American Drycleaner - May 2017

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Show Guide Clean ’17

Clean ’17 Show Guide

Weeks away from the big show in Vegas is now becoming just days away, as the Clean Show returns to the City of Lights. If you’ve been waiting to get back to this playground in the desert, then, wish granted! The info-packed Clean ’17 Show Guide, which begins on page 8, will give you an overview of the event, quotes from show organizers, an exhibitor guide complete with booth numbers, a listing of all educational sessions, tips from the show floor, and more tidbits about what to see and do in Las Vegas after action on the show floor concludes each day.

Tim Burke, Editor

61 Overtime Ripples

Are you aware of overtime laws? Are you sure? Find out about the myths and realities of this important area as it relates to your drycleaning operation. Employee classification doesn’t protect your business. Know what you might face ahead of time.

Robin Frank

NEED HELP FINDING THE HIDDEN HANGER?

Scan this QR Code for help in finding the hidden hanger on this month’s cover. Good luck!

“Business has never been better.”

“The support from CBS was great. Even before we signed up, they were responsive and flexible in their approach. They have helped our team become more efficient.”

Da Show

The next time we talk, it’ll be in Vegas! The drycleaning industry will roll up to the Las Vegas Convention Center June 5-8, for the 40th anniversary of the Clean Show. What started in 1977 is now the place to be!

John Riddle, of the Clean Show’s longtime management company, tells me that attendees come “to the show to learn and that learning is done in a thousand ways.” He also says there’s no bigger classroom than the entire Clean ’17 show floor! Well said, John.

American Drycleaner will be at Clean ’17 checking out all there is, taking pictures (and posting to Facebook), and saying hello to friends old and new. We’ll be in booth 2591. Drop by.

On page 8 this issue, there begins an expansive Clean ’17 Show Guide that includes an exhibitor list, educational sessions, Las Vegas sights, and more.

On page 61, there is a story about employment law, Overtime Ripples. And in this issue, read your three favorite columnists, a new Off the Cuff, and a new Yarns Spun Here

SPECIAL NOTE: Readers take part — the popular article Red, White and Blue (and you) is returning in the July issue. Share your favorite patriotic-themed memory involving your cleaning business. I know more of you wanted to participate this year. Now’s your chance!

Tell us about a time you cleaned something special for service personnel and veterans. Or came across a special story of the men and women in uniform related to your business. Please share a fond story of a veteran, that relates to your fabricare business, won’t you?

E-mail me right now with your brief story: tburke@atmags.com. I’ll be putting this together in mid-May, so don’t wait. And if you have a photo to share as well, then attach it to the e-mail message you send me.

We look forward to a terrific summer and a highly impactful Clean ’17. I’ll see you in Vegas at da big show! ADC

American Drycleaner (ISSN 0002-8258) is published monthly except Nov/Dec combined. Subscription prices, payment in advance: U.S., 1 year $46.00; 2 years $92.00. Foreign, 1 year $109.00; 2 years $218.00. Single copies $9.00 for U.S., $18.00 for all other countries. Published by American Trade Magazines LLC, 566 West Lake Street, Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER, Send changes of address and form 3579 to American Drycleaner, Subscription Dept., 440 Quadrangle Drive, Suite E, Bolingbrook, IL 60440. Volume 84, number 2. Editorial, executive and advertising offices are at 566 West Lake Street, Suite 420, Chicago, IL 60661. Charles Thompson, President and Publisher. American Drycleaner is distributed selectively to: qualified dry cleaning plants and distributors in the United States. The publisher reserves the right to reject any advertising for any reason.

© Copyright AMERICAN TRADE MAGAZINES LLC, 2017. Printed in U.S.A. No part of this publication may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher or his representative. American Drycleaner does not endorse, recommend or guarantee any article, product, service or information found within. Opinions expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of American Drycleaner or its staff. While precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the magazine’s contents at time of publication, neither the editors, publishers nor its agents can accept responsibility for damages or injury which may arise therefrom.

American Drycleaner, May 2017

Publisher

Charles Thompson 312-361-1680 cthompson@ATMags.com

Editorial Director

Bruce Beggs 312-361-1683 bbeggs@ATMags.com

Editor

Tim Burke 312-361-1684 tburke@ATMags.com

National Sales Director

Donald Feinstein 312-361-1682 dfeinstein@ATMags.com

Digital Media Director

Nathan Frerichs 312-361-1681 nfrerichs@ATMags.com

Production Manager

Roger Napiwocki

Tim Burke

Word!

How do you land new customers?

The latest quarterly American Drycleaner Your Views survey asks the trade audience to tell us how they put their “best foot forward” to get new customers.

“Word of mouth” was the overwhelmingly clear winner, chosen by 80% of respondents, as the most successful method — of many methods — to bring in new customers. The graph on the right shows the full breakdown of methods, indicated by survey respondents (they could select any or all from the choices).

Also, we asked pointedly: “How is it really going this year bringing in new customers?”

Here are some responses:

• “A little improvement, promotions important.”

• “Sales are down.”

• “Six percent increase first three months.”

• “We get new customers every week, but our piece count is down.”

When asked about offering wash-dry-fold services, only 51% of respondents said “Yes.” A bit surprising given the buzz today in the industry about diversifying.

The follow-up question then asked, “If ‘no,’ why not?” Answers include:

• “Considering for future.”

• “There’s a Laundromat next door.”

• “Don’t have the room or equipment.”

• “Labor cost.”

• “In my area, people don’t request wash and fold.”

• “Will very soon ...”

Eighty-five percent of respondents say they can tell when new customers who have tried their service return.

But how do they know for sure? the survey asked.

“We check our computer,” notes one respondent.

“Good question,” another respondent answers. “We could do better making sure.”

Sixty-five percent indicate these new customers return on a weekly basis, 24% say they return monthly, and the rest say they come back occasionally or are not tracked.

The survey also asked, “How do you land a brand new customer?”

One says: “New-mover mailing.”

A second indicates: “A referral from a friend.”

The third is quite telling: “Not sure where they come from, but most see us as they drive by and notice how busy we are.”

Finally, we asked, “What’s the reason your operation stands out in a customer’s mind, above all others?”

• “Fast turnaround, clean, and quality.”

• “We have been in business 70 years.”

• “Reputation.”

• “Yearly coat drive.”

• “Customer service, quality.”

• “We want to please.”

• “I’m here every day cleaning clothes and removing spots. When a customer needs service, he or she gets it. Being a dry cleaner is that simple.”

That’s the word on landing, and keeping, customers.

The Your Views survey is a snapshot of the trade audience’s views. Qualified subscribers to American Drycleaner e-mails are invited to participate anonymously in the unscientific poll.

Show Guide Clean ’17

By Tim Burke, Editor

Here comes Clean ’17.

Are you ready? Bags packed?

Vegas hotel room booked?

Got your airplane seat? Is your Clean ’17 registration all set?

You are no doubt excited about all the people you’ll meet, new things you’ll see at the booths, ideas you’ll hear at the sessions, and, of course, you expect to win big at the tables, right?

The Clean Show is back in Las Vegas (where it’s been five times before). If you’ve been to Vegas, then you probably have some ideas about what you want to see and do after the show floor closes. If this is your first time, congratulations—you are in for experiencing a true wonderland of fun.

In either case, you might have taken some ideas from our Clean ’17 GO Guide published in April:

“Hmmm, those retro neon signs at Neon Museum attract me, so ’50s kitsch, here I come.”

“That Mob Museum is worth a drive-by. I’ll just leave my gat at home this time.”

“Might give the Pinball Hall of Fame a tilt. I’m a pinball wizard, but nobody knows, yet.”

Plus, if you need other ideas, there’s the Bellagio fountain display at night, restaurants galore, shows aplenty, a drive to beautiful Red Rock Canyon, and Container Park downtown on Fremont. There’s so very much to do in Vegasland! But that’s all after the Clean Show closes each day.

OK then, no more fooling around. It’s about time we got on with the big show.

Clean ’17 celebrates its 40th anniversary in Las Vegas, June 5-8.

Wish granted: Biennial exhibition back in Vegasland

Lamp sculpture decked in lights at the Neon Museum, Las Vegas, host city for Clean ’17! (Image licensed by Las Vegas News Bureau)

“Clean ’17 is ‘the place’ where the entire industry can come together to meet, talk, laugh, share ideas, and ask questions about their problems and issues and get solutions.”

–– John Riddle, owner, Riddle & Associates, Clean Show management company

Clean Show management company Riddle & Associates describes it as a place “Where the Industry Comes Together” to see the working equipment and products of exhibitors.

“I think the entire Clean Show floor becomes the industry’s largest classroom,” says company owner John Riddle, who has worked in some capacity with Clean Show operations since 1981. “We also want this to be the place the industry can see and touch equipment and see it work and operate.”

Clean ’17 showcases everything the industry has to offer, including 30 hours of education, and networking opportunities with industry colleagues.

“This is a true milestone for the Clean Show,” says Mary Scalco, Clean ’17 chairman and CEO of the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI), one of the show’s five sponsors. “The show has grown over the years to become one of the country’s top 100 trade shows. Clean ’17 exhibit sales already are ahead of each of the last four shows, and registration also is up for the same time period as previous shows. Las Vegas is always a fun place to visit. too.”

At press time, Riddle reports the number of companies to exhibit in the central hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center next month is 450, filling more than 200,000 net square feet of exhibit space.

Those planning to attend Clean ’17, says Riddle, can register online by May 31 at www.cleanshow.com. Members of any of the five sponsoring associations can register for $119 per person; the non-member rate is $149.

It’s important to note that after May 31, all registration must be done on-site at the Convention Center at a cost of $169.

Five associations sponsor the Clean Show: Association for Linen Management, Coin Laundry Association, DLI, Textile Care Allied Trades Association and the Textile Rental Services Association of America.

One of the most recognized contributions of the sponsors is the educational sessions they present at Clean, Riddle notes. Four of the associations provide education based on new and innovative industry topics, technologies, and research.

“People come to the show to learn and that learning comes in a thousand ways,” he says. “We want the Clean Show to be the place they can have a great experience and take home new ideas.”

Attendees include store owners, plant operators, tech-

nicians, institutional laundry managers, distributors, consultants, and buyers.

“The largest share (94%) of attendees are business owners, executives or managers, according to a past Clean Show survey,” Riddle says. “The Clean Show brings those business owners and executives face to face with hundreds of industry exhibitors.”

The show starts Monday, June 5, when attendees will be able to explore the exhibits following a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony; distributors have exclusive access to the show floor 8-10 that day.

The floor opens at 9 a.m. daily Tuesday through Thursday and closes at 5 p.m. daily Monday through Wednesday, and at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

On show days, the Clean Show will provide complimentary shuttles running between most official hotels and the Convention Center, according to Riddle. The shuttles will run approximately every 15 to 20 minutes. On opening day, the shuttles will start at 7 a.m.—7:30 a.m. on the other show days—and run to 11:30 a.m. In the afternoon, they will run from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday.

After the show on Tuesday, June 6, DLI and TCATA are co-sponsoring a members-only cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. at the Westgate Hotel (connected by walkway to the Convention Center).

Parking at the Convention Center at 3150 Paradise Road is available in the Silver 1 lot immediately in front of the main entrance. There is a $10-per-day charge, which does include in/out privileges.

An alphabetical list of Clean ’17 exhibitors with booth numbers and brief descriptions begins on page 12. ADC

Mary Scalco

Attendee at event registration, Las Vegas Convention Center. (Image: Las Vegas News Bureau)

EXHIBITORS 2017

LAS VEGAS —The following companies and organizations have reserved exhibit space in the Las Vegas Convention Center for Clean 2017 as of April 10, according to show manager Riddle & Associates.

The list totals approximately 450 exhibitors at press time; it’s possible that more exhibitors will be added in the final weeks leading up to the June 5-8 event.

Where available, the descriptions of products and/or services provided here are general in nature and should not be considered all-inclusive.

Listings are subject to change without notice. Check www.cleanshow.com for any updates.

12 3

❏

21st Century Dry Cleaners 1619

Route Pros

Training services: route sales/marketing; management/customer service.

❏

3Hanger Supply Co. 304 Wide variety of drycleaning and laundry supplies.

❏

3M™ Scotchlite™ 3710

Reflective Material

High-visibility and reflective clothing and materials.

❏

AABS Laundry Business 3547 Solutions

Route accounting, garment tracking and linen management software and systems.

❏

❏

Ace Heaters LLC 313 Water heaters.

Adco Professional 3500 Products LLC

Specialty cleaning chemicals and detergents used in drycleaning, commercial laundry, and janitorial and institutional cleaning applications.

❏

ADI American Dawn 1048

Towels; bed linens and blankets; table linens; healthcare gowns and scrubs; microfiber cleaning products; and other related textiles.

❏

Advanced Poly Packaging 337

Packaging machines and pre-opened

bags on rolls; bagging systems for shop towels, bar towels, folded shirts and other small textiles.

❏ Air World Inc. 1271 Pads and covers for dry cleaners and laundries.

❏ Albatross USA Inc. 2984 Compliant, environmentally friendly, non-chlorinated spotting chemicals.

❏ All Brands Vending 3075 New and remanufactured combo, snack, and drink vending machines.

❏ All-Flo Pump Co. 3372 Air-operated diaphragm pumps.

❏ Alliance Laundry 1691, 1961 Systems

Commercial laundry equipment and services under the Huebsch®, IPSO®, Primus®, Speed Queen® and UniMac® brand names.

❏ Alliant Systems 1590

Route automation software for the textile rental industry.

❏ A.L. Wilson Chemical Co. 1716 Stain removers and other chemicals for professional drycleaning and laundry use.

❏ American Associated 3672 Companies

International linen distributor sourcing and providing healthcare, hospitality and guest care linens.

❏ American Changer 3623 Bill/coin changers, token dispensers, ticket dispensers, card dispensers and car wash entry systems.

❏

American Chillers & 1192 Cooling Tower System

Water chilling systems for industrial and commercial process cooling applications.

❏ American Coin-Op 2591 Trade magazine, website and social media for self-service laundry owners.

❏ American Drycleaner 2591 Trade magazine, website and social media for drycleaning businesses and suppliers.

❏ American Express 303 Credit card acceptance and processing.

❏

American Laundry News 2591 Trade magazine, website and social media for managers and administrators of institutional/ on-premise laundries and textile rental companies.

