American Drycleaner - July 2017

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Big and ‘Buzzy’

Clean ’17 went for the “win” in Vegas in June — and got it! Strong attendance, high-energy, jampacked educational sessions, sold-out exhibit space in a happily crowded, double-sized exhibitor arena were just some of the highlights. Check out our firstlook from the show floor in photos and hear some drycleaning owners quoted about their experiences in Las Vegas at the vivaciously buzzworthy, live-wire, full-on fabricare rager called the Clean Show.

Tim Burke, Editor

10

For the Love of It

Family pride in drycleaning ownership is everywhere in the fabricare industry and no better exemplified by these three stories, told first-hand, of dry cleaners taking over for the generation before them. Responsibilities?—Sure! Surprises?—Yes! Satisfaction?— You better believe it. And their love of family, of the business, and their customers shines through!

Tim Burke, Editor

(Cover Photo: Tim Burke)

“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.”

Since 2003, CBS has given me consistent updates and easy to understand tech support, all at a price that our industry can afford. I would recommend CBS, and I have, to anyone who is still wasting their time and money on those over priced POS systems.

Clean ’17 Got Yer Buzz On

Fizz! Pop! Bang! Wow! — That loud firecracker sound you heard coming from the Nevada desert last month was the glorious hustle and bustle of the Clean Show, 2017 edition. I was there and, let me tell you, it was busy, buzzing, busting-out and allthat-and-a-bag-of-Las-Vegas-casino-chips! Umm, did I mention it rocked?!

The cover story and feature, Big and ‘Buzzy’: Clean ’17 for the ‘Win’ in Vegas, is a look at the positively received Clean Show, where north of 12,500 attended. Our fabricare industry came out to play, network, and bring ideas back home. Story starts on page 18! Our own post-show news: Don Feinstein now associate publisher! Congrats, Don! The story for this year’s Red, White and Blue (and You) special feature on page 6 is one of a family caring so greatly for their father/grandfather, WWII/Korean War veteran George A. Love, they were able to discover his long-lost U.S. Navy peacoat and get it lovingly restored by drycleaning operators Rhonda Wernick and husband Alan, at their Oakwood Cleaners in Nashville, Tenn. Wernick relays the family’s tale of Love’s military career, and how his family found his coat, how daughter Nancy used social media to see if anyone could restore it, and how Wernick met with Nancy and ultimately brought the coat back to glory for Love’s grandson Alex to proudly wear today.

Family pride and doing what’s right for our U.S. veterans is what this story, The Seabee, Two Wars, and a Navy Coat, exemplifies. I couldn’t be happier to share this wonderful family tale with everyone around the Fourth of July!

Also in this July issue, we look at how being “family-owned” is unique not only for customers, but for drycleaning owners, too. In For the Love of It, on page 10, hear three first-person stories of family ownership told from sea to shining sea — from the California coast, to upstate New York, to Texas — by owners who share with you some highly personal experiences of running their family-owned drycleaning businesses.

Packed in is Off the Cuff, Around the Industry, Wrinkle in Time and our three columnists, including a first-person, fast recap about Clean ’17’s ‘It’ Factor.

Have a great summer. Happy Fourth of July to all. Be safe, and have fun! 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 4. 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.

Publisher

Charles Thompson

312-361-1680 cthompson@ATMags.com

Associate Publisher/ National Sales Director

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

Editorial Director

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

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

Digital Media Director

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

Tim Burke

The Seabee, Two Wars, and a Navy Coat

Veteran George A. Love’s vintage coat found, restored for grandson

By Tim Burke, Editor

It’s right around the Fourth of July. Parades! Stirring marching band music! Fireworks! Barbecues! Reuniting with family and friends.

Summer is back and in full swing, both at your drycleaning operation and in your off time enjoying family and friends at home or vacationing.

Red, White and Blue (and You) is back again for 2017! It’s been a year since we first rolled it out and many of you told me last summer how much you enjoyed the patriotic-themed stories.

So here we are again, this time with the focus on one particular story told by a dry cleaner.

