of laundry into our multi-load washer-extractors than suffer through the pain of a half-day of laundry on homestyle, single-load washers and dryers in the basement of their apartment building. They might also be the homeowner, who brings in bulky items — quilts, bed covers, fall/winter clothing — rather than battle home equipment all day and still not get quality results.

So while some of our customers come to our laundries because they have limited options for clean clothes, clearly, another group loves the convenience our stores provide. So why not provide a higher level of convenience?

Time matters, so how many customers or prospective customers would see value in letting your staff manage their laundry task? Wash-dry-fold (WDF) service can be a nice additional source of income or at least offset the cost of having attendants, provided the service is done right.

IS IT A FIT FOR YOU?

If you are thinking about adding WDF service at your store, you first have to have a grasp of the market. In some areas, it just won’t be a fit. Stores in high-traffic locations on the edge of middle- or upper-class areas are going to have the best possibility of success.

While all three of my laundries are attended, I only offer WDF service at two of them; the third just would not draw clientele. So, the first step to success is having a firm understanding of your market and where you may be able to draw from.

Upon clearing the first hurdle, you next have to ask if you have the right people in place in the store. WDF is all

about customer service and quality control. Do you have staff capable of delivering the best service? If you do, their approach will not only net more customers for the service but satisfied vended laundry customers overall.

SET THE BAR HIGH AND MOTIVATE

Each of us has likely worked for great bosses and companies, and some that are not so great. While there are a number of factors at play, I think a cornerstone of a great boss is they are a motivator — they don’t tell you what to do; they give you a bit of direction, ownership in a project, and let you dazzle them.

My first store had a WDF problem from the start. The laundry was doing 200-300 pounds per week and staff was fighting over employees not doing the work and leaving it for others. They were not motivated to do it, so they didn’t.

When I took over, I implemented a 10-cent-per-pound commission for staff. I also gave them direction — talk to customers, help them, and present WDF. My thinking is they would increase sales of this service, but, overall, the business would benefit from improved customer service.

My win-win scenario was happier, more motivated staff, and improved service and profits. I never approached this business as being about turns. Rather, my tack is on customer acquisition — get customers in and keep them happy. When attendants are interacting and truly know our customers, those people tell others and our customer base grows. Make no mistake, WDF is more than another revenue stream; it’s a tool to provide better service and attract customers to the self-service side.

As for the results, those 200-300 pounds a week had grown to 800-plus per week within a month and a half.

CREDIT IS THE KEY

Obviously, having a good staff is important to have as WDF sales advocates, but my experience has shown another element is possibly even more vital. The ability to accept credit card payment for this service was instrumental in our significant growth. One location was averaging 800 pounds. Upon adding a credit card system, we were consistently averaging 2,000 pounds per week within six months.

While not imperative to have, adding a point of sale

Adam

(POS) system can complement your cameras in providing an extra check on staff. As all owners like to say, “Trust, but verify.” Many systems can provide a daily report of number of bundles dropped off, total pounds, and any cost factors. Without a robust system offering easy access to this information, owners are simply left to check receipts solely against their video feed.

I would advise anyone starting out or thinking of adding WDF that credit card payment is mandatory, especially when you consider the clientele utilizing the service. This group generally has more disposable income and is far more used to paying with credit. At present, 60% of our drop-off service customers are paying with credit/debit cards.

When approaching pricing for your service, survey your area. What are others in the market charging? Make sure you know what your own cost factors are to arrive at a price structure that makes sense. I’ll also advise to have an idea on where your “sweet spot” is. Some owners take the approach that if the service offsets attendant costs, that’s the sweet spot. Others are focused on building it into a significant piece of the revenues. So, make a plan based on the fact that you got into the vended laundry business. If you want to be a commercial laundry, there are far more direct paths.

QUALITY MAKES OR BREAKS THE SERVICE

With this service, we are selling convenience. However, convenience alone isn’t enough. Convenience without quality is a waste of money. Again, empower staff to focus on providing excellent customer service from start to finish; check loads periodically before they go out to customers. If they look sloppy, you can view

it as the employee’s approach to their job overall. Stress quality.