❏

American Laundry 3575 Products/Clenacorp Laundry textiles and associated items for flatwork ironers

❏

American Laundry Systems 3045 Consulting and engineering company specializing in

Little needs to be said to describe this scene: This is Vegas, baby! When you get back home, you’ll have your own story to tell!

(Image licensed by Las Vegas News Bureau)

EXHIBITORS 2017

commercial laundry consulting, plant layout/design, process mechanical systems, equipment installations, and more.

❏ American Reusable 545 Textile Association (ARTA)

Member association whose mission is to create greater awareness and appreciation for reusable textiles.

❏

American Trade Magazines 2591

Publisher of American Coin-Op, American Drycleaner, and American Laundry News

❏

Ammex Corp. 3175

Imports and distributes disposable gloves and barrier protection products.

❏

AMS Products/Object Design 609

Custom-printed laundry and route bags; mesh laundry bags; barrier and impervious bags; cart covers; and other bags.

❏

Angeline Group Ltd. 1190

Operating room textile and surgical apparel, including uniforms, incontinent pads, specialized garments, surgical drapes and other technical fabrics.

❏ ANKO 3650

OEM peristaltic pumps, pump systems, tubing and valving.

❏

AquaRecycle 1626

Laundry wastewater recycling systems and dryer heat recovery system for hotels, hospitals, military/government facilities, and commercial laundries.

❏

Aquawing Ozone Laundry 3400 Systems — AWOIS

Ozone laundry systems.

❏

ArbelSoft Inc. 1317

Point-of-sale computer software for dry cleaners, Laundromats, shoe repair services and tailoring services.

❏

ARCO/Murray National 2479 Construction Co.

Design/build construction firm focused on the laundry industry.

❏

ArtiClean Ozone 1421

Laundry Systems

Ozone laundry systems.

❏

Asiatic Fiber Corp. 527

Cleanroom and anti-static garments and textiles.

❏ Association for 960 Linen Management

SPONSOR: Nonprofit trade association dedicated to the professional development of personnel involved in the textile care industry.

❏ Association of Wedding 850 Gown Specialists

Nonprofit trade association for members specializing in wedding gown cleaning, preservation and restoration.

❏ A13 Srl 2579

Padding, covers, insulation, parts and accessories for ironing and drycleaning machines.

❏ Automated Packaging 405 Systems

Flexible-bag packaging systems for industrial laundries and textile rental services.

❏ Automation Dynamics 3631

Automated sorting, counting and weighing equipment for various laundry applications.

❏ Autovalet Systems LLC 1599 Automated uniform and scrubwear dispense-and-return systems.

❏ Bissell Commercial 3370

Vacuums, power sweepers, extractors, flooring machines and other equipment.

❏ BLC Textiles 505 Wide variety of imported textiles for the textile rental industry.

❏ Bobco Systems Inc. 3553 Material-handling and garmenthandling equipment and systems.

❏ Boca Terry 651

Manufacturer/supplier of bathrobes, towels, spa wraps, lounge chair covers and slippers to hospitality, healthcare, textile/linen rental and corporate gift industries.

❏ BOWE Textile Cleaning 1793 GmbH

Perc and multi-solvent drycleaning machines.

❏ Braun 2261 Washing, drying, ironing, feeding and folding equipment, as well as wash aisle safety equipment solutions.

❏ BridalKare Gown 640 Preservation

Bridal gown cleaning and preservation.

B❏ Brim Laundry 3539 Machinery Co. Inc.

❏ B&C Technologies 1018 Commercial washers, dryers, ironers, feeders and folders.

❏ B&G Lieberman Co. Inc. 1799 Sewing supplies, replacement buttons, sewing machines, boilers, irons and vacuum pressing boards.

❏ Bahnson Mechanical Systems 459 Industrial construction services.

❏ BCC Payments LLC 3303 Vending payment and credit card processing systems.

❏ Beck’s Classic 1785

Reusable incontinence products, including underpads, clothing protectors, diapers and briefs.

❏ BeCreative 360 1827

Marketing and promotions for dry cleaners.

❏ Beijing Bartizan 2393 Technology Co.

Healthcare textiles and supplies.

Large-capacity washer-extractors and dryers; touchscreen control systems; OEM replacement parts and supplies.

❏ Brooks-Waterburn Corp. 2188 Insurance services for Laundromats.

❏ Bundle Australia Pty. Ltd. 441 Productivity software for laundry operations.

❏ Burkert Fluid Control 3739 Systems

Water treatment process control, automation and filtration.

❏ CACO Manufacturing 2871 Corp.

CCoin laundry furnishings, including folding tables, seating, clothes-hanging racks, and custom bulkheads.

❏ Calderon Textiles LLC 645 Distributes commercial linens to the textile rental, hospitality, cruise line and retail industries.

EXHIBITORS 2017

❏

Capital One Spark 728 Business Card

Credit card.

❏ Card Concepts Inc. 2785

Automated card systems for Laundromats to handle cash collections, employee management, equipment service, and store marketing.

❏ Cardconnect 522 Payment processing/management.

❏ Cart & Supply Inc. 3068 Laundry carts.

❏

CBA Machines NV 3755

Trades industrial and commercial laundry equipment worldwide.

❏

❏

CDF Systems 3689

Mat processing systems.

Central Textile Co. 3374

Terry products for the institutional and hospitality markets.

❏

Centrex Technologies Inc. 857

Advanced laundry information systems, RFID technologies, and consulting services.

❏

Centurion Medical 3287 Products

Soiled-linen collection system; recyclable bags and liners.

❏

Chandler Machine 317 USA LLC

Industrial sewing machines for dry cleaners and laundries.

❏ Chem-Tainer Ind./ 400 Maxi-Movers

Laundry and linen carts, trucks, tables and hampers, and storage tanks.

❏

Chevron Phillips 655 Chemical Co. LP Specialty chemicals.

❏ Chicago Dryer Co. 2815

Flatwork linen separating, feeding, ironing and folding systems for laundries of all sizes.

❏

Chief Clean 3678

Commercial janitorial dust mops and wet mops, handles and frames.

❏

❏

Church & Dwight Co. Inc. 3379

Laundry detergents and chemicals.

Clayton Industries 1690

Steam boilers, feedwater treatment systems, boiler chemicals, and hydro steam cleaners.

❏ Clean Cycle Systems 1621 Filters

Lint filters and air exhaust systems.

❏ CleanCloud 629

Point-of-sale software systems for dry cleaners and laundry services.

❏ Cleaner Business Systems 1221

Point-of-sale software systems for dry cleaners.

❏ Cleaner’s Supply® 801

Wide range of drycleaning and laundry supplies and products.

❏ CMV Sharper Finish Inc. 1117

Commercial flatwork ironers, folders and stackers.

❏ Coin Laundry Association 908

SPONSOR: Not-for-profit trade organization representing member laundry owners, prospective laundry owners, and equipment manufacturers and distributors.

❏ Colmac Industries 1931 Tunnel finishers; shirt and pant presses; vacuum transport; soil room systems; hangering systems; and other products related to the commercial laundry, drycleaning and apparel industries.

❏ Columbia/ILSA 1149 Machines Corp. Drycleaning machines.

❏ Commercial Coils Inc. 3503 Replacement coils for laundry and drycleaning equipment.

❏ Compassmax/Maineline 511 Computer Systems Software and computer systems for dry cleaners.

❏ Computer Connections Inc. 1882 Point-of-sale/management computer systems for dry cleaners.

❏ Computer Software 3177 Architects

Software systems for managing route, healthcare, hospitality, garment, and dust control laundries, as well as linen tracking tools for hospitals, hotels and casinos.

❏ Computer Systems 421 Software systems for dry cleaning, garment tracking and uniform rental.

❏

Consolidated 2971 International Corp. Industrial laundry machines, parts, textiles and supplies.

❏

Consolidated 3185 Laundry Machinery Industrial dryers, shuttle conveyors, and mat rollers.

❏

Continental Girbau 3215, 3415 Inc./Girbau Group

Vended, on-premise and industrial laundry equipment and solutions (booth 3215 focuses on on-premise and industrial laundries, booth 3415 focuses on vended and multihousing laundries).

There’s always plenty of see-and-be-seen action at the Las Vegas pools in the heat of June, like here at the MGM Grand. (Image licensed by Las Vegas News Bureau)

Presentation is Everything.

Keeping light-weight, knit shirts from losing their shape can be easier said than done. Stretch the shirt onto the wrong hanger, and you end up with bumps on the shoulders known as “hanger dimples.” We created our line of Knit Hangers with a unique size and shape that prevents bumps in polo and knit shirts. Warm weather months mean it’s Knit Hanger season at M&B.

Presentation is Everything.

Keeping light-weight, knit shirts from losing their shape can be easier said than done. Stretch the shirt onto the wrong hanger, and you end up with bumps on the shoulders known as “hanger dimples.” We created our line of Knit Hangers with a unique size and shape that prevents bumps in polo and knit shirts. Warm weather months mean it’s Knit Hanger season at M&B.

To learn more about our line of Knit Hangers, go to www.mbhangers.com to find your local distributor, or call 888-227-0436 to speak with one of our customer service representatives.

To learn more about our line of Knit Hangers, go to www.mbhangers.com to find your local distributor, or call 888-227-0436 to speak with one of our customer service representatives.

EXHIBITORS 2017

❏

Cost-Less Parts! 3401

Replacement parts for commercial laundry and drycleaning equipment, focusing on coin laundries; ancillary equipment such as bill changers, furnitures, and carts.

❏ Covers Etc. Inc. 3191

Pads and covers for garment-finishing equipment.

❏

❏

CryptoPay/WorldPay 521 Card payment systems.

CurbsideLaundries.com 3724

Point-of-sale/process management software for Laundromat owners.

❏ Dajisoft Inc. 724

Point-of-sale drycleaning software systems.

❏ Dante Bertoni SRL 3741 Material-handling products.

❏ Darman Manufacturing 3671 Co. Inc.

Cloth-roll towel cabinets, paper dispensers, towel-processing equipment, and microfiber products.

❏ Datamars Inc. 721 Radio frequency identification (RFID) products for textile identification markets.

❏ Davis Packaging 3685

Laundry wrapping equipment and wrapping film.

❏

DCCS (Dry Cleaning 3735 Computer Systems)

Point-of-sale software systems for dry cleaners.

❏

DEKRA Insight 726

Organizational safety programs and consulting.

❏

Dexter Laundry Inc. 2015, 2020

Washers, dryers, and laundry management systems.

❏

Diamond Chemical 3339 Co. Inc.

Laundry, warewash, housekeeping, sanitizing, and other institutional and industrial products.

❏

Doxon Mfg. Co. 1917

Commercial laundry equipment parts.

❏ Draco Hygienic Products Inc. 760 Towel, soap and air freshening dispensers for the away-from-home market.

❏ Drycleaning & Laundry 926 Institute

SPONSOR: Trade association representing member dry cleaners and launderers.

❏ DRYV 861

On-demand laundry and drycleaning pickup and delivery service.

❏ Duncan Fabricating 2991 Co. Inc.

Coin laundry bulkheads and commercial appliance outlet centers.

D❏ Durable Superior Casters 301 Casters and wheels.

❏ Dynaric Inc. 654 Plastic strapping and strapping equipment.

❏ E-Tech Inc. 3331 Monorail and belt conveyor systems; material-handling control systems; and cart dumpers.

❏ EAM-Mosca Corp. 3679 Bundlers and polypropylene strapping systems.

❏ Eastern Funding LLC 2082 Financial lending services to commercial laundry and garment care industries.

❏ Ecolab 2645

Laundry detergents and chemicals; dispensing equipment; water and energy management; and real-time data management for large-scale, commercial laundry operations.

❏ EcoTex 2279 Ozone laundry systems.

❏ EDRO 1427

Industrial washer-extractors, tumbler dryers, and ozone laundry systems.

❏ Ekostar Textiles 1277 Institutional linen company specializing in the industrial rental business.

❏ Ellis Corp. 2037

Industrial laundry equipment;

industrial wastewater treatment systems; water heaters and heat reclamation systems; and flatwork and garment finishing and material-handling equipment.

❏ Empire Towels Inc. 825 Towels, bar mops, kitchen towels and shop towels.

❏ Encompass Group LLC 3439 Sheeting, blankets and terry flat goods; incontinence pads and briefs; operating room and surgical linens; and patient and staff apparel, uniforms and lab coats.

❏ Energenics Corp. 1819 Lint filters for dryer exhaust, cart-washing systems, and vacuum systems for lint collectors.

❏ Ensign Emblem 3554 Emblems, screen-print transfers and direct embroidery for industrial laundries.

E❏ ESD 2661 Vended laundry and gaming payment systems.

❏ European Finishing 1361 Equipment Tensioning equipment.

❏

Eurotex North America Inc. 261 Reflective trims and labels.

❏ Evercare/Butler 841 Home Products Lint rollers.

❏ EXPODetergo International 543 by EXPODetergo Srl International exhibition of equipment, services, products and accessories for laundries that takes place every four years.

❏ EzProducts 414 International Inc. Permanent tagless systems for textile labeling, heat-sealing clothing text and barcode labels to fabric; rope ties; hanger stands; and hanger equipment.

F❏ F-MATIC Inc. 829 Odor-control and restroom hygiene products.

❏

Fabricare Management 537

a soft touch for the most delicate wetcleaned textiles

Developed to quickly and fully dry wetcleaned textiles without damage or wrinkling, the Poseidon Dryer eliminates air drying for catapulted productivity and unsurpassed results. Offering advanced programmability, it safely removes residual moisture from even the most delicate wetcleaned fabrics. Smart engineering not only ensures a quick dry, it brings superior efficiency, durability and a soft touch.

The Poseidon Dryer works in concert with high-performance Poseidon Wetcleaning Machines and Flatwork Ironers for unrivaled results.

Professional fabricare operations rely on Poseidon to perfectly wetclean the most delicate items including tailored wool suits, cashmere sweaters, silk wedding dresses, camel hair sport coats, taffeta prom dresses, knit skirts and so much more. Poseidon offers innovative programmability for complete control over every conditional aspect of the wetcleaning, drying and ironing process.

EXHIBITORS 2017

Systems

Computer software systems for dry cleaners and laundries.

❏

Fanafel (Valmet) 1491

Textiles for flatwork feeders, ironers and folders, including feed ribbons, padding and belts.