Rhonda Wernick, owner, with husband Alan, of Oakwood Cleaners, in Nashville, Tenn., shares this story from one of her customers named Nancy. It’s specifically about Nancy’s late father, a veteran of two wars, and his U.S. Navy peacoat.

(“Peacoat” is a nick-

name for the heavy-weather Pilot Coat, or P-Coat, dark blue in color, wool, often double-breasted, worn by U.S. Navy personnel.)

“Nancy brought in her father’s vintage U.S. Navy peacoat hoping that we could restore it for her son Alex to wear. It had definitely seen better days,” explains Wernick.

“Her father is George A. Love, who served in the Seabees in World

War II and in the Navy in the Korean War,” she says.

In WWII, Love was assigned to the Seabee Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit No. 623 as a machinist mate second class (MM2C). The unit was sent to Guiuan, Samar, in the Leyte Gulf (Philippines) to build an airstrip and infrastructure. They arrived on Dec. 23, 1944, on a Dutch cargo ship, the M.S. Sommelsdijk.

On Dec. 25, “Tokyo Rose,” a radio broadcaster of Japanese propaganda, promised the Navy boys a Christmas present.

Nancy’s son Alex (above right) proudly wears his grandfather’s U.S. Navy peacoat. The veteran’s coat was found in a closet and restored with loving care to be treasured.

(Photos courtesy of the George A. Love family)

On the morning of Dec. 26, a Japanese plane appeared and dropped two torpedoes. The plane then crashed into the sea when its wing tip caught the water. One torpedo hit the ship in Hold No. 1, starting a fire that quickly spread to Hold No. 2 where most of the men were staying, Wernick describes.

“Since the ship was in a bay, the ship was purposely run aground and the (continued)

George A. Love (above left), a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, is shown in his Navy uniform. Nancy, his daughter, a customer of Nashville, Tenn.-based Oakwood Cleaners, owned by Alan and Rhonda Wernick, shared the story of how her late father’s beloved vintage U.S. Navy peacoat was found, saved and restored.

men either swam to shore or were able to evacuate to another ship,” she continues.

“The unit was allowed to stay in the Church of the Immaculate Conception until a camp site could be built. Many were wounded but only six men lost their lives in this attack.

“George safely returned from this war and went back to high school where he met and married Nancy’s mother, Martha E. Cathey.”

Wernick relates from Nancy that her father was redrafted to the Korean War, which he later claimed was a “sightseeing tour” compared to WWII. When he re turned home, he and Nancy’s mother started a family, having three daughters.

“He never spoke of his service to our country,” Nancy told Wernick.

When Operation Desert Storm began in 1990, he and Nancy were watching events unfold on TV and he started talking about his service. Nancy became fascinated and wanted to hear all about it to preserve his story.

He told her his U.S. Navy peacoat had been passed down to his two sisters. Nancy’s sister, Cathey, searched

for and found the peacoat in a closet and gave it to Alex, the younger of Nancy’s two sons. Alex is a history buff and is especially interested in WWII.

But by then, the coat was beginning to show wear and tear. The lining was deteriorating, the buttons kept falling off, and it was dirty and musty.

Nancy wondered if it could be restored and posted the question on social media.

Oakwood Cleaners came highly recommended as being good at restoring vintage wedding gowns. Nancy gave them a call, met with Wernick and her seamstress, and is happy to say the peacoat looks brand new.

Wernick says Nancy told her that Alex is beyond proud to continue to wear his grandfather’s Navy peacoat in honor of not only him but of our U.S. military and the sacrifices made for our country. ADC

Ed. Note: If you have a patriotic story related to your dry cleaning business that you’d like to share, e-mail tburke@ atmags.com.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Get to Know.... Jan Barlow

We talk with a different person from fabricare each time, so you can meet someone new. Tell us where you were born, grew up, and reside today.

“I was born in a field while my parents were pheasant hunting in the Flint area. I grew up in a suburb of Flint. After attending both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, I moved to Clio (Michigan), where my business is.”

Hobbies (that you’ll admit to)?