Doing laundry isn’t as obvious as we think. Make sure your staff know how to process: separate lights and darks; watch out for that one red item that can ruin a whole load; double-check pockets to make sure no pens find their way into the washer.

Make sure you have a dedicated space for loads to keep things organized. We work in an environment where things sometimes “disappear.” Staff should keep an eye on loads at all times. The last thing you want is for a customer’s laundry to “walk out.”

I believe the other part of quality is setting customer expectations through signage or other communication. Note that you are not responsible for items left in pockets (though we do try to check at my stores), and do not remove spots from items (that is what dry cleaners do). We also charge more for processing heavy quilts and blankets.

Finally, make sure your quality shines online. We get a lot of business through our online presence (Google, Yelp), so keep an eye on reviews — people gravitate toward businesses with a 4-star reputation.

Don’t complicate WDF service. It boils down to quality staff, and providing quality service and payment ease through offering credit card payment. If you have those bases covered, your business is 90% on the way to success. The rest is process control. ACO

Adam Naxon and his wife, Ella, own Magic Coin Laundry, a Speed Queen-equipped vended laundry in Dallas. Naxon has three locations, with two offering WDF service. He can be reached at adamnaxon@yahoo.com.

MONEY-HANDLING EQUIPMENT

KLOPP INTERNATIONAL

Operators who prefer the economy and simplicity of coin slides can select from ESD’s four basic models, which include a four-coin, five-coin, eight-coin, and a 14-coin slide model.

The vertical slides can be configured to accept various quantities and denominations of coins, ranging from 5 cents to $3.50. The company says it manufactures 72 different slides, which will accept coinage of most countries, for international markets. In addition to currency, ESD also builds slides designed to accept various tokens.

All slides are equipped with several security devices— designed with components made of stainless steel, magnets and case hardened parts—that defeat attempts to slug, string, wrap, tape or any variation of “pull back” cheating, the company says.

ESD also manufactures a variety of money boxes, with security design features like case hardened steel faceplates, a four-point locking system, and a cone that provides extra protection for the lock, which is additionally available. Four different options of lock styles can be purchased with each of its boxes.

Coin trays are available in 6-, 8- and 9-inch lengths, with faces available in several finishes, including powder black, chrome and powder blue. www.esdcard.com 215-628-0860

The Hitachi iH-110 Currency Counter/Sorter, distributed in the United States by Klopp International, is a banknote counter that utilizes image processing technology to recognize banknotes and sort denominations.

The iH-110 features “Full Color Imaging with Dual CIS scanning,” which scans both sides of the bills to reduce unwanted rejects. The two-pocket design, with a stacker and a reject pocket, allows the IH110 to count and off-sort without stopping. Having a reject pocket also allows the machine to “face” and “orient” the direction of the bills for daily bank deposits and/or ATM.

Counting modes include mixed (counts mixed money, providing grand total and itemized count), single (counts one denomination and sorts all other denominations into reject pocket), count (counts all bills, providing quantity total), face (faces all bills, either heads up or heads down), and orientation (orients all bills in proper direction, either heads facing right or heads facing left).

The iH-110 offers full counterfeit detection, a 4.3inch color touch screen and user-friendly menu. It’s easily upgradable using USB flash drive, Klopp says, and jam removal is made easy thanks to two openings from the front and rear sides.

www.kloppcoin.com 800-356-9080

CUMMINS ALLISON

Cummins Allison says its broad range of coin counting/ sorting and currency scanning/sorting solutions are designed for speed, accuracy and enhanced productivity. The manufacturer claims its JetScan iFX® series of currency counters are unmatched at reading bill denominations, regardless of quality, at the fastest speed in the industry. There are an assortment of machines to choose from, including countertop counters that are fast, reliable and easy to use; configurable multi-pocket models (3-17) for ultimate productivity when handling the highest volumes of bill counting and sorting; and as little or as much counterfeit detection as you want to keep yourself protected from fake money.

Counting and processing coins is just as easy and fast with JetSort® coin sorters, Cummins Allison says. Count, sort and bag coins with unmatched speed and accuracy; clear jams easily, so it’s always ready to work; and choose from a variety of models to match your budget and coin volume.