❏ Fashion Seal Healthcare 700

Uniforms and image apparel for the healthcare industry.

❏ Felins USA Inc. 1084

Tying, shrink-wrapping and bundling machines and systems.

❏

Felrap World Inc. 3711

Laundry wrapping equipment and supplies.

❏

FH Bonn 753

Laundry and drycleaning press pads and covers.

❏ Fibertech Inc. 1091 Laundry trucks and utility carts.

❏

Fimas Srl 1185

Tensioning equipment and vacuum finishing boards.

❏

Firbimatic 1373

Perc, hydrocarbon and alternative solvent drycleaning equipment.

❏

❏

❏

Firestone Financial LLC 451 Equipment financing programs.

First Film Extruding 3476

Drycleaning garment bags and film.

First Preference Products 1817

Commercial laundry products and single-use laundry products.

❏

FLM — Fairfield 3756

Laundry Machinery

Monorail systems, lint collection systems, coaxial duct systems, loading hoppers/chutes, conveying systems, and folding stations.

❏

Foltex 1237

Feeding, folding and stacking equipment.

❏

Forenta L.P. 1337

Drycleaning and laundry finishing and pressing equipment.

❏

Fortune Web Marketing 315

Online marketing services.

❏ Foster-Stephens Inc. 852 Wedding gown and garment preservation systems and supplies.

❏ F3 Fumagalli Srl 2492 Garment presses, electric boilers, and other finishing equipment.

❏ Fujitsu Frontech of NA 1090

Retail point-of-sale terminals, self checkout systems, kiosks, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, and currency-handling equipment.

❏ Fulton Boiler Works 1391 Boilers and related equipment/systems.

❏ G.S. Manufacturing 3605

GAluminum material-handling systems, including baskets, bins, carts and racks.

❏ Garment Management 1321 Systems

Automated assembly systems, heat-seal machines, automated uniform-delivery systems and automated coat-check systems.

❏ Garnier-Thiebaut USA 515 Bed, terry and table linens for hotels, restaurants, casinos and other businesses.

❏ Gemu Valves 720 Valves, and measurement and control systems.

❏ George Courey Inc. 637 Bedding, linens and textiles for hospitality, healthcare and other markets.

❏ GKC Corp. 309 Importer of kitchen apparel, bar mops, aprons, napkins and more to food and beverage segment of commercial laundries.

❏ Golden Star 3563 Dust/wet mops and microfiber cleaning products.

❏ Gotli Labs AG 3774

Production management system for laundry operations.

❏ Gottcha-Covered LLC 3291

❏ GreenEarth Cleaning 1889

Patented liquid silicone-based drycleaning solvents, with marketing/branding assistance.

❏ Greenwald Industries 1585 Coin/card acceptors, metering and security products for self-service laundries.

❏ Gurtler Industries Inc. 2585 Advanced detergents and specialty chemicals for the commercial laundry industry.

❏ Gusher Pump 2869 Centrifugal pumps.

Outdoors in Vegas in June means staying well-hydrated. Just beyond this golfer putting on the green, the famous Strip awaits your return. (Image licensed by Las Vegas News Bureau)

EXHIBITORS 2017

❏

HH-M Company 3145

Drain troughs, lint interceptors and related products.

❏ Haining Yikang Textile 639 Co. Ltd.

Reusable underpads, bibs, pillowcases, mattress covers and other textiles.

❏ Hamilton Engineering Inc. 3209 Commercial and light industrial water-heating systems and boilers.

❏ Hans-Joachim 3457 Schneider GmbH

❏ Harbor Linen - A Division 327 of Bed, Bath & Beyond Institutional linens, case goods and apparel for the hospitality, healthcare, cruise line and foodservice industries.

❏ Harris Pillow Supply Inc. 706 Pillows and pillow-cleaning systems.

❏ Healthcare Laundry 547 Accreditation Council Non-profit organization formed to inspect and accredit laundries processing reusable textiles for hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities.

❏ High Mark Manufacturing 3309 Inc.

Coin laundry bulkheads, drain troughs and furniture.

❏

HJLite 460

Retro-reflective materials for personal protective equipment, apparel and activewear.

❏

❏

Hoffman Mint 3622 Laundry tokens.

Hoffman/New Yorker 1677

Drycleaning and garment/apparel equipment, laundry machines, steam boilers, remanufactured presses and other products.

❏

Hot Water Products 3676

Water heaters, hydronic boilers, steam boilers, solar thermal, combination heating applicances, tanks, pumps and accessories.

❏ Hunt Textiles 3184

Terry towels, aprons, napkins, kitchen towels, bed linen and other textiles.

❏ Hydro Systems Co. 1217 Chemical injecting, proportioning and dispensing equipment.

I❏ Imonex Services Inc. 1092 Coin acceptors and pay-by-phone systems.

❏ Independent Textile 412 Rental Association (ITRA) Network of independent textile rental companies that promote informational exchange and education.

❏ IndoorMedia 3757 Register tape advertisement services.

❏ Indy Hanger 2193 Galvanized wire hangers.

❏ Infinite Creative 3292, 3470 Enterprises Inc. Massage chairs.

❏ Infinite Trading Inc. 631

❏ InnoClean Corp. 1896 Hydrocarbon drycleaning machines.

❏ Innovative Management 708 Designs RFID tracking systems.

❏ InOne Technology LLC 3602 Vending machine technologies, and cashless payment systems.

❏ International Products Corp. 3600 Filter membrane cleaners.

❏ IPA 853

Automated surgical scrub and linen dispensing equipment for healthcare providers.

❏ Irving Weber Associates (IWA) 408 Insurance services for dry cleaners, commercial laundries, Laundromats and linen suppliers.

❏ Isuzu Commercial Truck 351 of America Trucks.

❏ Italclean Srl 1885 Drycleaning and laundry equipment.

❏ Itsumi USA Inc. 1570 Shirt finishing equipment.

❏ JB Industries Inc. 3777 Flatwork folding equipment.

❏ Jensen USA Inc. 2631 Washing equipment, finishing systems, material-handling systems, and system software and process technology.

❏ JiangSu Sea-lion 1191 Machinery Group (Corp.) Washer-extractors, dryers, ironers, and drycleaning, folding and finishing equipment.

❏ JLT Co. Ltd. 554 Galvanized wire and vinyl-coated hangers.

❏ JP Equipment Inc. 3385 Industrial laundry equipment sales.

K

❏ Kaeser Compressors Inc. 611 Compressed air equipment.

❏ Kannegiesser USA 2231 Continuous-batch washers, extraction presses, material-handling systems, shuttles, conveyors, dryers, washerextractors, linen separators, feeders, ironers, folders and garment finishers.

❏ Kemco Systems Co. LLC 3557 Water heaters, heat reclaimers, water recovery/reuse systems and water treatment systems.

❏ Keycolour Inc. 2975 Textile dyeing products.

❏ Kibler Chemical Corp. 3089 Industrial water softeners and filters.

❏ Kingsfield Inc. 445 Chemicals for laundry/cleaning applications.

❏ KioSoft Technologies LLC 858 Unattended payment solutions.

❏ Kleen-Rite Inc. 1498 Solvent filter/purifier system.

❏ Kleen-Tex Industries Inc. 401 Commercial and industrial mats.

❏ James Gutheim 3670 & Associates

JManagement consulting firm specializing in rental laundries.

❏ Kreussler Inc. 727 Laundry, drycleaning and wetcleaning chemicals and detergents.

❏ KSE Suppliers 761

EXHIBITORS 2017

Institutional linen, including incontinent, OR/surgery, patient/professional apparel, pediatric, pillows, sheets, towels and more.

❏ Lac-Mac Limited 3550

LReusable surgical gowns and drapes, and other healthcare apparel.

❏ Landen Strapping Corp. 3085

Plastic strapping machines, glue machines and stretch film wrappers, plus related supplies, parts and service.

❏ Lapauw USA 3647, 3749

Flatwork finishing equipment, washer-extractors, garment finishing tunnels, cart washers, and more.

❏

Lattner Boiler Co. 3717

Steam boilers and related equipment for laundry and drycleaning industries.

❏ Laundrapp 415

Digital platform offering on-demand mobile/web technology for laundry and drycleaning services.

❏

Laundroworks Card 2293 Systems

Card-based payment, control, and monitoring systems for multi-housing and vended laundries.

❏

Laundry Locker 759 Drop Locker

Locker-based delivery for dry cleaners.

❏

Laundry Logic LLC 3388

Computer software and systems for textile rental.

❏

Laundry ReStart 555

Computer-based management system for self-service laundries.

❏ Laundrylux 1060

Distributor of Electrolux and Wascomat commercial laundry equipment in North America.

❏

LaundryPass 2891

Card payment/management system for Laundromats.

❏

Lavatec Laundry 1743 Technology Inc.

Continuous-batch washers, washer-extractors, dryers, flatwork feeders, ironers, folders, stackers, material-handling equipment and

mat-processing equipment.

❏ Leebaw Manufacturing 2016

Material-handling carts, garment carts, shelving units, lift tables and laundry/sling bags.

❏ Leonard Automatics 1648

Garment finishing, small-piece stacking, cart washing, and pressing equipment.

❏ LG Electronics 3515 Commercial washers and dryers.

❏ Liberty Computer Systems 642

Point-of-sale software for laundries and dry cleaners.

❏ Linen Tech 1374 Laundry management software.

❏ Lochinvar LLC 3551

High-efficiency water heaters, boilers, pool heaters and storage tanks.

❏ LowCostMfg.com 1591

Parts for commercial washers and dryers.

❏ M&B Hangers 1327

Wire garment hangers and paper products for drycleaning and textile rental industries.

❏ Maestrelli Srl 1376 Drycleaning and laundry equipment.

❏ Magid 2974 Personal protective equipment and safety solutions.

❏ Magnus Textile 851 Manufactures, imports and distributes broad spectrum of textile products used in hospitality, healthcare and industry laundry markets.

❏ Mainetti Canada Inc. 447 Garment hangers and garment packaging products.

❏ Maruso USA Inc. 742 Plastic garment hangers.

❏ Material Flow Systems 2985

Material-handling systems, including rail systems, conveyors and trolleys.

❏ Material Imports 544 Textile products for hospitality,

industrial, laundry and institutional customers.

❏ Maxi Companies 1521 Export management company specializing in commercial and industrial laundry and drycleaning equipment.

❏ MAXI-PRESS 3392

Elastomertechnik GmbH Membranes for water extraction presses; additional spare and special parts for other laundry equipment.

❏ Maximizer 3471

Direct-fired water heaters, boiler stack economizers, wastewater heat recovery and water reuse systems.

❏ Maxon Lift Corp. 411 Truck and trailer liftgates.

❏ Mayfield Group 1598 Advertising Bureau Advertising and marketing services for dry cleaners and Laundromats.

M❏ McClure Industries Inc. 3268 Laundry, linen and trash carts; motorized tuggers; cart dumpers; and cart washers.

❏ Medline Industries Inc. 2176 Broad spectrum of healthcare textiles and other healthcare products.

❏ Memories Gown 1926 Preservation

Environmentally friendly wholesale gown cleaning, preservation, and pre-paid shipping.

❏ Messe Frankfurt Inc. 2394 Trade-fair organizer responsible for Texcare exhibitions.

❏

Metalprogetti 1731

Automated systems for moving, handling and dispensing hanging and folded garments.

❏ Mevo Metzler GmbH 529 Wire hangers, and drycleaning and laundry products.

❏ Midwest Specialty Products 3677 Disposable towel and wiper products.

❏ Miele 1895 Laundry care equipment and products.

❏ Milliken & Co. 1036 Fabrics for tablecloths, napkins,

EXHIBITORS 2017

placemats, aprons and tableskirts; dust control products; industrial and specialty textiles.

❏ Million Dollar Collar 562

❏ MIP Inc. 3463

Reusable healthcare products, including bed linens, underpads, carts, bags, etc.

❏ Miura America Co. Ltd. 311 Steam, hot water and modular boiler systems.

❏ Mobile Computing 3474 Corp. Inc. (MCC)

Linen and textile route-delivery software.

❏ MODRoto 3535

Bulk linen and laundry carts.

❏ Monarch Brands 745

Commercial linen for rental textile market, including institutional towels, hospitality linen, microfiber cleaning textiles, and wiping products.

❏

Monarch Coin & Security 3715

Coin/token chutes, money boxes, locks and keys for coin laundry machines; bathroom locks.

❏

Monarch Robe and 627 Towel Co./Cypress Bathrobes, towels and slippers for hospitality industry.

❏

Moonsoft International 710

Microfiber products, cleaning towels, and mop pads and materials.

❏ Morgan Olson 1137

Aluminum walk-in vans for the textile rental industry.

❏

Mountville Mills Inc. 3077

Floor mats for uniform and textile rental companies.

❏

Multimatic 1285

Drycleaning machinery using conventional and environmentally friendly solvents.

❏

My Shoe Hospital 643

Boot and shoe repair services.

❏

Naomoto Corp./Apparel 1789

Machinery & Supply Co. Distributor for Naomoto irons,

self-contained vacuum tables, and other finishing equipment; Hoffman pressing equipment; Koenig irons, mini boilers and automatic garment finishers; and Reliant fusing and laminating machines.

❏ National Cleaners 453 Association

Trade association for professional garment/fabric cleaners and suppliers.

❏ National Combustion 2691 Co. Inc. (NATCO) Water-heating systems.

❏ Navien Inc. 615 Tankless water heaters and boilers.

❏ New Horizons in 827 Ozone Solutions Inc. Ozone laundry systems.

❏ Newhouse Specialty Co. 3767 Specialty products for the laundry, drycleaning, hospitality and garment manufacturing industries.

❏ NIE Insurance 837 Insurance services for dry cleaners and coin laundries.

❏ Norchem Corp. 2031 Laundry chemicals; chemical dispensing systems; wastewater treatment and recycling systems; and system controllers and software.

❏ North American Foam 3706

❏ NSF International 2889 Certification program for commercial laundering operations.

❏ NuMat Systems LLC 2590 Rubber-backed floor mats, and mat-processing equipment for the textile services industry.

professional laundry equipment under its Danube, Domus and Primer brands.

❏ Othis USA 1171 Drycleaning finishing equipment.

❏ Otto Trading Inc. 1921 Electric portable massagers.

❏

PP & E Products 3723 Mat-rolling and -storage equipment.