“Kite flying, roller blading, bicycling, hiking, rock climbing, ziplining, sailing, parachuting, skiing

(snow, cross-country and water), snowshoeing, traveling, and being with family and friends. I have very active 88-year-old parents to travel and play with.”

What gets you excited at work?

“My employees’ happy faces and big checks in the mail. Also love getting cleaning and restoration projects from all 50 states.”

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

“My secret for staying fit is Nike Training System on my cell phone. Then I don’t have to think of what exercises to do every day.” ADC

OFF THE CUFF

Jan Barlow poses by her store’s van. (Photo: Jan Barlow)

Owner, Jan’s Professional Dry Cleaners, and Drycleaning & Laundry Institute past president

Feel

what you love and be grateful for what you have,” the second-generation fabricare professional proudly recommends.

Love of It For the

Three unique tales of family pride, told in their own words

By Tim Burke, Editor

Ayoung family man takes over the cleaning business in California. A second takes over the family business in upstate New York, having at first never envisioned being a drycleaner owner. A third proudly maintains the family name down in Texas. And all share one thing: the love of the business.

LOVING, GRATEFUL

“My son’s name is Dario. He was born Dec. 17, 2016,”

says proud papa Saro Semercian, owner of Harbour Cleaners, located on Bolsa Chica Road in Huntington Beach, Calif. The business is situated along a bright, wide boulevard, in a snappy-clean little shopping center, just about a mile from the coast, close enough to the Pacific Ocean to smell the sea when the breeze is just right.

“My parents used to both work at this location, and my father would help with the plant’s daily operations. We do everything from hems, let out and take

the Love! Saro Semercian, owner of Harbour Cleaners in Huntington Beach, Calif., stands at his front counter with his 7-month-old son Dario. “Do

(Photo: Harbour Cleaners)

in waists, and sleeves. We do not tailor shirts or jackets from scratch,” he relates.

“We have an Instagram account at our drycleaning business. We try to keep it fun and humorous and, of course, show off our spot-removing expertise.”

Semercian, who turned 41 back in May, says, “I have proudly owned Harbour Cleaners in beautiful Huntington Beach (HB) since 2004. It was originally established in 1973. My family and I moved to HB in 1984. I went to elementary, junior and high school all in HB. My father had an agency with a full tailoring department that he and my mother grew to support the family.”

He recalls never wanting to be a dry cleaner: “Hell would have to freeze over! But I’m ice skating as I’m telling you this,” Semercian quips.

College wasn’t for him, so he became an apprentice to a jeweler. That lasted three years.

“I started working for a dry cleaner near the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and started falling in love with the customer service aspect of the business and after four years I decided I wanted to open my own store.”

The location he now owns is two miles from the elementary school he attended: “Funny how things work out. I tried to never become a dry cleaner, and 16 years later, I love coming to work every day — well, almost!”

Semercian says he’s a self-taught spotter.

“I have gotten pointers from a close friend and men tor, Dan Pollock. I can repair most of the machines, out side of computer or electric, and I’m an above-average presser when needed. My first love will always remain customer service, and my second love is spot removal,” he confides.

“We are a small operation that focuses on quality work and the friendliest service in town. I have three employees. Also, my father, to this day, comes in to do our alterations.”

Asked to identify challenges that face him today at his dry cleaner, Semercian relates, “From past to present, dry cleaners are trying to compete with each other with price-cutting tactics. It bothers me that we cannot come up with basic state-by-state or regional pricing.”

He gives an example: “At a gas station today, you might find (a price that’s) five, 10 or — I’ll be generous — 15 cents less per gallon. With dry cleaning, it’s ‘John Doe across the street charges $5 for pants and has twice the business that I do, so let me charge $3 and steal his customers.’

“I wish we competed with one another on giving better service and higher prices, instead of lowering our skilled work.”

About cleaning and spotting methods, he says he is “old school.”

“I feel like clothing attire needs to go back to dressier times for the drycleaning industry to blossom again,” Semercian says. “Until then, businesses will be looking for more customers to make up for the pieces that just aren’t the same as years past.”