And connect your JetScan iFX and JetSort money processing equipment together to create totals and reports more easily, the company suggests. www.cumminsallison.com 800-786-5528

AMERICAN CHANGER

American Changer says it helps provide value and security to self-service laundry owners and operators by developing practical and cost-effective solutions. As a developer and manufacturer of innovative bill/ banknote changers, bill/banknote breakers, token dispensers and other products, American Changer has built a reputable, recognizable brand.

Many of its bill/banknote changers, such as the AC2005 (pictured), have the ability to be purchased with the “Remote Access Kit,” which enables operators to monitor the status of their American Changer machine(s) remotely.

The Remote Access Kit allows access to a secure, convenient webpage that displays audit information and current machine configuration. The webpage will also provide validator, hopper, credit card system and printer status

MONARCH COIN & SECURITY

Monarch Coin & Security Inc. offers slides for quarters, foreign coins and tokens; coin boxes for all brands of machine; locks and keys; extensions; guards (coin box guards and full body armor to cover the meter case); reusable locking key rings; coin- or tokenoperated bathroom door locks; and other products for coin laundries.

Family-owned and -operated since 1903, Monarch prides itself on customer service. It can key all items alike, in groups or all differently, at no extra cost, the company says. Most orders ship within three days.

The company also carries Vend-Rite soap dispensers and American Changer machines. www.monarchcoin.com 800-462-9460

reports, as well as full audit information, resettable and nonresettable, American Changer says.

An e-mail or text message will be sent to the operator should any troubleshooting occur, maximizing machine uptime. This provides valuable real-time information to operators while offering convenience and ease of use, the company says.

www.americanchanger.com 954-917-3009

IMONEX D

ollar coin acceptance minimizes collection duties, while maximizing money vault and changer hopper capacities, Imonex says. With its customizable single-inlet coin drop, store owners have the flexibility to initiate both dollar coin and quarter acceptance or retain quarter-only insertions until a dual coin format is desired, the company says.

Circulating dollar coins is an economical payment solution for operators seeking to ease money handling associated with large-capacity washer and full-cycle dryer vends, the company adds.

Imonex mechanisms can be assembled to accept both higher- and lower-value tokens and up to two similarly valued coins. Tokens have proven an economically viable alternative to proprietary loyalty card systems while providing similar ben-

efits, including in-house promotions, credit/debit card capabilities, as well as eliminating attendant dropoff laundry coin banks and cash refunds, Imonex says.

The patented Geometric Vertical Technology substantially reduces coin jams resulting in higher rates of coin acceptance and unsurpassed coin flow, the company reports, adding that there are no moving parts and no required adjustments.

A hybrid model, designed to deliver both multicoin and Bluetooth smartphone pay options, is available through Imonex ClearToken, providing built-in redundancy and extra peace of mind with a backup format in place, the company says. www.imonex.com 800-446-2719

As your appetite for knowledge to improve your business grows, give our American Coin-Op Podcast a listen. Join Editor Bruce Beggs as he engages a special guest in one-on-one conversation about the topic of the day. This free channel provides another convenient way for you to gain self-service laundry information and insight from industry peers and other experts—no muss, no fuss.

CHECK OUT WHAT YOU’VE MISSED:

Breaking Down the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for Vended Laundries

Veteran business writer Mark E. Battersby discusses the new tax reform and how coin-ops might benefit.

When There is History There

A building’s historic makeup led Christy Davis to focus on preservation while also creating the Wash-O-Rama Laundromat for her small Kansas community.

Listen in at: americancoinop.com/podcasts

What 40 Years in Business Teaches You

Retired NYC store owner Paul Russo shares lessons learned from four decades in business and previews his new “Pointers from Paulie B” column for the magazine.

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Thieves like to work fast. We’ve all read about thieves who smash and loot coin boxes, and while there are bars, cases and shields to stop brute force, thieves also like to pick locks. Picking locks is quieter and less detectable than brute force.