❏ PAC Strapping Products Inc. 302 Plastic strapping; plastic strapping machines and systems; steel strapping, plus tools and accessories.

❏ Parker Boiler Co. 821 Steam boilers, indirect-fired water heaters and related equipment.

❏ PayRange 2892 Mobile payment systems.

❏ Pellerin Milnor 3131 Washer-extractors, automated tunnel washing systems, apparel processing machinery, dryers, material-handling systems, and laundry computer networks.

❏ Penco Products Inc. 650 Garment lockers, hygiene products and storage products for textile and linen rental.

❏ Penn Emblem Co. 601 Image and identification products for uniform, garment and apparel industries.

❏ Pepin Mfg. Inc. 245 Contract converting and fabrication; lint removers.

❏ Olin Corp. 1886 Chlorinated organics drycleaning solvent.

❏ Omni Apparel Inc. 423

Launderable butcher coats, lab coats, smocks and aprons for the food industry.

❏ OMNI Solutions 3090

❏ Onnera Group 1761 International business group offering

O❏ Perego Tessitura 3174 Table, bed and bath linens for industrial laundries.

❏ Performance Matters 321 Consulting services for textile rental service companies.

❏ Phoenix Scale Co. 1916 Linen-processing and -tracking computer software.

❏ Phoenix Textile Corp. 420 Textile and interior design products for the healthcare marketplace.

TO INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FROM LOCAL MARKET EXCELLENCE

TO INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FROM LOCAL MARKET EXCELLENCE

TO INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FROM LOCAL MARKET EXCELLENCE

BY WAY of GREENEARTH CLEANING

BY WAY of GREENEARTH CLEANING

BY WAY of GREENEARTH CLEANING

Located in The Hague, Netherlands, Stomerij Panda is in the third generation of De Beer family ownership. Since 1956, fine garment care has provided opportunities for growth –literally without borders. Currently Dennis and Patricia De Beer have clients from as far away as the London Theatre District shipping costumes and stage clothes for their special touch. Stomerij Panda has been built on delivering quality treatment and is a prime example of why GreenEarth cleaners have gained a global reputation for maximized sustainability and first class care.

Located in The Hague, Netherlands, Stomerij Panda is in the third generation of De Beer family ownership. Since 1956, fine garment care has provided opportunities for growth –literally without borders. Currently Dennis and Patricia De Beer have clients from as far away as the London Theatre District shipping costumes and stage clothes for their special touch. Stomerij Panda has been built on delivering quality treatment and is a prime example of why GreenEarth cleaners have gained a global reputation for maximized sustainability and first class care.

Located in The Hague, Netherlands, Stomerij Panda is in the third generation of De Beer family ownership. Since 1956, fine garment care has provided opportunities for growth –literally without borders. Currently Dennis and Patricia De Beer have clients from as far away as the London Theatre District shipping costumes and stage clothes for their special touch. Stomerij Panda has been built on delivering quality treatment and is a prime example of why GreenEarth cleaners have gained a global reputation for maximized sustainability and first class care.

DENNIS DE BEER / STOMERIJ PANDA PRESIDENT

DENNIS DE BEER / STOMERIJ PANDA PRESIDENT

DENNIS DE BEER / STOMERIJ PANDA PRESIDENT

EXHIBITORS 2017

❏ Pivot 3574

❏ Plexus Industries 3285

Commercial laundry bags, slings and cart covers.

❏ Polypack GmbH & Co. KG 251

Full automatic bagging machines for hanging garments; single and set packing; bundling systems; labeling systems; conveyor systems.

❏ Pony SpA 1177

Garment finishing and pressing equipment.

❏ Port-a-Cool LLC 3571 Portable evaporative coolers.

❏

Poseidon Textile Care 3743 Systems LLC

Wetcleaning equipment, parts and service.

❏

Positek RFID L.P. 1227 RFID-enabled sorting and tracking software and systems for the textile maintenance industry.

❏ Prime Capital Inc. 3301 Financing services.

❏ PSP Industrial 3169 Laundry Equipment

Pre-owned and reconditioned industrial laundry equipment.

❏

PurClean/PurWater 314 Water treatment equipment and systems.

❏ R.W. Martin & Sons Inc. 3171 Buys, sells, reconditions and remanufactures commercial and industrial laundry equipment.

❏ Railex Corp. 3376 Garment-handling conveyors, slick rail, trolleys and related equipment.

❏ RAMCO Laundry 659 Machinery Inc. Commercial and industrial laundry systems.

❏ RealStar USA 1576 Drycleaning machines using variety of solvents.

❏ Reed Mfg. Co. 3451 Workwear and uniforms.

❏ ReflectiveStripe.com/ 607 Block Bindings & Interlinings Custom reflective striping for workwear.

❏ Rema Dri-Vac Corp. 1370

Air vacuum units, boiler feed systems, blow-off separators, boiler feed pumps, storage tanks and condensate systems.

❏ Rennco LLC 3271 Laundry bagging and packaging equipment.

❏ Renzacci SPA 1685

Drycleaning machines, washerextractors, dryers and wetcleaning machines.

❏ Royal Basket Trucks 437 Vinyl, canvas and molded poly carts in various styles.

❏ Royal Blue Textiles 646 Importer and manufacturer of institutional linens.

❏ Ryco Conveyors Inc. 2845 Design, sales and installation of material-handling systems.

❏ S. Thomas & Associates 1595 Inc.

SReplacement decals and signage for commercial laundries; repairs bill changers and bill acceptors.

❏ San-Ai Industries Inc. 3784 Laundry/drycleaning supplies and equipment.

❏ Sanitone by Fabritec 844

Professional drycleaning detergents, wetcleaning soaps and spotting chemicals as well as restoration and shirt laundry products.

❏ Sankosha USA Inc. 1347 Garment-pressing equipment.

❏ SanMar 427 Industrial workwear and wholesale imprintable apparel.

❏ ScanQ 3375, 3377 Point-of-sale software and support.

❏ Quietaire Cooling Inc. 863 Industrial fans and commercial ventilation equipment.

❏

RR&B Wire Products Inc. 3203

Industrial laundry and linen transportation equipment and products, including carts and trucks.

❏

R.L. Williams Co. 751 Restroom products for the uniform, linen rental and dust control industries.

❏

R.R. Street & Co. Inc. 3500

Solvents, additives, stain removal agents and filtration products for laundry, wet cleaning and dry cleaning.

Q❏ Riegel Div. Mount 1717 Vernon Mills Inc. Broad range of hospitality, healthcare and institutional linens.

❏ Rinnai America Corp. 3771 Tankless water heaters.

❏ Rochester Midland Corp. 3274 Water management programs.

❏ Rome Conveyors LLC 3092 Conveyors and other materialhandling systems.

❏ Rotational Molding Inc. 744 Linen and laundry trucks; materialhandling products; liquid tanks.

❏ Rowe Bill Changers 3200 Money-changing equipment.

❏ ScrubTrak 3188 Automated scrub dispensing systems.

❏ SEITZ, The Fresher 3523 Company Inc.

Complete line of laundry and drycleaning chemicals.

❏

SEKO Dosing Systems 3652 Corp. Solenoid valve and peristaltic pump dispensing systems.

❏ Select Risk Insurance Inc. 1617 dba Select Programs Insurance, risk management and business consulting services for the textile care industry.

❏ Setomatic Systems - 1977 SpyderWash Electronic payment acceptance technology, and drop coin meters.

EXHIBITORS 2017

❏

Shanghai Sailstar Machinery 3585 Group Co. Ltd./Everstrong Commercial Products

Sailstar: Washing, drying, drycleaning, flatwork ironing, feeding, folding, and finishing equipment; Everstrong: Bags, aprons, towels, linens, trolleys/ baskets, and stands.

❏ Shanghai Shine Young 1699 Silicone Industry Co. Ltd. Drycleaning, laundry and ironing pads.

❏ Shanghai Weishi Fujistar 1437

❏ Sierra Hygiene Products 2945 Turnkey paper and hand soap programs for the textile rental industry.

❏ Sigma Garment Films 620 Garment film and flexible packaging.

❏

Sigmatex-Lanier Textiles 1121

Wide range of textile products for the textile rental, healthcare and hospitality industries.

❏ Silscopad USA Inc. 1787

❏ Smart Step 845 Therapeutic Flooring Anti-fatigue mats.

❏ Smith Bros. 300 Drycleaning detergents, spotters and specialty products.

❏ SNA Manufacturing LLC 839 Foam hanger covers and shoulder guards.

❏

Softrol Systems 1074

System controls and management information solutions for the automation of industrial uniform and textile laundry facilities.

❏

SonicAire 714

Cleaning and cooling fans for laundries and drycleaning plants.

❏

Southwest Laundry 3390 Equipment

Supplier of industrial and commercial laundry machinery and equipment.

❏ Spartan Chemical Co. 701 Laundry detergents and chemicals.

❏

Spindle 3663

Operations management software for commercial laundries.

❏

SPOT Business Systems 1727

Computer software and systems for drycleaning operations management.

❏

Springboard 3778

Suite of cloud-based tools for laundry pickup/delivery services.

❏ Springpress 1495

Spring padding, waxes and cleaners for ironers.

❏ Spynr Inc. 2186

Software and online marketing services for laundries and dry cleaners.

❏ SRS Conveyors 2890 Material-handling equipment for the uniform and laundry industry.

❏ Standard Change-Makers 3071 Inc.

Currency change machines and central payment systems.

❏ Standard Textile 711 Healthcare, hospitality and institutional textiles and apparel, and linen management services.

❏ Starchup Inc. 410 Software for drycleaning and laundry delivery services.

❏ Storms Industries Inc. 3601 Flatwork ironer textiles and supplies, cleaners and belting; sling bags; cart covers; filtration and dust-control products.

❏ Strap-Rite by Master 2875 Packaging Solutions Plastic strapping.

❏ StraPack Inc. 621 Plastic-strapping machinery.

❏ Streamline Solutions 2977 Plastic bag and plastic product supplier to the laundry industry.

❏ Stry-Lenkoff Co. 622 Stock tags, labels and business forms for the laundry/drycleaning industry.

❏ SUDSY Vending Supplies 2969 Broad range of coin laundry products and supplies.

❏ TBR Associates 3624

TCustom-tailored consulting and management coaching services.

❏ TCF Equipment Finance, 1594 a Division of TCF National Bank Equipment financing.

❏ Tecni-Quip Carts 1621 Material-handling carts.

❏ Technische Textillien 2791 Lorrach GmbH & Co. KG Ironer pads, belts, tapes and accessories.

❏ Texas Automation Products 1721 Heat-sealing machines.

❏

Textile Care Allied 918 Trades Association

SPONSOR: Trade association representing manufacturers and distributors of laundry and drycleaning equipment and supplies.

❏ Textile Technologies 3475 Computer software systems for the textile rental industry.

❏ TexTrax 559 Linen management and route accounting software.

❏ The DECC Co. 3731 Abrasion-resistant release coating for dryer panels.

❏ The Green Garmento 658 Reusable bags for dry cleaners.

❏ The Huntington Co. 3371 Parent company of Martinizing Dry Cleaning and Certified Restoration Drycleaning Network franchises.

❏

TheLaundryList.com Inc. 2877

Used industrial laundry machinery; plant design and installation services; energy efficiency studies.

❏ Thermal Engineering 3447 of Arizona Inc.

Wastewater heat reclaimers, heat-recovery systems, shaker screens, water heaters, storage tanks, pumping systems, ceramic filtration systems and other products.

❏

Thermopatch 750 Textile and garment identification products and systems.

❏

Thomaston Mills 843 Bed and bath linens for the hospitality, healthcare and institutional markets.

❏

Tietex International Ltd. 308 Stitchbonded, now-woven fabrics.

❏ Time in a Box 323 Preservation Co. Gown preservation kits.

❏ Tingue 3531 Supplies for flatwork ironers, feeders and folders; rebuilt ironers; laundry carts; rigging and repair services; and replacement parts and accessories for laundry equipment.

❏

Tolkar Smartex 1771 Textile processing and commercial laundry machines.

❏ Totofolder Manufacturing 2384 Co. Ltd. Flatwork feeders, folders, stackers and spreaders.

EXHIBITORS 2017

❏

Trevil America Inc. 1385

Professional ironing equipment and electric steam generators.

❏ Triad Design 3708 Bill breakers.

❏ TRSA, the Association for 968 the Linen, Uniform & Facility Services Industry

SPONSOR: Trade association representing the textile services industry.

❏

Truffoire Las Vegas 540 Skin care products.

❏ Turn-Key Industrial 3244 Engineering Services

Designs and improves facilities for resort, medical, hospitality and industrial laundry providers.

❏ U.N.X. Incorporated 2185

UCommercial laundry chemical products and dispensing systems for domestic and international markets.

❏ U.S. Jaclean Inc. 558

❏ Uniform Advantage 653 Corporate Solutions Uniform programs.

❏

Union Drycleaning 1560 Products

Drycleaning equipment for use with perchloroetyhlene and Class III-A solvents.

❏

Unipress Corp. 1161 Shirt-finishing machines, and laundry and drycleaning equipment.

❏

UniSec Div. of 1291 New York Machinery Drycleaning machines.

❏

❏

❏

United Brass Works Inc. 1275 Industrial valves.

United Temps Inc. 306 Services for temporary staffing.

United Textile Distribution 3770

Dust control products, table linen, bed linen, towels, hangers, aprons and other products.

❏

United Wire Hanger Corp./ 813 UWH Industries

Wire and plastic hangers and related paper products for the uniform rental, drycleaning and apparel industries.

❏

Unitex International Inc. 1417 Distributor of cotton, microfiber and spun table linen textiles.

❏ Universal Unilink 3074 Group purchasing organization for independent textile care companies.

❏ USTEK RFID Solutions 3759 UHF RFID tags, integrated RFID terminals, and RFID-based textile and item tracking software.

❏ Utilimaster 737 Walk-in vans, parcel delivery vans and truck bodies.

V❏ Vega Systems USA 2045

❏ Vend-Rite Mfg. Co. Inc. 3406 Soap venders, bag venders, snack/drink venders, coin laundry signs, plastic laundry bags and drop-off bags.

❏ Vend-Rite Supply 3611 Licensee of branded soap, fabric softener and stain removal products packaged for use in coin laundries and hospitality locations.

❏ Venus Group 1127 Tablecloths, napkins, aprons, sheets towels, hospital linens and chef apparel.