Being part of a family-owned business is meaningful to him.

“I take pride in giving service that a chain store cannot. We know our customers by name, we know their ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes.’ I believe that’s what people are looking for, they are getting tired of the chain stores. They want a familiar face and a familiar friend. Our customers become friends and sometimes are like family to us.”

He credits the generation before his for laying the foundation.

“My parents didn’t speak English when they came to this country, so they needed a business that used their skills in tailoring where the basic ‘Hi,’ ‘How are you?’ and ‘Thank you’ would suffice. They worked 12-hour days. They wouldn’t say no to work so they could give the best life to my sister and I. I am forever indebted to them for their sacrifice to give us a better life. Now I’m honored to give, and to help whenever they need me.”

On a sunny day, as he watches his infant son sleeping in his car seat on the front counter, and with the summer breeze floating in through the open front doors, Semercian’s simple message resonates: “Do what you love and be grateful for what you have.”

NEW PLAN

Todd Feigenbaum is the third-generation owner of Feigenbaum Cleaners, with locations in Eastern New York state.

“My grandfather was a tailor who emigrated to New York City from Europe in 1902. After spending 15 years working in the sweatshops of the Lower East Side, he heard about a tailor shop for sale in upstate New York. He put his growing family on the train, and on the way to their final destination, they stopped in Glens Falls, a small town about 50 miles north of Albany,” he says.

“Herman and Jennie Feigenbaum liked

Three stories out of so many in our industry, full of passion, pride and caring. All for the love of it.

Glens Falls so much that they decided to stay and open a tailor shop there.”

The year was 1917.

They quickly discovered there was no dry cleaner north of Albany at the time, so they decided to offer dry cleaning as well as tailoring.

“All of their six children helped out in the business in one way or another. Eventually, their two sons, Louis and Bill, would take over the business in the 1950s,” he says.

Feigenbaum says his path into the business was very similar to his father’s.

“He had never planned to take over the family business, but after working as a skilled machinist building fighter planes during World War II, he returned to Glens Falls to help his father when health issues arose. Before he knew it, he was a dry cleaner!”

Feigenbaum says that taking over the business was never part of any plan when he was young.

“I worked in Washington, D.C., and Boston after college. When I came back to upstate New York in the mid-1980s, I worked as an analyst in the New York State Legislature. As my father’s health started to fail, I suggested I join him in the business to build it up, so he could retire or sell the business.

“The day after we finalized our plans, my father passed away. I had worked in the business briefly for

about a year after college. I knew a little bit about the business, but not a lot. Luckily, part of my education and previous work experience had focused on manage ment and marketing, but I still had to quickly learn the technical part of the drycleaning business.”

He went to every seminar, class and meeting that he could find.

“And I was lucky to find a number of mentors who taught me a lot about our industry. I learned the most from the late Sid Tuchman, a brilliant man and a true gentleman.”

The family-owned business flourished.

“My wife, Julie, joined me in the business later during that first year I was running it. At that time, we just had one store. By the end of that first year, we opened our first drop store and continued to grow from there. As the business expanded, we took on a business partner, Bonnie Smith, our plant manager.”

Feigenbaum says that, “We’re here because we’ve kept our ‘old world’ commitment to craftsmanship. And with one or more family members always involved in the day-to-day operation of the business, customers know we still take pride in what we do.”

About today’s drycleaning world, Feigenbaum advises being patient: “You want to try new things, but you don’t always have the perspective to understand (continued)

Award Winner! In this 2012 photo, Todd Feigenbaum (second from left) receives the Small Business Excellence award for his business in

eastern New York, Feigenbaum Cleaners. Others pictured are U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) representatives. (Photo: Feigenbaum Cleaners)

how complicated new ideas can sometimes be.”

The Feigenbaums are proud to be celebrating their business centennial this year.

“I’m sure my father would be quite proud that we’ve been able to grow and modernize the business over the past 30 years. And I sometimes wonder if my grandparents could have ever imagined that the small business they started in the spring of 1917 would still be in business 100 years later!”