With a duplicate key or a key-picking device, a thief can clean out coin boxes in a few minutes. Even worse, with a picking device, the thief now has a duplicate key that enables his crew to keep on skimming, indefinitely and undetected.

Lock America says it has a powerful way to slow a thief down: key each box differently with a pick- and

STANDARD CHANGE-MAKERS

S

tandard Change-Makers reports it is now equipping some dual-acceptor rear-load and front-load change machines with the MEI Bill Recycler.

A bill recycler stores $5 bills in a separate compartment, then dispenses those bills, along with coin change, when patrons insert $10 and $20 bills. When patrons insert $5 bills during normal business hours, those bills are replenishing the recycler supply, and are subsequently dispensed when other patrons insert their $10s and $20s.

A change machine with recyclers is similar to a cash drawer, says Standard ChangeMakers, but does not require an attendant to handle the cash.

A recycler can hold up to 30 bills, giving Standard’s machines a total of 60 bills in the recyclers. Its machines would also be equipped with the EF+ Module that can be programmed to send text messages to e-mail accounts or mobile phones. Operators can set up alerts for out-of-service conditions, and with additional settings provide “low level” alerts for coin hoppers and “full stacker” alerts on the bill acceptors.

www.standardchange.com 800-968-6955

drill-resistant key and color-code the keys.

With 6 million key codes and nine different color key bows, Lock America believes it can improve a laundry’s chances against a thief. For thieves to move fast, “one key fits all” is what they’re looking for. Multiple key codes can stretch out the clock on the invasion, discouraging the intruder and saving the cash.

And the keys are numbered with Lock America’s proprietary code, so a replacement is always available.

www.laigroup.com 800-422-2866

SETOMATIC SYSTEMS

etomatic Systems provides drop-coin meters for many makes and models of laundry machines designed for Laundromats.

The company suggests replacing older turnknob dryer meters with an up-to-date drop-coin meter that features a digital display and time countdown. The meters are adjustable in 15second increments and are easy to install, Setomatic says.

If you still have plastic drop coins, Setomatic has all-metal drop-coin replacements. The company also makes drop-coin meters to replace the coin slides on most machines.

Multi-push insertions on Wascomat washers can be eliminated with a drop-coin meter, Setomatic says. The company also offers aftermarket drop-coin meters to replace factoryinstalled units on many front-load washers.

www.setomaticsystems.com 516-752-8008

proven most challenging?

“The most challenging aspect we found to be holding a standard of cleanliness at our Laundromat locations,” Valenzuela says. “Getting our employees to understand what standard is acceptable was the first step.”

“Promoting and marketing” has proven most challenging for Bueno.

“There are new ways to make your name known and get the word out there to invite customers to come in,” she says. “We have to consider old school and new ways to advertise, to reach those who don’t like to rely on the digital world as well as those who are … using a smart phone.”

Does the reality of owning a store match your expectations?

“Yes, regarding running the business. No, regarding promoting it,” says Bueno. “I learned from folks who have had their Laundromats for 15-20 years and things were very different then. Self-service laundries were really self-service then; they ran with more autonomy than now. The business is essentially the same, it’s the clientele that’s evolved. Now we need to be attended as much of the time as possible, and be

creative in attracting customers.”

“We had expectations to always be busy and find ways to fill the gaps of downtime that come with a self-service Laundromat … with other revenue producers and we feel as if we have done a great job doing that,” Valenzuela says.

What you have realized about the industry in the brief time you’ve been operating?

“We realized that there is a high demand for laundry business in a lot of locations that you would never think of,” says Valenzuela.

For Templin, it’s more about what he might have done differently.

“Knowing what I know now, I would have cut even more off my store to create more parking,” he says. “The main (water) line was small, so I had to have a big holding tank and a pump. And that took up room and I wasn’t able to put in tanning (beds) like I wanted to.”

What advice would you offer to an investor thinking about becoming a laundry owner?

“I’ve had the opportunity to chat with folks that wanted to know more about the business and learn what it takes,”

Bueno says. “They seem to think that a Laundromat can be a side business that runs itself. Well, it used to be like that (but) it’s not so independent anymore. My advice is plan to be present and active so you can learn everything about the business and your customers.”