❏ Veolia Water Technologies 3765

❏ VF Imagewear Inc. 501 Industrial workwear, hospitality garments, corporate apparel and protective apparel; managed uniform programs.

❏ Vintex Inc. 3579 Launderable barrier fabrics.

❏ Voltea 3477 Water/wastewater treatment.

Gown preservation services.

❏ Welspun Hospitality 520 Wide range of textile products.

❏ Wesvic Systems 550 Piece-counting and performance feedback system.

❏ wh Munzprufer Dietmar 2988 Trenner GmbH

❏ Whirlpool Corp. 2615

Commercial Laundry Commercial washers, dryers and specialty products under the ADC, Maytag® Commercial Laundry and Whirlpool® Commercial Laundry brands.

❏ White Conveyors Inc. 1517 Automated garment-sorting, storage and retrieval systems.

❏ Williamson-Dickie Mfg. 551 Workwear.

❏ Winona Paper 625 Towel and tissue products for textile rental companies.

❏ Woodbine Products Co. 3384 Hand-care products.

❏ World Emblem International 2885 Custom embroidered, sublimated and screen-printed emblems.

❏ WSI Washing Systems 1026 Wash-aisle chemistry, wastewater treatment, specialty chemicals, dispensing technology, and information systems.

XW❏ Xeros Inc. 3507 Commercial laundry system that utilizes polymer beads.

❏ Wasatch Co. 736 Textile products for institutional, hospitality, food service and healthcare industries.

❏ Wash Club NYC LLC 3378 Software supporting on-demand pickup and delivery laundry/drycleaning services.

❏ Wash Tech 3657

Heavy-duty washers and dryers for industrial laundries and dry cleaners.

❏ Wash-Dry-Fold POS 2190 Point-of-sale system for Laundromats.

❏ Webb & Son Sewing 820 Machine Sales Inc. Industrial sewing equipment, parts, workroom supplies and custom clamping for automated machines.

❏ Wedding Gown 809 Preservation Co.

Y❏ YAC Japan 1199, 1295 Laundry and drycleaning equipment.

❏ Yamamoto Japan Inc. 1661 Washer-extractors, combination washer/extractor/dryers, and small-piece folders.

❏ Yancheng Yaling 461 Clothing Co. Ltd.

Z❏ Zerowaste 3202 Wastewater elimination equipment for dry cleaners.

❏

zNano LLC 463 Laundry wastewater recycling systems.

Educational

Program

Thirty hours of educational sessions—all included as part of Clean Show registration —will be spread across the event’s four days at the Las Vegas Convention Center in early June.

“The Clean Show sponsors are pleased to present a wide spectrum of education to Show attendees at just the cost of the low registration fee,” says Mary Scalco, chair of the Clean Executive Committee and CEO of show co-sponsor Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI).

“It gives industry professionals an opportunity to learn new techniques and trends that could cost hundreds of dollars in independent seminars apart from the show.”

MONDAY, JUNE 5

u 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. — The Human Mousetrap: Planning for Safe Entry into Confined Spaces, room N115-117, presented by Barry Spurlock, Esq., CSP, Eastern Kentucky University, and sponsored by Association for Linen Management (ALM).

If a contractor enters a permit-required confined space at your workplace, who is responsible for their safety and compliance with OSHA’s standards? Does your rescue plan involve offsite rescue services? Have you ever considered reclassifying a permitrequired confined space to a non-permit space? This session will address your legal responsibilities as well as give your company guidance on protecting your employees.

u 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. — Customer Contracts: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, room N107-108, presented by Steve Fellman, legal counsel, Textile Rental Services Association of America, and sponsored by TRSA.

Join Fellman in an interactive discussion on how to design customer contracts to maximize profitability. Learn about new contract clauses related to digital billing technology and examine how textile services companies deal with issues related to inducing breach of contract. Optimize your contract leverage, and learn how to enforce your contractual rights.

Another co-sponsor, the Coin Laundry Association, is presenting seven sessions, including one it is co-hosting with DLI. Partnering for Future Profits “is in response to changes in the marketplace and appealing to today’s consumer demand for more wash-dry-fold services,” says Scalco.

Morning sessions will be held in designated meeting rooms away from the show floor. Afternoon sessions will be held in the “Show Floor Classroom” at the rear of the exhibit hall.

The following sessions are listed in chronological order by day, date and time, along with the presenter(s), location and description, as provided by show management firm Riddle & Associates:

u 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. — Business as Unusual, room N255-259, presented by panelists Nick Chapleau (Starchup), Chris Moreno (Laundry Locker) and Kyle Nesbit (MW Cleaners), and sponsored by DLI.

The drycleaning business today is so much more than “suit and tie.” Your customers are changing and their expectations are changing. If you’re not changing, your business is not growing. Hear how some industry professionals meet the demands of current and future customers.

u 8:45 a.m. to 10 a.m. — Great by Design: What Laundromats Can Learn from Latest Retail Trends, room N109114, sponsored by CLA.

Today’s Laundromats strive to portray a modern and professional look to consumers. Much may be learned from the most popular trends being seen in other retail and service environments. Hear experts discuss how laundries may leverage the best design trends in retail environments.

u 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. — All Things Facebook: How to Grow Your Laundromat Sales, Show Floor Classroom, sponsored by CLA.

Social media has become a valuable tool for promoting one’s Laundromat to new customers. This session will focus specifically on the features and services available through Facebook that will help you grow

sales in your laundry.

u 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. — TRSA Clean Green and Hygienically Clean Certification Programs, Show Floor Classroom, presented by Bob Corfield, president and CEO, Laundry Design Group, and Mann and Martin; and sponsored by TRSA.

Independent, quantitative, third-party certifications build customer confidence and offer your company a competitive advantage. Nearly 60 companies/163 facilities have earned TRSA’s Clean Green and more than 115 facilities have earned TRSA’s Hygienically Clean designations, making them the fastest growing, most recognized international certification programs for textile services operators. Learn how your company can meet these rigorous standards and quantifiable measurements, including inspections and testing.

TUESDAY, JUNE 6

u 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. — Family Business Dynamics, room N107-108, presented by Joshua Nacht, Ph.D., The Family Business Consulting Group, and sponsored by TRSA.

This session focuses on family human resource and governance process innovation in multi-generational family companies. Learn the generation-influenced frameworks that (continued on page 39)

Class is in: 23 sessions during busy Las Vegas show

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u 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. — How is Your Linen Handled? Lessons from ALM’s Research Project, room N115-117, presented by Fontaine Sands, D.Ph., MSN, CIC, RN, ALM clinical advisor, and Linda Fairbanks, executive director, ALM, and sponsored by ALM.

Healthcare textiles from quality laundry providers are typically hygienically clean and safe for use. Is the hygienic integrity maintained during transportation, storage and distribution? ALM has completed a research study to evaluate those very con cerns. Be the first to hear the results!

u 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. — Drycleaners & Laundromat Owners: Partnering for Future Profits, room N109-114, presented by panelists Jeff Gardner (The Laundry Doctor), Chris Balestracci (Super Wash Laundry) and Stephen Moore (PressBox Cleaners), and co-sponsored by CLA and DLI.

Dry cleaners and laundry owners are using each other’s expertise to increase their market share. Learn from industry members how they have made this part nership work for them.

u 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. — Laundry Marketing Secrets Revealed, room N107-108, presented by Jeff Wile, president, Infinite Laundry, and sponsored by TRSA.

Top secret no more! If you want to grow your business in the digital age, you need to learn successful strategies that help you do so. Discover the top tips and tricks to succeed in B2B social and digital advertis ing. You’ll also hear how to incorporate conversion rate optimization to maximize your sales through new customer acquisi tion.

u 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. — Research That Proves Reusable Isolation Gowns Beat Disposable, room N219-220, spon sored by the American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA).

ARTA shares life-cycle assessment research that outlines how reusable isola tion gowns are the environmentally sus tainable choice. Researchers present an overview of research findings.

u 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. — Research That Proves Reusable Surgical Gowns Beat Disposable, room N219-220, sponsored by ARTA.

ARTA shares life-cycle assessment research that outlines how Level 3 reusable surgical gowns are the environmentally sustainable choice. Researchers present an overview of research findings.

u 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. — TextileEd “TED” Talks, Show Floor Classroom,

sponsored by ALM.

“Riveting thoughts by remarkable peo ple” is the cornerstone of the popular Ted Talks. ALM’s version, “TextileEd Talks,” brings together some of the remarkable people who have riveting thoughts about the laundry and linen industry, bringing you quick segments of valuable education.

u 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. — Oops: Now What?, Show Floor Classroom, presented by Brian Johnson, education director, DLI, and sponsored by DLI.

There are nearly as many home stainremoval tips as there are homes. DLI puts some of these home remedies to the test to see which actually work and which ones fail.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7

u 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. — Doing Well by Doing Good: How Laundromat Owners are Giving Back, room N109-114, spon sored by CLA.

The best Laundromats serve as criti cal community centers where important resources may be shared with local resi dents. Hear stories of how Laundromat owners are giving back to their neighbor hoods and transforming their stores into community centers.

u 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. — Five Considerations for Improving Employee Retention, N107-108, presented by Brenda Stauffer, human resources director, Balfurd Inc., and sponsored by TRSA.

If you’re one of the many businesses that sees high employee turnover as a problem, you may wonder if there’s more you can do to retain your most valuable workers. In an increasingly competi tive business world, top talent is in high demand. If you aren’t making your top workers happy, another company may easily recruit them. This session will offer you five key considerations for retaining your top employees that go beyond a good pay package.

u 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. — Healthcare Contingency Risks & Plan, room N115117, presented by Cindy Molko, Mayo Clinic Rochester, and sponsored by ALM.

Healthcare facilities have a responsibility to ensure care is provided even when criti cal products such as linen are unavailable. Hear lessons learned by one health system when developing its contingency plan and learn about the process it followed in assessing the options, selecting a direc tion, and managing.

u 8:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. — The Five Essential Steps to Growing Revenue in a Tough Market, room N255-259, presented by Trudy Adams, Mt. Hood Cleaners, and sponsored by DLI.

Discover how to unlock the secrets of successful sales promotion and marketing management with ideas you can imple ment right away.

u 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. — Maximizing Labor Efficiency in Your Wash-Dry-Fold

Operation, room N109-114, sponsored by CLA.

Like many Laundromat owners, you may be looking for ways to take your wash-dry-fold operation to the next level. For most operators, getting more pro ductivity from your frontline workforce is a major challenge. This special presentation will focus on getting the most from those payroll dollars by incorporating the most efficient practices into your wash-dry-fold production.

u 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. — Tips and Lessons Learned for Entering the Commercial Laundry Industry, room N107-108, presented by panelists Bob Corfield (Laundry Design Group), John “J.R.” Ryan (MODRoto) and Keith Ware (Lavatec Laundry Technology), and sponsored by TRSA.

Have you ever thought about what it would take to enter the commercial linen and uniform rental market? There are pros, but also cons that come along with tackling a market you’re unfamiliar with. Hear from industry experts on the best place to start this type of transition, how the industry works and what competition already exists to determine if it’s the right move for you.

u 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. — OSHA Compliance: Identifying Laundry’s Most Cited Violations, Show Floor Classroom, presented by Edwin G. Foulke Jr., partner, Fisher & Phillips LLP, and sponsored by TRSA.

Foulke was OSHA’s top administrator from 2006 to 2008, when workplace injury, illness and fatality rates dropped to their lowest levels in recorded history. Now an attorney in private practice, he has helped TRSA develop consensus proposals for overcoming the most difficult obstacles the industry faces in eliminating injuries and illnesses. In this session, he’ll discuss OSHA’s top 20 most frequently cited stan dards and the top 25 “low-hanging” fruit violations. He will also share information on TRSA’s new Safety Certification.

u 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. — WiFi in Your Laundromat: Best Practices for Security & Marketing, Show Floor Classroom, sponsored by CLA.

Thousands of Laundromat owners are now adding free WiFi as a prominent amenity for their customers. Now learn the best way to manage, support, secure and promote this indispensable feature for maximum impact.

THURSDAY, JUNE 8

u 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. — Your First Laundromat: 10 Keys to Success, room N109-114, sponsored by CLA.

No one can learn everything you need to know about an investment in a self-service laundry in one seminar but this fast-paced 90-minute session will help you identify the most important elements for success. Bring lots of questions for our experts as we share the secrets to success for your first Laundromat.

Tips Show Floor from

the

How to make the best use of your time there

Clean ’17 is known as the best place to learn and network with thousands of exhibitors and attendees.

Since this event is only staged every two years, you want to get as much as possible out of the experience, notes management firm Riddle & Associates.

There is a lot to take in with over 200,000 net square feet of exhibits, 30 hours of educational sessions, and, of course, the excitement of Las Vegas.

Having a plan of specific things you want to accomplish will guarantee you take away the best parts of Clean. Riddle offers some tips on how to make the best of your show experience:

• Prioritize your goals. Write down the accomplishments you would like to achieve while at the show, whether it is attending a specific educational session, learning about new technologies in the industry, networking with other professionals, or purchasing the latest equipment or product.

• Create an action plan. With such a large variety of exhibitors, prior to the June 5-8 show dates, it is important to plan those you want to visit. It will help keep you on track and make sure you see exhibitor booths primary to your goal. You can see the floor plan and vendor list online at www.cleanshow.com to help create your action plan.

• Attend Clean “University.” Among the most sought after activities at Clean are the educational sessions. More than 20 classroom sessions are available that cover an array of industry-related topics. Classroom sessions generally run from 8 a.m. through 10 a.m. daily, and there are afternoon sessions on the exhibit floor.

• Discover something new. Take time to browse the

show floor for new and innovative exhibitors that may not be on your priority list. With 400-plus exhibiting companies, you are likely to find something new that can benefit your business.

• Write it all down. Four days of intense education, vendors, and networking is a lot for anyone to take in. Taking good notes in educational sessions and about the exhibitors you visit is key to utilizing this information once you leave Clean. Create a system to keep up with it all.

• Dress for comfort. Las Vegas in June is hot. Be sure to dress for comfort with light clothing and comfortable shoes for walking. It is easy to walk a few miles on the exhibit floor, not to mention walking outside of the Convention Center.

• Enjoy the city. Las Vegas is one of the top travel destinations in the world. There is much to do and see unlike any other place on Earth. Enjoy all Las Vegas has to offer.