CAN DO

Frank Ashmore Jr. is executive vice president of Sunshine Dry Cleaners in Dallas.

“In the late 1920s, my grandfather, Joe Ashmore, along with his brothers, Jim and Robert, started two businesses across the street from each other in the heart of downtown Dallas. Do It Right Cleaners and Acme Cleaners operated from 1928-1955,” he recalls.

The business has operated on the same block in Dallas for over 75 years. It is a retail and commercial laundry and dry cleaner that Ashmore Jr. describes as a “state-of-the-art 16,000-square-foot production facility, 6,000-square-foot retail facility, and delivery trucks serving most of Dallas, with about 90 full-time employees.”

His job includes overseeing all aspects of the operation with a hands-on approach: “As with most in this industry, I can — and will — do everything!”

The Ashmore brothers joined forces with their brotherin-law, Eddie Vassallo, the former laundry manager for the Baker Hotel downtown, and formed Sunshine Laun dry and Dry Cleaners in 1941.

They built a combined plant and retail facility on Maple Avenue in Dallas that expanded in the late 1950s and ’60s.

“The second generation included my father, Frank Sr., and his cousin, Jerry Ashmore,” Ashmore Jr. says. “The original Maple facility operated until 2011 when we built new retail across the street, and purchased a building a few miles away that became our new plant.”

The passing of the business from one generation to the next has happened through hands-on training, he explains.

“For many youth in our family, working at the cleaner is their first job. They were and are expected to pull their own weight and more.

“This business is an excellent way to teach the hard work ethic that is necessary to become successful in any industry. There is no ‘cutting corners,’ especially in the family business. Being at work on time, every day, and being at your best is demanded.

“But what is most satisfying is knowing that you are part of the family business that satisfies customers every

Can-Do Attitude! Here is the exterior of familyowned, Dallas-based Sunshine Dry Cleaners, which is celebrating more than 75 years in the business. Frank Ashmore Jr., executive VP, relates that the business is truly a “family affair,” adding that, “like most in this industry, I can — and will — do everything!” (Photo: Sunshine Dry Cleaners)

day, and your efforts do not go unnoticed. The personal interaction with the customer is the most basic relation ship in business, and that was instilled in us at a very young age, and will continue with every generation.”

Running a family-owned business means something special to Ashmore Jr.

“Our name is associated with every piece that we process, therefore high quality is a priority in every aspect of the business, from customer interaction to the delivery of a great product. Our customers know this, and have the confidence that their expectations will be met or exceeded.”

Frank Ashmore Sr., president of the business, opens the retail store every day at 6 a.m. His wife, secretary Edna, works every day and is the company matriarch. Frank Jr.’s sister, Stephanie Ingram, is the controller who maintains the books. Her husband (and Frank Jr.’s brother-in-law) Mike Ingram is vice president in charge of the route business (from which most of Sunshine’s growth comes) as well as business development and IT.

Ashmore Jr. says that Sunshine is truly a “family af fair,” adding that the family-owned business has “the understanding that service is the main thing we sell.”

There you have it. Three uniquely told tales of familyowned succession success in dry cleaning.

Three stories out of so many in our industry, full of passion, pride and caring. All for the love of it. ADC

Clean ’17 for the ‘Win’ in Vegas

Big and ‘buzzy’: fabricare industry comes out to play

Here’s all you need to know about Clean ’17: It was packed, stacked, and all that!

Now you know what Clean Show participants found out in Las Vegas last month. The vibrant crowds packed the aisles, the equipment and technology “whirred” and “buzzed” all over the giant show hall, and the ending came too soon, but all experienced a “happy exhaustion” heading toward home.

Official figures from Mary Scalco, Clean Show chairman and CEO of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI), put the four-day show’s attendance at 12,563, exceeding the 2015 Atlanta show’s turnout by more than 1,200 people.

Clean ’17, held on June 5-8, wrapped just as it began: with plenty of excitement and expectation. It came, it saw, it conquered.