“Some advice we could offer is don’t come into owning a Laundromat with the mindset of this is going to be a revenue generator if you just build it and let it run itself,” says Valenzuela. “There is so much more you can accomplish with a Laundromat when you hire quality employees, invest your time and push other ways to build revenue out of these facilities.”

It’s not surprising that Templin—who juggled renovating his laundry with working his full-time job—recommends making the most of your time.

“Everybody has that same opportunity in the beginning,” he says. “We all have 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it’s up to you to use that time to further … whatever you choose.”

And we all have enough time to look back and remember what it was like in the beginning.

ACO

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1. Publication Title: AMERICAN COIN-OP. 2. Publication Number: 0092-2811. 3. Filing Date: 9/25/2018. 4. Issue Frequency: Monthly. 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 12. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $46.00. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake St., Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661-1410 Cook County. Contact Person: Charles Thompson, 312-361-1700. 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher: American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake St., Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661-1410 Cook County. 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor. Publisher: Charles Thompson, American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake St., Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661-1410 Cook County. Editor: Bruce Beggs, American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake St., Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661-1410 Cook County. 10.

Owner: American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake St., Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661-1410 Cook County. Charles Thompson, American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake St., Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661-1410 Cook County. Bruce Beggs, American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake St., Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661-1410 Cook County. Donald Feinstein, American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake St., Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661-1410 Cook County. Nathan Frerichs, American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake St., Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661-1410 Cook County. John S. Suhler, 200 Long Neck Point Rd., Darien, CT 06820 Fairfield County. 13. Publication Title: AMERICAN COIN-OP. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: September 2018.

15. Extent and Nature of circulation: (average number of copies each issue during proceeding 12 months=”X”) (Number copies of single issue published nearest to filing date=”Y”)

(a) Total Number of Copies (Net press run): X=14,529, Y=14,517. b. Legitimate Paid and/or Requested Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail). (1) Outside County Paid/ Requested Mail Subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541. (Include direct written request from recipient, telemarketing and Internet requests from recipient, paid subscriptions including nominal rate subscriptions, employer requests, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies.) X= 8,918, Y=9,155. (2) In-County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541. (Include direct written request from recipient, telemarketing and Internet requests from recipient, paid subscriptions including nominal rate subscriptions, employer requests, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies.) X=0, Y=0. (3) Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid or Requested Distribution Outside USPS®: X=0, Y=0. (4) Requested Copies Distributed by Other Mail Classes Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail®): X=0, Y=0. (c) Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), and (4)): X=8,918, Y=9,155. (d) Nonrequested Distribution (By Mail and Outside the Mail). (1) Outside County Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS Form 3541 (include Sample copies, Requests Over 3 years old, Requests induced by a Premium, Bulk Sales and Requests including Association Requests, Names obtained from Business Directories, Lists, and other sources): X=5,454, Y=5,209. (2) In-County Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS Form 3541 (include Sample copies, Requests Over 3 years old, Requests induced by a Premium, Bulk Sales and Requests including Association Requests, Names obtained from Business Directories, Lists, and other sources): X=0, Y=0. (3) Nonrequested Copies Distributed Through the USPS by Other Classes of Mail (e.g. First-Class Mail, Nonrequestor Copies mailed in excess of 10% Limit mailed at Standard Mail® or Package Services Rates): X=0, Y=0. (4) Nonrequested Copies Distributed Outside the Mail (Include Pickup Stands, Trade Shows, Showrooms and Other Sources): X=2, Y=2. (e) Total Nonrequested Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)): X=5,456, Y=5,211. (f) Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and e): X=14,375, Y=14,366. (g) Copies not Distributed (See Instructions to Publishers #4, (page #3)): X=154, Y=151. (h) Total (Sum of 15f and g): X=14,529, Y=14,517. (i) Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (15c divided by f times 100): X=62.04%, Y=63.73%. 16. Publication of Statement of Ownership for a Requester Publication is required and will be printed in the November 2018 issue of this publication. 17. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager, or Owner: I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties): Charles Thompson, Date 9/25/2018.