• Apply what you learned. Take home everything you learn at Clean to apply to your business. For any co-workers, colleagues or business partners who did not attend Clean ’17, be sure to share your new knowledge.

Information area in the Las Vegas Convention Center. (Image licensed by Las Vegas News Bureau)

Las Vegas All About Town:

Take a good look at all there is to do in the City of Lights. Awash in neon at night is cool in both vibe and temperature. After the Clean Show each day, get out and enjoy yourself!

“Las Vegas is celebrated for its entertainment, fine dining, and opulent hotels,” notes Clean ’17 show management company Riddle & Associates. “This town is one of the top three destinations in the U.S. for business conventions, and this is its sixth time hosting the Clean Show.”

Gambling is everywhere, and you may catch the fever and put down some chips at your favorite games of chance while at Clean ’17. But there are shows, too. And Riddle has an idea for you to get in the swing.

“The culture of Vegas is famous for its burlesque and variety shows, and there are many up and down The Strip, but if you want to get a taste of what Vegas is all about, Vegas! The Show is located in the Saxe Theater at Planet Hollywood,” Riddle says.

There are also many “off-the-beaten-path” sights to see in Las Vegas. If you are in town a few days before the show or staying a few days after, try the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden, which, according to its website, combines horticultural prowess with spectacular design, changing with the seasons.

Currently, the Garden has on display its Japanese Spring arrangement of 65,000 flowers and a Japanese-inspired walkway design. It runs until June 3 and will be followed by the Summer Garden beginning June 10. In between, though, you’ll have to find other local flavors to try.

Another option is enjoying dining outdoor at the six-acre promenade known as “The Park” located between New York-New York and the Monte Carlo. The 40-foot, LEDlit Bliss Dance sculpture is a nod to feminine energy and a key feature to the wonderful spot.

If the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden is on your “things to see” list, be aware that it will be closed June 4-9 to change “seasons” from Japanese Spring to its Summer Garden. (Image licensed by Las Vegas News Bureau)

If you want to discover a little bit of the old romping days of the town, stop by a vintage locale such as Sam Boyd’s California Hotel & Casino. It’s located two blocks from Fremont Street.

There, you’ll rekindle the rambunctious (continued)

Away from the Convention Center, there are great eats, sights and more

days full of wild times and high rollers. Or try to!

Dining options in Vegas vary from simple street vendors to world-class restaurants, notes Riddle.

“For the best bang for your buck, consider visiting any buffet in Vegas during your stay. The buffets offer allyou-can-eat dining experiences with an incredible array of food. Expect to pay $25-$65 from breakfast to dinner respectively,” it says.

For fine dining, Las Vegas is home to many famous chefs and international chains.

Each Clean ’17 official hotel boasts its own restaurants and food courts. Most hotels have at least one exceptional dining facility on site, according to Riddle.

Hotels on the Las Vegas Strip are among the most elaborate and exotic in the world.

“The Clean Show’s ‘official’ hotels allow exhibitors and attendees to enjoy the camaraderie of other attendees. Official hotels are: Bally’s, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, MGM Grand, Vdara, Cosmopolitan, Westgate, Paris, Tropicana, Renaissance, and Wynn/Encore,” it says.

Reminder of transportation tips from Riddle: The Las Vegas Monorail is another great transportation option that connects many hotels on The Strip. It travels from MGM Grand on the south to the SLS Hotel on the north, with stops along the way at Bally’s/Paris, Flamingo/Caesars Palace, Harrah’s/The LINQ, Westgate, and the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Cost is $5 for one ride, $12 for an unlimited one-day pass, and $28 for a three-day unlimited pass, Riddle indicates.

VEGAS HISTORY

And now a little history: Las Vegas’ name means “the meadows” in Spanish, “because of the extensive green areas and artisan wells that were found throughout the area in 1829,” Riddle says. “Nevada became a state in 1864, but it was not until 1905 that Las Vegas was

established by the railroads.

“Hoover Dam, a great tourist attraction only 33 miles from Las Vegas, began construction in 1931 and the city’s population grew from 5,000 to 25,000 because of the many jobs the dam brought to the area.”

Since the demographic was mainly men working on the dam, local businesses started casinos and “showgirl” theaters to entertain workers; thus, the birth of Las Vegas’ celebrated entertainment district.

Don’t forget that you will be in the (continued)

American Drycleaner, May 2017

“The Park” has a 40-foot-tall Bliss Dance sculpture, a nod to feminine energy. (Image licensed by Las Vegas News Bureau)

High-angle view of a casino sign at night in Las Vegas, which is hosting Clean ’17. (Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

middle of the desert during your stay.

“High temperatures and scorching sunshine are the Las Vegas norm in June. Be sure to bring good, comfortable walking shoes and light clothing (both business and casual). Vegas is no place for high heels, especially on the trade show floor where you will do lots of walking at the Convention Center,” Riddle notes. Walking one city block might be one-half mile.

Bottled water is valuable during the long, hot days to stay hydrated. Avoid overpaying for water at the hotel by going to a convenience or grocery store.

And for the smoke-sensitive: If you are sensitive to cigarette smoke, be cautious about standing or walking through the casinos. Although many restaurants do not

allow smoking on the premises, smoking in casinos is allowed.

So much going on — besides all the booth action of Clean ’17, just waiting for you — absorb all you can. Take advantage of the very best of your great drycleaning industry. Have fun! Be safe! Viva! ADC

Drycleaner,

Vintage Vegas locales, like Sam Boyd’s California Hotel & Casino, rekindle the rambunctious days. (Image licensed by Las Vegas News Bureau)

Take Marketing to the Max

Why it isn’t a waste of time and money

Personal experience has shown that owners and manag ers have very distinct beliefs relative to the benefits of sales and marketing. Operators tend to fall into five general categories of thinking on this subject, as follows:

• Marketing is a waste of time and money.

• Marketing would be good, but it is not affordable.

• Marketing may sound good, but it isn’t effective.

• Discounts eat up potential profit from the increased traffic.

• Marketing is my lifeline to improved sales and profit.

Which category do you fit? What are your reasons for aligning with that group?

In financial and budgeting discussions, more hurdles and resistance are raised by operators on the allocations for sales and marketing than on any other single line items. Their beliefs and experience are extremely varied from “Won’t spend money on that” to the opposite end of the spectrum that “Marketing is the most valuable expenditure that we make.”

The spectrum is skewed toward minimal expenditure of time, effort, money and resources of any kind.

It is the most daunting hurdle to profitability discussions, at least partially because sales and marketing have so many aspects and influences, which also makes tracking all of the impacts of an effort relatively challenging. So, let’s exam ine these perspectives individually.

WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY

“Everybody knows us and what we do.”

This myth is repeatedly shattered in every market we’ve tested. Whether in surveys (any media) or consumer focus groups, tallied feedback has shown awareness ratings as far below the owner’s expectations.

“We’ve been in this market forever – they can’t miss us.”

When a new store opened in Houston, the company ran a major campaign to attract patrons. They repeatedly heard, “We are so happy you are finally in our neighborhood.”

The reality is that they moved from a strip center on one side of the street to a freestanding building directly oppo site on the same block on the same street. (They had been in the neighborhood for 15 years!)

“We rely on our current customers to spread the word to all their friends.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American moves every five years. Of course, that doesn’t mean it is specifically your customers, but the average does provide an indication of mobility. In addition to the mov ers, many of your customers change life cycles that make them more or less inclined to use your services.

Often, customers are reluctant to make a recommenda tion, as well. Although, word of mouth is the best adver tising, it is not reliable enough to be the main source of marketing.

“I’m running a business. I just don’t have time to spend on marketing.”

From a survey of the Constant Contact Small Biz Council, a research panel of U.S. small businesses and nonprofits, “A small-business owner — along with another employee — will spend an average of 20 hours per week on marketing, according to the survey.”

Diana Vollmer

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

Over the last 70 years, leading commercial laundries and dry cleaners have happily invested a comparatively small amount to reap the rewards of improved productivity and increased pro tability. They know that White Conveyors and its subsidiary, Speed Check Conveyor, with over 100,000 units in operation, deliver the following payout:

Competitive pricing Relentless long lasting performance Fast return on investment Minimal maintenance

Durable construction, made in the USA Responsive service and support

White Conveyors o ers a full line of advanced garment and linen material handling solutions which include manual to fully automated sorting, transport, and storage/retrieval systems serving the dry cleaning, industrial laundry, hotel/resort, hospital, and retail markets. Speed Check Conveyor designs and manufactures wide-ranging innovative products including sorting, storing and transporting systems addressing the speci c needs of the commercial laundry business.

So don’t gamble with your bottom line. Call on the industry leaders to hit the productivity and pro tability jackpot every time.

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Twenty hours a week is substantial, but can be reduced significantly if a solid plan is in place and the implementa tion is delegated or outsourced.

NOT AFFORDABLE

“The last proposal was for too much $$$$$ — way more than it would benefit me.”

Perhaps it was just the wrong proposal. When contem plating a marketing plan expenditure, consider at least three proposals and expected measurable results before making a decision on any of them. Targeted marketing, grounded on solid research, can be very inexpensive compared to the results.

“Social marketing needs an expensive expert that I can’t afford.”

See above. Many are independent contractors with expe rience that will allow you to affordably target your custom ers and prospects for maximum impact.

“TV/radio/broadcast is just out of reach for my small business.”

If you haven’t had multiple broadcast media proposals recently, it is time to reconsider. The rates have dropped precipitously in most markets, especially since the end of the most recent election cycle.

Broadcast is struggling to compete with electronic media for the marketing efforts, so they have had to be creative and generate more affordable targeted advertising than ever. You may be pleasantly surprised.

EFFECTIVENESS

“We spent a fortune and didn’t get the return on invest ment.”

That is highly possible, which is why it is so important to design targeted integrated plans with meaningful cam paigns that customers and prospects appreciate.

“Just got bottom-feeders – no real customers.”

Bottom-feeders arrive when something is given away and, when you no longer provide your service that low, they go to your next desperate competitor. Stop giving your service away. True customers appreciate what you provide at a fair price — they just need to know about it.

“Got lots of traffic initially, but they didn’t return.”

See comment above.

DISCOUNTS

The industry tends to use discounting as the primary form of advertising.

Loyal customers know better than we do: it isn’t all

about the discounted price. It’s about the per ceived value package of reliability; desired quality; friendly, prompt professional service; convenience; and fair price.

Learn from your customers to be more creative.

LIFELINE TO SALES AND PROFIT

Virtually 100% of the companies I know that are in creasing sales and profits have a dynamic aggressive inte grated sales and marketing outreach plan.

Their increased profits are due to higher profit-conver sion factor: profit of the last incremental sales over the base sales dollars required to meet first fixed and then variable expenses.

Each incremental dollar of sales is more profitable than the last until it requires additional capital investment to sus tain the sales growth.

There is a relationship between business market share and return on investment (ROI), which explains why a sin gle-location operation can be more profitable than multiple outlets if the expenses are not in line.

Another aspect of the ROI lifeline that is more difficult to measure but has definite value is the impact your sales and marketing effort has on the community, regardless of actual purchases related to a given campaign or effort.

Your marketing reaches business partners, employees, and your stakeholders of all categories.

It makes employees easier to recruit and retain, shows sustainability to your bankers/investors, and can get you valuable attention from the media to provide free exposure that you don’t have to pay for.

You can capitalize on free coverage, too, by making you and your company newsworthy to leverage your sales and marketing investment to the max. ADC

Diana Vollmer is a managing director for Methods for Man agement, which has served dry cleaners and launderers with affordable management expertise and improved profitability since 1953. For assistance planning your sales and market ing efforts for maximum impact, e-mail dvollmer@mfmi.com or call 415-577-6544.

Your marketing reaches business partners, employees, and your stakeholders of all categories.

Inner Cleaning

It is not easy being a drycleaning employee.

The work is repetitive. The pay is not great. In the summer, it’s stifling hot.

You are “tied” to a machine or a counter. Your move ment is minimal for eight hours. The noise level can be daunting. And the smell does not imitate the great out doors.

As an owner or operator, when you hire someone, you negotiate a salary and other terms, and the prospect ac cepts. So you say to yourself that you’ve provided a job. Now it is up to the new hire to do their job, to become a contributing member of the team.

But perhaps that’s not sufficient. Perhaps you have to provide motiva tion beyond the salary.

One method is to become a task master. You continually push the person to work faster, focus on tasks.

Another method is to call every body a family member. You repeat the mantra, “We get the job done because we don’t want other coworkers to be in the lurch. We are part of a team.”

Still another approach is to preach the gospel of work. The gospel of work — what is that?

It is that work is its own reward. That doing your job, day after day, makes you a kind of hero. That pushing through the workload is an honorable way to spend one’s time. There is a satisfaction to be realized in doing a good day’s work.

I can hear you saying, “Yeah, right. My people do it for the money, period. That is the only reason they come in every day. They do it because they need to pay their bills.”

In fact, research has shown that work, even at low lev els, provides meaning to life. Interacting with a group of people on a regular basis provides stability. Maintaining regular hours creates a schedule.

Completing tasks is inherently satisfying. Being chal lenged regularly is good for the brain. Making even small decisions keeps one stimulated.

Finishing one’s work provides the permission to enjoy the non-work time. Earning a living sustains one’s ego.

job

Start this proselytizing at the hiring point.

Say: “You’re going to be our new presser. Sure, we can’t pay you a lot. But you’re doing important work, work that if done shoddily would ruin us.

“So my advice is to get into the work, make it an exten sion of yourself. Let the job seep into your bloodstream. Develop a routine, but be flexible.

“Concentrate on every garment, in that each piece must be perfect. Sure, mistakes will occur. Don’t let them over whelm you. When you leave your workstation to go home, you know that you’ve done a good day’s work.”

To the part-time counter staffer, say: “I know it’s a part-time job for you, and you’re just doing it for spending money. But work is good for everyone.

“To complete a shift and to satisfy 99.8% of the people, to interact well with the staff, is an accomplishment. You can go home proud. Take pride in the work itself.”

WORTH OF WORK

What you are saying to these people is that developing an inner “worth of work” in itself is important.

Approach the route delivery person, and advocate the gospel of work.

Say: “Sam, you’re doing a fine job keeping customers happy and bringing in new accounts. I really like those three accounts on Thatcher Street you won over.