There was truly excitement in the air all week with so many products and so much equipment in a double-big — many times loudly boisterous — exhibit space within the Las Vegas Convention Center. (There was an upper section and a main section, each of which could have housed a normal-size trade show alone.)

Clean ’17 was full to the rafters with drycleaning and laundry vendors showing their goods and services, and the buzzy business chatter of thousands of industry voices filling the air. (continued on page 23)

The ‘Players’ Played! Clean ’17 in Las Vegas literally “wowed” attendees who came to see all the best the fabricare industry had to offer and were strongly rewarded with plenty of things to see and do, and the U.S. flags were flying, too, befitting the 4th of July! (Photos by Tim Burke)

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(continued from page 18)

The roomy locale felt airy, cool and spacious, and that certainly added to the enjoyment on the faces of all. (One drycleaning owner commented that she was “cold” and was going outside to “warm up.” There was roughly a 40-degree difference inside compared to the “molten” 110 F temperature outside!)

The expectation paid off in all the ideas flowing home with attendees who enjoyed the educational sessions and also from seeing so many exhibitors (481). Clean ’17 had sold out its entire exhibit space weeks earlier.

But as always, it was the people who make the event. Dry cleaners from all over showed up, many of whom had traveled from as far as Mexico, Germany and Australia.

(continued)

Ann Lane (right), a manager from Hoffman Cleaners, Ogden, Utah, paused a few minutes mid-aisle at Clean ’17 so Editor Tim Burke could shoot some video for American Drycleaner’s Facebook page. Here, she’s smiling for the camera with columnist Martin Young.

Under the hanger, over the rack, drycleaning operators and fabricare industry exhibitors interacted and networked every day at big, vibrant Clean ’17.

Here is one of the mainline, always-flowing, “buzzy” show floor arteries full of attendees. The heartbeat of fabricare pumped strong all four days of the Clean Show in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Inside the Las Vegas Convention Center, more than 12,500 Clean ’17 attendees did their work in climatecontrolled comfort while some brave ones ventured outside, to absorb the desert summer for a momentary change of pace, a stretch of the legs, or a thrill in the Vegas high heat!

Mary Scalco (second from right), Clean ’17 chair and CEO of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI), gets ready to cut the ribbon and start the show. New DLI President Mike Nesbit is on the far right. Between them is the Clean Show robot, who was everywhere, chatting up attendees and making them laugh. Others awaiting the opening are (from left) Linda Fairbanks, executive director of the Association for Linen Management (ALM); Cindy Molko, ALM president; Brian Wallace, president/CEO of the Coin Laundry Association (CLA); and James Whitmore, executive committee chairman of CLA. (Photo: Nathan Frerichs)

Ann Lane, a manager from Hoffman Cleaners, Ogden, Utah, paused mid-aisle one day to allow an editor to shoot some video for American Drycleaner’s Facebook page: “We’re here to see all that’s new, new technology, meet people, it’s wonderful.”

Later, two drycleaning operators from Spokane, Wash., stopped by the American Drycleaner booth. When I asked about their experience, they, with grins, say almost in unison: “We’re diggin’ it!”

From the packed educational sessions to the crowded action on the show floor, there was no ebb at Clean ’17. Industry leaders — fabricare professionals and drycleaning owners — came out in big numbers to see what was new, make some equipment inquiries and purchases, whoop it up a little in hoppin’ Vegas, blow off a little steam (pun intended), and share hopes and visions for the industry.

Outside in the desert heat of Nevada, the temperatures soared above 100 every day, as you’d expect in Las Vegas in summer. Inside, on the exhibit floor, the “business thermostat” was quite comfortable, as attendees and exhibitors talked business.

Exhibitors saw a steady stream of drycleaning operators flow to their booths during the four-day event. One vendor remarks: “At Clean ’17, business is good — steady over all four days, amazing.”

Another vendor says, “We came here seeking new accounts and leads for potential new business and we were not disappointed.”

Attendees equally enjoyed not only the booth-

surfing experience but all of the educational sessions.