EASTERN FUNDING HOSTS LAUNDRY IMPROVEMENT WORKSHOPS

Financial lender Eastern Funding recently hosted two Laundromat improvement workshops in Los Angeles and Anaheim, Calif., during which more than 90 industry participants, mainly laundry owners and prospective investors, spent time discussing retools, acquisitions, store valuations, social media and other topics impacting the industry.

Executive Vice President Marc Stern, Vice President of Sales Tony Regan and loan officer Jennifer Lujan led interactive exercises demonstrating how improvements, including an equipment retool, can positively affect a laundry’s day-to-day business.

difficult time,” says Gordon Kertland, Laundrylux executive vice president. “We are working very closely with our distributors in these areas to make it as affordable as possible for laundries to get back up and running as quickly as possible.”

At press time, a Laundrylux Rapid Response Team was in the Carolinas to assist customers with repairs, replacement parts, and new equipment orders. Laundrylux says because it stocks more than 5,000 machines in strategic warehouse locations on the East Coast, customers would not experience long delays in getting their laundries back in operation. A second Response Team was on call to provide additional support.

Laundrylux Funding Services is offering a financing program for storm-affected businesses that includes no payments for six months, 0% interest rate options on equipment, and waiving of fees. Additionally, Laundrylux is offering special parts discounts and no-cost marketing support to assist laundry owners.

ENVIROSTAR CONTINUES TO ACQUIRE OTHER DISTRIBUTORS

Since mid-September, EnviroStar Inc. (EVI) has acquired Industrial Laundry Services Inc. (ILS) and Scott Equipment Inc. and executed definitive merger agreements to acquire three other distributors using a combination of cash and EVI stock. The purchase prices were not announced.

ILS distributes commercial laundry products and provides commercial laundry installation and maintenance services to customers in the hospitality, healthcare, institutional and for-profit sectors in central Florida. EVI says the addition bolsters the service capabilities of EVI’s existing Florida operations, and that it intends to invest further in growing ILS’ service operations.

Attendees also participated in a valuation exercise in which groups were tasked to come up with a “before and after retool” value of a sample Laundromat.

Bryon McIntyre, Eastern Funding’s marketing director, shed light on how social media has forced operators to adjust their approach to marketing, and offered tips on how to utilize various platforms for the benefit of their business. In a revealing exercise, laundry owners shared how they drive positive responses as well as how they respond to unfavorable online reviews.

“This was our first workshop in Southern California and it was a great success,” says Stern. “We have a solid presence in this market and want to thank all who attended. It is our intention to hold more of these workshops throughout the country during 2019.”

LAUNDRYLUX DEPLOYS RESPONSE TEAM TO HURRICANE-IMPACTED AREA Laundrylux, the North American supplier of Electrolux and Wascomat commercial laundry equipment for Laundromats, reports it has launched a “comprehensive disaster relief program” for customers impacted by Hurricane Florence.

“All of us at Laundrylux send our support to the people in the Carolinas. We want to do our part to help during this extremely

Houston-based Scott Equipment distributes on-premises and vended laundry products and provides related installation and maintenance services. Its addition to EVI’s existing Dallas operations significantly increases EVI’s market share in Texas, the company says, and provides a base from which EVI intends to make investments in new product and service capabilities.

At press time, EVI was preparing to close on the acquisitions of three other companies: Worldwide Laundry Inc. of Miami, Skyline Equipment Inc. of Houston, and a Western-based distributor that EVI did not identify publicly due to confidential matters to be worked out prior to closing.

Worldwide distributes vended and on-premise laundry products and provides installation and maintenance services to customers in southeast Florida and select countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Skyline distributes on-premise and vended laundry products and provides installation and maintenance services to healthcare, hospitality, correctional, institutional, and vended laundry customers in the central and southern regions of Texas.

When completed, the deals will bring to nine the number of distributors that EVI has acquired since executing a buy-andbuild growth strategy beginning in 2016.

Tony Regan (standing at left), Eastern Funding vice president of sales, leads an interactive exercise during one of his company’s free Laundromat improvement workshops in California recently. (Photo: Eastern Funding)