“I know that you don’t have it easy out there. I hope you take satisfaction in the work and in doing the little things that keep customers happy, such as follow-through to track orders processed; new-prospect pitches, which aren’t easy; constant driving all over town; and dealing with all sorts of people and adjusting your personality to meet theirs.

“Develop an inner pride in your work because you are out there doing the best job you can. Day after day. You’re the key. We appreciate what you are doing.”

Say to your drop-store manager: “Lois, this is a hard job. But you do it with calmness and dignity. I hope you appreciate the effort you put forth. I hope you appreciate that the work you do is its own reward.

“Sure, it is easy for me to say this, but you must realize that if you didn’t have work, you would lose so much satisfaction. You wouldn’t have your daily

Howard Scott

The ‘gospel of work’ can help employees find contentment in their

victories. You would lose that selfconfidence that you’ve built up for doing a good job.”

Occasionally, have company meet ings. After talking about the purpose of the meeting, say something like: “You know, I appreciate each and every one of you. But it’s up to you to derive satisfac tion from the work itself. So walk with pride every day you leave here because you’re a hero to yourself.”

Put up several signs in the plant that read: “Be a hero to yourself.” When you talk to the staffer, point to the area sign, reminding the person that they are a hero in your estimation, too.

Regularly stop at each staffer’s workstation. After thanking them for doing a good day’s work, say some thing about taking pleasure in the work itself. Say some thing like: “I hope you are deriving satisfaction in the

work itself. It is important to take pride.”

Some might call your advocating selfserving. Acknowledge that the more your staffers concentrate on the work, the more you profit. Address that concern.

When the company does well, be gen erous. Provide raises. Give profit bonus es. Be charitable during holidays. When staffers come through on a particularly difficult day, go around to each, handing out $20 bills. Be a proselytizer of the gospel of work, and you will in crease your staff’s productivity. Even more important, you will make them more contented employees. ADC

Howard Scott is a longtime industry writer and dry cleaning consultant. He welcomes questions and com ments, and can be reached by writing him at Dancing Hill, Pembroke, MA 02359, by calling 781-293-9027, or via e-mail at dancinghill@gmail.com.

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

Charlie Jones

We’ll be talking to a different person from the fabricare industry each time, so you can meet

someone new and connect with a new friend.

Get to know ... Charlie Jones,

owner, 24/7 Dry Cleaners.

Tell us where you were born, grew up, and reside today.

“I was born in Pensacola, Fla. My parents relocated to Texas shortly after I was born. So I’ve spent roughly 52 of my 53 years in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I live in McKinney, Texas, with my wife Amy and my two young daughters, Caroline and Catherine.”

Hobbies (that you’ll admit to)?

“I enjoy outdoor grilling and smoking meats. I’m a purist when it comes to grilling so that means hardwood charcoal (no gas grills) on a pair of Big Green Eggs (domed cooker for grilling). After a six-day workweek, nothing for me is as relaxing and satisfying as cooking prime steaks and then sitting down with my family to enjoy a good meal, good wine, and especially quality time with them. It’s a time that each of us looks forward to.”

What gets you excited at work?

“After 23 years as an owner/operator in this business, I’ve experienced the highs and lows that come

Charlie Jones at the front counter of his 24/7 drycleaning store.

Owner, 24/7

Dry Cleaners

with working for yourself. It can be easy to fall into a rut in this business and do things the way you’ve always done them, but recently I’ve become energized over our introduction of a 24-hour concept using lockers.”

Lastly, tell us a secret (keep it clean) nobody knows about you.

“I’ve spent all of my life dealing with dyslexia. As if this business and life wasn’t hard enough already. Tasks that are so necessary and important for dry cleaners like reading and understanding equipment manuals can be especially challenging for me. On the flip side, I feel that it has caused me to hone my speaking skills and has strengthened my ability to interact with my customers and employees.”

ADC

(Readers: Do you want to take part, or know someone who does? E-mail Editor Tim Burke, tburke@atmags.com.)

The Power of Hydrogen pH:

According to the website Chemistry.about.com, pH is a logarithmic measure of the hydrogen ion concentration of an aqueous solution.

Simply put: pH describes how acidic or basic an aqueous solution is.

A pH of 7 is considered neutral (e.g., pure water), the website notes. A pH below 7 is acidic and a pH greater than 7 is basic.

Typically, values of pH range from 0 to 14, although very strong acids may have a negative pH, while very strong bases may have a pH exceeding 14, it further states.

The term “pH” was first described by Danish biochemist Søren Peter Lauritz Sørensen in 1909. It is an abbreviation for “power of hydrogen” where “p” is short for potenz, the German word for power, and H is the element symbol for hydrogen.

“Why are pH measurements important?” you ask.

Chemicals’ reactions in water are affected by the acidity or alkalinity of the solution. This is important not only in the chemistry lab, but in industry, cooking, and medicine, the site notes.

We hear the term used quite a bit in dry cleaning, particularly in relation to spotting advice.

ADC

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

Know Your Stain

Location, feel, color change all tell the tale of the type

There are times when stains are easy to identify. However, the appearance of a stain can be altered by time, temperature, and even the color of the garment.

Let’s use blood as an example.

Fresh blood will have a good red tint, older blood will gradually change to a brown (like chocolate), and eventually the blood will appear as a virtually black stain.

Stains can be identified by using location, occupation, texture, odor, or the intensity of the color.

In real estate, the cry is always location, location, location. Many times, the same is true with garment stains. Location can go a long way in helping to identify the origin and nature of the stain.

To remove the stain, you should know its composition. The location of the stain on the garment is a factor in actual stain removal in only a limited number of circumstances.

When the stain covers any form of decorative trim, or is near decorative trim, the first priority is to do no harm to the trim. This will involve reducing mechanical action or not using paint, oil and grease remover (POG) near it.

Mechanical action can be controlled by using the bone scraper, slowly and with a minimum of pressure.

It is an advantage to keep a worn-out toothbrush near the board. The softened bristles will penetrate seams where the stiff bristles of a standard brush will not, and without the need for even the minimum risk involved with tamping.

When you are aware of a customer’s occupation, it can serve as a reliable guide for identifying some stains. That charcoal shadow on the secretary’s blouse or blazer sleeve may well be from the ink of an office copier/printer. A salesman that travels is subject to picking up the grease from his car door’s latching mechanism.

Getting to know your regular customers is a great way to enhance customer retention, but can also act as a guide in stain identification.

Steam can be a great aid in locating and identifying stains. It is easy to overlook a stain resulting from spilling

a clear beverage. Given time and/or heat, any sugar in that “invisible” stain will turn brown. This is a caramelized sugar stain.

If you suspect, or are told by the customer, that a clear liquid has been spilled on a garment, you should lightly spray the garment over the solid portion of the board from at least 9 inches away.

The outline of any clear beverage stain will quickly appear and allow simple removal with neutral synthetic detergent or a good tannin formula.

The wet-side protocol is to first flush the area with steam. There are times when this rehydration (replacing the moisture in the stain) will give an indication of the stain’s content. You may detect the odor that the now-moist stain gives off.

I once met a spotter from the Florida Panhandle who claimed he could identify the specific brand of bourbon, simply by flushing the stain with steam. Whether it is the sweet smell of perfume, or the harsh smell of a cleaning agent, you are a step ahead when you know exactly what the stain contains.

The feel of the stain can tell you a great deal. A hard, stiff stain that bends about 45 degrees

Martin Young

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

without cracking is a strong indication that you are dealing with a stain similar to lacquer, glue, or nail polish.

A hard, stiff stain that cracks quickly when bent, and is virtually flush with the surface of the garment, is a strong indication you are dealing with a heavy syrup or hard candy. A stain that is soft and sticky to the touch may well be an indication of a beverage or candy stain.

It is important to recognize if the stain has penetrated the fabric. Most stains that contain water will penetrate deep into the fiber. Most stains that contain little or no water will remain close to the surface.

By looking at the backside of the stain, you will be able to determine if the stain has penetrated deep into the fabric. This is a strong indication of its origin and content.

The most obvious indicator is the stain’s appearance. A tan/brown stain with a distinctive outline could be either beverage or caramelized sugar. If the edge is darker than the rest of the stain, it is more likely to be beverage than it is caramelized sugar.

However, if that same color of stain has an irregular outline and the edge is characterized by what appears to be crosses extending out from the edge, there is a good chance that you are dealing with a tough oxidized-oil stain.

A yellow, crusty stain could be any of a wide variety of things. If the surface crust disappears when the area is

flushed with steam, it may well be mustard. If the remain ing tan stain turns to pink when tannin formula is applied, you are almost certain to be dealing with mustard.

That same stain residue will turn to a faint blue color if you attempt spot-bleaching with sodium perborate to re move the last traces of the stain.

Heads Up: Two chemical tools common to the dry cleaning industry have shown up on a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) list. One is tetrachloroethylene (perc) and the second is trichloroethylene.

In the case of perc, our industry leaders have fought a good fight over the last 20 years and bought us added time to adjust our perspective and to move to alternative technologies. Trichloroethylene has long been the primary chemical in volatile dry solvents (VDS). While it is a fine spotting tool, it is now under close scrutiny, and its time to be used in stain removal may be coming to an end. The fact it made the list is a hint of a worker exposure problem that has now been identified. Start now to explore alterna tives, if you are still using VDS. ADC

Martin L. Young Jr. has been an industry consultant and trainer for 20 years, and a member of various stakeholder groups on environmental issues. He grew up in his parents’ plant in Concord, N.C., Young Cleaners, which he operates today. Phone: 704-786-3011, e-mail: mayoung@ctc.net.

Overtime Ripples

By Robin Frank

Owning and operating a successful drycleaning business requires you to follow a myriad of employment laws. Failing to comply with these laws can result in an expensive lesson.

The federal overtime law applies whether you have one small store, a chain or a plant. Moreover, employees cannot waive their right to overtime. Even if an employee agrees in writing that he or she will not be paid overtime, that person can still sue.

This is why employees sue employers for unpaid overtime or mini-

mum wage violations more often than for any other reason.

Many drycleaning business owners and operators wrongly assume that if an employee works overtime without advance approval, in violation of a written policy, they do not have to pay for that overtime.

However, if the

You need to know about employment law — myths, realities, and their ramifications

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

employer knows or has reason to know that the employee will be work ing an extra shift or worked later than scheduled, the employer is liable and must pay for that overtime. That in dividual can, however, discipline the employee for violating the policy.

Many employers also do not main tain accurate time records.

In the overtime context, it is the employer’s obligation to keep and maintain accurate time records. A

work schedule posted at the employ ee entrance to the store or plant does not constitute an accurate time record.

If an employee sues for overtime and the company does not have ac curate time records, the law allows the employee to estimate the number of hours worked. This could be as simple as the employee stating that he or she worked an average of “X” number of hours per week.

Moreover, if an employee recovers

even one penny in unpaid overtime, the employer more than likely will be required to pay double that amount as a penalty.

The overtime law also requires the employer to pay the employee’s rea sonable attorney’s fees if the employ ee wins. If the employer wins, that individual is still responsible for his or her attorney’s fees in most cases.

The federal overtime law is an extremely unforgiving law for em ployers and is almost entirely skewed in favor of the employee.

It does not recognize that dry cleaners operate at the convenience of their customers, and that plants oper ate overnight to have cleaned clothes in their stores and on delivery trucks early the next morning.

For example, if an employee in your plant or store is an illegal im migrant, and therefore has no right to work in this country, that person can still sue you for unpaid overtime and you are required to pay him or her for that overtime.

You, as the employer, may also be subject to penalties for hiring an il legal worker. And you may be liable for unlawful retaliation if you report this employee to the immigration authorities.

Moreover, regardless of whether they are owners or managers, those who have the authority to hire, fire, and set pay rates and/or work sched ules can be held liable for unpaid overtime and minimum wages, re gardless of whether the company is an LLC, S corporation, or some other legal entity.

This means that the owner of the drycleaning store can be individually named in a lawsuit and personal as sets can be on the line if a judgment is entered in favor of the employee.

Additionally, successor companies are often substituted after the fact. So, shuttering the store or bankrupting the plant is not an effective way to avoid liability.

Drycleaning store owners and man agers get themselves in trouble when they try to avoid paying overtime by classifying employees in a way that would make them exempt from the overtime laws.

There’s no guarantee that the law will see them as such. Paying an em ployee a salary or giving that person the title of weekend or third-shift manager does not mean the worker is not entitled to overtime.

Being paid a salary simply changes how you calculate the overtime rate.

Likewise, only certain types of jobs are exempt from the overtime re quirements. While an employee must be paid a certain salary in order to be exempt, the exemptions focus on the employee’s day-to-day duties and re sponsibilities, and not the job title.

For example, a presser is not a supervisor if he or she only presses clothes.

The same goes for paying employ ees on a piece rate or by commission. The fact that an employer pays a spotter based on performance or, for example, the cost of alterations com pleted has nothing to do with whether that employee is entitled to be paid overtime.

If that employee works more than 40 hours in one workweek, then that employee must be paid overtime. How you pay the employee – salary, hourly, piece rate, and so on – simply dictates how you calculate the over time compensation and whether the employee must be paid overtime at a time-and-one-half rate or half-time.

Finally, a big issue for those dry cleaning operators who provide pick up and delivery services is whether to pay for travel time, lunch breaks, and when the workday starts and ends.

For example, if you pay your de livery drivers to come to the store or plant in the morning and check out a company vehicle before going to the first customer site, then the workday, for purposes of calculating the total

hours worked, begins when that per son leaves the store or plant and ends when the employee returns.

It doesn’t matter when a driver finishes making deliveries or if traffic delays that person’s return to the store or plant. You must pay the individual.

If the employee does any work while at the store or plant before leav ing, such as loading clothes into a van and or filing a report, then the work

Moreover, workers must be paid for travel time between deliveries to homes and businesses.

Lastly, any breaks that last less than 20 minutes must be paid. Lunch breaks that last for more than 20 min utes do not have to be paid, as long as the employee is not doing any work during that break.

Drycleaning owners should not au tomatically deduct for lunch or other

Many times, employees sue, claim ing that they had so many deliveries that they ate while on the go; others had so many clothes to clean and press, they skipped the meal. There fore, the time that was automatically deducted should have been paid and included in that employee’s total hours worked for that week.

So just how exposed is his or her drycleaning business to claims?