As a drycleaning owner passed in a hallway, he says, “I wanted to hear these speakers give me ideas to bring home and that’s exactly what I have.”

He says this as he is hurriedly leaving the first morning’s Business as Unusual session, during which three panelists talked on topics such as app partnerships to advance your brands, storage lockers in single-tenant office buildings, and subscriptions for locker services.

To a packed, standing-room-only house of at least 300 people, Nick Chapleau, owner of Starchup, asked session attendees why they were there if not to be at their best and do their best. He pointed out that an app can be a fad or an innovation, and told the audience to ask themselves what an app can do for them (in their business).

At the same session, panelist Kyle Nesbit, MW Cleaners, took a momentary break from speaking about his operation’s locker business to give his father Mike a big wrestling-style championship belt to congratulate him on being the incoming DLI president.

The other panelist who talked about building a locker subscription business was Chris Moreno, owner of Laundry Locker. Loud applause followed the panelists as they left the stage.

Clean ’17 is meant for industry leaders to come together and share their knowledge. For the sixth time in Clean’s 40-year history, the Vegas venue didn’t disappoint.

In between seeing the sights of the city and getting out after dark for fun, the Clean Show during the day made an impactful visit for exhibitors and attendees alike.

As he sat in the Convention Center lobby on the show’s last day, Brad, a drycleaning attendee from Seattle, volunteers: “We looked for the best to come out. They did. Really happy to be here. Got some new ideas. And Vegas is always a good choice.”

It was a nice win for the (fabricare) “house” at Clean ’17! ADC

Along with conversing, convening and networking, Clean ’17 attendees also saw plenty of cool technology in a myriad of displays, some with special lighting, and this one attracted Editor Tim Burke to take a space-aged Dr. Who-style photo of his diffused reflection.

Family-owned businesses are prevalent in fabricare. They have the same issues, concerns and opportu nities as non-family-owned companies. They also have additional challenges and considerations.

However, very importantly, they enjoy additional com petitive advantages that can be lever aged to make the company grow and prosper along with the family who owns it. Among these advantages are emotional feelings of trust and reputa tion that the “family” engenders.

According to an online blog at Psy chology Today about how emotions influence what we buy: “Most people believe that the choices they make result from a rational analysis of available alternatives,” writes Peter Noel Murray, Ph.D., in his February 2013 post.

“In reality, however, emotions greatly influence and, in many cases, even determine our decisions.”

In fact, a great deal of consumer research has focused on the role of emotion versus the rational determination in consumer choice.

The power of emotion is a convincing reason that family businesses have a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Here are some of those reasons:

FAMILY, PURE AND SIMPLE

Whether the personal family experience has been dysfunctional, chaotic, or a source of constant joy, it is easy to relate to a family, their activities, relationships and interactions and to sympathize and empathize with their situation.

Most people can laugh with them, cry with them and congratulate a job well done. Hence the popularity of the sitcom and also family ownership marketing.

FAMILY = TRUST

There is a predictable yearning for the con cept of trust within the family, even if a sworn

enemy is a family member and your own family regularly wages “WWIII.”

People like to believe that they can trust and rely on the family.

Use that belief to your advantage: “Thank you for putting your trust in us for the last 53 years.”

FAMILY = SAFETY

Families are supposed to represent a welcoming environ ment and a safe harbor from the storm of everyday living.

What imagined scene makes you feel safe? Chances are it includes your biological, adoptive or chosen clan. Whatever that image is for you, it probably resonates with others as well.

How can you convey that same safe feeling to your customers and prospects? Does the image of a “Daddy & Daughter Dance” work in your community? A parent teaching a child a new skill can also be powerful.

FAMILY = COMMUNITY

“A sense of belonging is a human need, just like the need for food and shelter. Feeling that you belong is most important in seeing value in life and in coping with intensely painful emotions,” notes Karyn Hall, Ph.D., another blogger on the Psychology Today website, from her post of March 2014.

Diana Vollmer

“Some find belonging in a church, some with friends, some with family, and some on Twitter or other social media,” she writes.