Employers can be sued because they automatically docked lunch hours. Others get sued for unpaid overtime because they didn’t keep time records; they just had a schedule, and the employees alleged that they worked more hours than expected.

On the other hand, some allege that employees worked less than sched uled because business was slow.

And, some sued for unpaid over time based on nothing more than the unpaid travel time.

The difference in the results of all of these cases ended up depending

upon records maintained and compli ance with the overtime laws.

Employers often claim the employ ees are lying, saying that the employ ees did not work any overtime, let alone the amount of overtime hours they claimed to have worked, and feel as though the employees’ lawsuits were akin to legal blackmail.

Despite protestations, these law suits cost employers money to defend and prove either that they didn’t do anything wrong or the need to settle.

When these business owners had no records or consulted any employ ment law attorney to ensure their pay practices were accurate, it cost significantly more money to resolve these lawsuits.

Whether an employee is exempt from the overtime laws is a compli cated analysis that should be handled by an experienced employment law attorney, particularly because exemp tions from the overtime laws are con strued narrowly against the employer

and in favor of the employee.

As such, the best thing you can do is to maintain accurate time-and-pay records and, of course, consult with a labor and employment law attorney to ensure that your pay practices are in compliance with federal and state wage and hour laws. ADC

Information in this article is provided for educational and reference purposes only. It is not intended to provide spe cific advice or individual recommenda tions. Consult an attorney for advice regarding your particular situation.

Robin I. Frank (rfrank@sbwh.law) is a partner with Shapiro, Blasi, Wasser man & Hermann, P.A., an independent full-service litigation and transactional law firm in South Florida. She focuses on labor and employment law and has extensive experience prosecuting and defending against nationwide “collec tive action” claims for unpaid overtime or minimum wages.

American Drycleaner, May 2017

H urst Boiler celebrates 50 years in business

Established in 1967, Hurst Boiler & Welding Co. Inc. celebrates 50 years of international boiler and controls manufacturing, the company reports.

“In 1967, my parents, Gene and Edna Hurst, founded Hurst Boiler and Welding Co. Inc. upon the core values of integrity, achievement, investment and balance,” says Tommy Hurst, president, Hurst Boiler and Welding Co. Inc.

“Fifty years later, their founding principles have en sured steady growth and success that has seen us through both good times and economic downturns to become the strong, still-family-owned corporation that we are today,” says Hurst.

The company manufactures, designs, engineers and services gas-, oil-, coal-, solid waste-, wood-, biomass-

and hybrid fuel-fired steam and hot water boilers.

“We remain committed to helping our customers, em ployees, vendors and associates accomplish their goals, and we’d like to thank everyone for their dedicated sup port during the past 50 years,” Hurst states.

“We promise to continue providing value to our part ners every day and working with integrity in everything we do.”

Hurst Boiler began as a small repair company of in dustrial boilers and equipment.

Today, Hurst Boiler and Welding Co. has expanded to more than 250 employees and 130 privately owned representative organizations worldwide, the company indicates.

“By remaining true to the founding values and person al integrity of Gene Hurst, we have been able to deliver the highest-quality people, products and processes to our customers and position ourselves for continued growth,” adds Hurst.

(continued)

S tarchup teams with Compassmax, Fabricare

Starchup, a digital solutions company for garment care, has integrated with the Compassmax POS and Fabricare Manager POS to add web- and mobile-app ordering, marketing, and routing technology to their in-store point of sales systems, Starchup reports.

“Cleaners that use Compassmax or Fabricare Manager can now get all of the benefits of the Starchup platform without disrupting in-store operations,” says Starchup CEO Nick Chapleau.

“Customers can use the cleaner’s app to place orders. Drivers can use the driver app to run routes. Store em ployees can continue to use the same POS to detail and process orders,” he points out.

Cleaners can then use Starchup’s optimized routing

solution or simply add orders to their existing routes, Starchup writes. Drivers can use the Starchup driver app and turn-by-turn directions as a digital manifest to man age the route while automated e-mail and text messaging engages customers.

Maineline (Compassmax) and Fabricare Systems are experts in payments, and store and plant operations, Starchup adds, while its own expertise is in using web and mobile technology to make delivery more profitable.

“Starchup’s marketing and routing solutions have been an excellent addition to our products and services,” says Maineline President Joe McCammon.

“Starchup has been a great partner to work with and we look forward to bringing even more innovation to our customers in the future,” adds Fabricare Systems Presi dent Marcelo Rangel.

“It only makes sense to work together to provide cleaners a better product,” Chapleau says.

In memoriam: Lawrence Goldman, United Wire Hanger Industries

Lawrence “Larry” Goldman, 84, Wyckoff, N.J., died peacefully April 3 at Villa Marie Claire Hospice, Saddle River, N.J., after a long battle due to complications from a stroke.

Goldman graduated from New York University, Stern School of Business. Described as a tenacious self-starter with strong business acumen, he, with his brothers, cre ated and developed United Wire Hanger Industries, a sup plier of plastic hangers, wire hangers and paper products.

“He served as CEO and president for 50 years, em ploying 250 people who began the journey with him, many who are still there today,” his published obituary notes.

Philanthropy was close to his heart as he dedicated support to many civic and charitable organizations, be they in New Jersey, New York, or Israel.

Goldman loved traveling, fine dining and sports. He could often be found on the golf course and card room at Preakness Hills Country Club in Wayne, N.J., where he

was a longtime member.

Survived him are his wife of 61 years, Cynthia; three children, Peter, Michael and Nancy; and five grand children.

Funeral services were conducted April 5 at Robert Schoem’s Meno rah Chapel, Paramus, N.J.

Donations in Goldman’s memory can be made to JDRF.

Union launches newly updated website

Union Drycleaning Products USA recently launched a newly updated website, the company reports.

Steve Henley, who handles advertising and part sales for Union, describes it as a “new, cleaner look and feel to the website.”

Visitors going to the home page are met with large, color photos of drycleaning machines; rotating links to various departments; and a brief sentence of introduction that describes the company.

At the bottom of the page, in a section

Larry Goldman

titled “What Our Clients Are Saying,” visitors will view customer reviews like this one: “I was motivated to buy Union because of their experience with GreenEarth sol vent. I bought two HP 850 machines in 2001 and I’m thrilled with the productivity and ease of use,” writes John Patterson, Trussville, Ala.

Henley adds that there is “more information about our machines, brochures and technical specifications readily available for all of our machines.”

As another example, under the “Sales” tab at the top, visitors can choose from several brochures in a menu. For example, this is a description from one of the “Alter native Solvent Machines” listed:

“The Brain! It’s Indispensable! Union unleashes ‘The Brain! Dialog Plus™’ — the latest advancement in computerized operation technology for dry cleaning. It is standard on every HP and HL 800 Series System.”

There are also ways to request additional information that a customer needs, Union notes.

Lapels to open six stores in greater Houston

Lapels Dry Cleaning reports it has entered into a sixstore (one plant and five satellite stores) development agreement with Katy, Texas, resident Komal Patel.

“I am extremely excited about opening our plant in Katy in 2017 as it will represent the first Lapels Dry Cleaning location in the greater Houston area,” says Patel. Katy is a community of 14,000 located west of Houston.

“Lapels, with its green initiative, truly represents the future of dry cleaning. Having been a resident of greater Houston for nearly two decades and Katy for nearly five years, I know how environmentally conscious people are in this area,” says Patel.

The first drycleaning plant and store are slated to open soon. “I think the response from people in the greater Katy area will be tremendous,” Patel says.

Hanover, Mass.-based Lapels has pioneered its eco-friendly dry cleaning experience over the past dozen years. It has a partnership agreement with GreenEarth ® , a non-toxic cleaning alternative, for its newer locations.

By using the latest technol ogy and equipment, Lapels says it is one of the few dry cleaners able to boast that there is no hazardous waste in its process.

“As a mother of two elementary school-age children, I know and appreciate businesses that go the extra mile to be sensitive to the environment, particularly businesses that are active in the community,” says Patel.

She has secured two locations: one to open a dryclean ing plant in Katy and another for a satellite store in Rich mond, Lapels says.

The development deal calls for four additional satellite stores to be opened in Sugar Land, Richmond and Cy press, Texas, within the next five years.

“I envision our Lapels Dry Cleaning stores to be active participants in the local community and business com munity,” Patel says.

Komal Patel

Pearls

By Tim Burke, Editor (Image

We learned in our last Yarns Spun Here special (April issue) that the term “carding” in textiles describes the first mechanical process used on fibers such as wool.

Now we turn our attention to a new term: “combing.”

Before you start having visions of beachcombing, and discovering lost pirate ship wreckage and doubloons, and you prepare for a walk on the beach to search for treasure, or fancy seashells (or pearls washed up from the sea), we want to alert you that this isn’t that kind of combing.

Combing, in textiles, is done on yarns that have been carded to separate long fibers from short. The short ones (“noils”) are removed, and the long ones are pulled parallel to one another.

Again, we turn to Norman Oehlke in his Complete Spotting Guide & More published by American Drycleaner: “These long, parallel yarns are more uniform in strength and have a smooth appearance — they are ‘worsted.’

“They also have a hard finish and are used to make gabardine fabrics. Because of their smooth finish, they are prone to showing shine in wear but do hold a crease well.”

Shiver me timbers (or me fine threads), you mean to tell

me there isn’t any chest full of pearls?!

No. But now that you’ve been sufficiently combed, ol’ salt, let’s define other terms in textiles that you hear.

“Fibers” are made of fine strands, either natural or man-made. They make up the smallest and most basic component of fabric. And “filament yarn” is long fibers. Most synthetic fibers are produced as a long, continuous filament, notes the Complete Spotting Guide

“Filler yarn” is individual yarn in a woven fabric that, writes Oehlke, “interlaces with warp yarn at right angles. Filler yarns lie in the horizontal direction of a woven fabric.”

What is warp yarn, you ask? We will answer in “pirate speak” (say the following out loud in your best pirate voice):

“Why, it be the individual yarn that runs lengthwise, or in the vertical direction of the fabric, me hardy!”

Lastly, but certainly not least, “staple yarn” is short fibers, 1 to 3 inches in length.

Right now, I’ll bet you wish we were talking about beachcombing for pearls or seashells, and not yarns!

Alas, such is the life of a sailor! (Or a tailor!)

Next time, we’ll “walk the plank” on another textiles topic in Yarns Spun Here. Ahoy, matey! ADC

CleanCloud/Tailor

licensed by Ingram Publishing)

Our plant is 10,000 square feet and is located on 1.9 acres. There is room for further commercial development. Under current ownership since Feb. 1980. We have an A+ rating with the B.B.B. The plant is far from capacity. Located in Byhalia, MS. We are 15 miles from Memphis. The cost of living in this area is low compared to other parts of the country.

GARY DEPRIEST 662-838-2211 or 901-604-3693

REWEAVING SERVICES

WITHOUT-A-TRACE WEAVERS—More than 50 years’ experience. We are the experts in silks, knits, French weaving and piece weaving. Reasonable prices. Send garments for estimate to: 3344 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago, IL 60659; 800-475-4922; www.withoutatrace.com.

Good Grief, Charlie Brown!

10 YEARS AGO. Maytag Corp. has picked a new repairman after a two-month, nationwide talent search. Richmond, Va., native Clay Jackson, will play “Ol’ Lonely” as part of new parent company Whirlpool Corp.’s revitalization of the 100-year-old brand. More than 1,500 people auditioned for the part, including professional actors, real-life repairmen, salesmen and stockbrokers. Jackson says he attended an open casting call in New York “on a whim” and tried to bring “something humorous and unexpected” to the character. … While more than half (51.6%) of readers responding to the most recent Wire survey report that the “business casual” trend has had a “major” impact on the industry, many say that it has actually added to sales volume. Asked what effect casual clothing has had on their operation’s sales volume in the last few years, 29% of respondents said that “Sales increased slowly.”

35 YEARS AGO. In California, at least, three out of four plants beat the rate of inflation in ’81—with sales increases averaging 12.8% against 9.5% inflation, according to a California Fabricare Institute survey. However, 7% reported sales decreases averaging 3.6%, and 18% of the plants reporting didn’t know whether sales were up or down. Total sales averaged $180,000 per plant. … The drapery cleaning industry had a good year in 1981, but not as good as the previous year. Many indicators were mixed, as shown by the results of the Drapery Processors Guild survey for the year. Although small-sized plants (under $75,000 volume) showed a volume increase of 36% in drapery cleaning, and plants doing more than $150,000 showed increases in volume averaging 18%, medium-sized plants showed a loss of about 7% in volume.

50 YEARS AGO. Good Grief, Charlie Brown! Good argument for searching pockets carefully: In Durant, Okla., a presser named Charlie Brown was pressing a policeman’s uniform. The pockets hadn’t been searched. He hit something in one of the pockets that turned out to be a small tear-gas bomb. The employees went running for

fresh air. In fact, everyone had to leave the building until the gas was fanned out. … “E” for Excellence. Good slogan for cleaners to post who offer their workers incentives to produce more: A big “E” that’s four lines deep, so that it forms the first letter for each of four words: (E)XTRA (E)FFORT...(E)XTRA (E)ARNINGS.

75 YEARS AGO. “If a customer brings in trousers with regular cuffs but worn on the bottom, may we repair them by shortening them and put cuffs back on, or may we put on French cuffs, or may we put on false hems in order to retain cuffs?” This question from a cleaner shows how complex the apparently simple order on cuffless trousers became. But a definite ruling was issued to eliminate 5,000 tailors in Chicago, at about the same time that the National Association of Dyers and Cleaners (NADC) received another ruling on the subject in Washington. And the two rulings were in agreement. As pointed out to NADC members in a special bulletin, the order “would naturally affect all trousers, whether new or worn, whether long enough in seam to make a cuff or not.” Thus cleaners cannot put cuffs back on worn trousers if it has been necessary to remove them during alterations. But if repairs or alterations are made without removing the cuffs, they can be left on the trousers. … Cleaners are included among the “local carriers” who have been ordered by the Director of Defense Transportation to eliminate special deliveries and call-backs. This part of the order becomes effective May 15. After June 1, local carriers using rubber tires are required to reduce their total mileage by at least 25% each month, compared with the same month in 1941. ADC

— Compiled by Tim Burke, Editor

To read more of American Drycleaner’s chronicling of the industry over the years, visit www. americandrycleaner.com.

May 1967

Better Value, Design, Packaging & Engineering

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