That “family” fulfills the longing to belong. As the song goes: “Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name.” (© the Cheers theme song by Gary Portnoy.)

TRADITIONAL VIEW

Whether your family is like the 1950s American TV sitcom Father Knows Best model, a rare example, or it is more like the prevalent Modern Family TV show starring Ed O’Neill, most families have traditions that provide a dependable perspective.

Holiday celebrations are traditions that evoke strong emotions. Preparing heirloom tablecloths for important occasions is a good example of a way to tie these strong emotions to increased sales for your business.

LONGEVITY

Multi-generational, family-owned businesses provide an impression of longevity. The age of a business can induce the thought: “If they have been around that long, they must be good, so I can trust them with my valuable wardrobe.”

PERSONALITY

Families create an instant brand, and specifically a brand with a personality or several personalities, to whom consumers can relate.

It is no coincidence that many families appear in their own marketing and advertising campaigns. Family members provide an instant mental image of the business that is uniquely its own (good or bad). These ads are often the ones you love to hate and/or mock, but they are so prevalent because they work for the companies they represent and yield the hoped-for resulting sales.

PRIDE

The family name on the door exhibits a sense of pride in the product or service and conveys the feeling that the family stands behind the quality and desirability of their “creation.” No one wants to tarnish the family reputation by disappointing their clientele. The business and the family are so intricately related that, for image purposes, they are one and the same.

NARRATIVE

Storytelling is an effective form of engaging the consumer in your offering by showing how someone else benefited by using the product or service.

Families not only provide the personalities that are needed in successful marketing stories, but they also provide characters that people can root for.

As in home life, business dynasties have engaging life cycles that can interest the community. Land O’Lakes was named a “Business2Community Top 4 Storyteller” by focusing on family life.

The Land O’Lakes website — of an agricultural cooperative based in Minnesota — offers a well-made (emotionalizing) storytelling example in content marketing.

In September, two-thirds of the company home page is filled with illustrated seasonal recipe ideas. These include the characteristic Jack O’Lantern, back-to-school recipes, and apple-based baked goods.

The focus is on (American) cooking and family life.

Further, blogs such as Ask Becky and posts like The story of my S’more obsession suggest an emotional story line of helpful guidance coupled with family fun.

As such, the company’s products gets branded “family friendly,” and appeal specifically to an American market.

Another impressive example of leveraging the family business is represented in Boston, where Anton’s Cleaners created the “Belle of the Ball” prom dress collection drive.

This is a source of community service, volunteerism, pride of purpose, wonderfully emotional stories, lots of PR and, yes, a great deal of business resulting from consum ers who see these stories and applaud what the family and company have contributed to the city and its residents.

To successfully tie the family brand to the company brand, the family should meet at least quarterly to review the business goals and to discuss the alternatives for rein forcing those goals through family involvement. ADC

Please share your own family branding experiences and stories (with photos when appropriate) by sending them to the author at her e-mail below.

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 making your family and business prosper, e-mail dvollmer@mfmi.com or call 415-577-6544.

Did You Make the Grade?

Analyzing and grading your own management technique

What is your management style?

Let me talk a moment about my own management style, as a former drycleaning business owner. Then, think about your own style and grade yourself. As a business owner with 17 full-time employees, my management approach was aggres sive in a slow, undemonstrative, steely way. I wasn’t loud or pushy.

In fact, I was rather quiet. My general manager (a great person to have) did the “dirty work.” He hustled drivers when they were tardy. He made constructive criticisms. But my presence was felt.

At the beginning of each day, I was the

one who asked/begged for special

Howard Scott

(continued)

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

come-throughs (“Can you do this for me?”). I showed dis appointment when things went wrong.

When we lost a customer, small or large, I went into a deep funk and it lasted for days. So I created the tension in the place. I did it through the force of my silence.

My employees were sympathetic toward me. They felt for me because I was single and lonely. I know this sounds contradictory, that sympathy should not be part of leadership, but it was part of my approach. Yes, my people felt sorry for me.

Evoking sympathy got staffers to work harder for me. I’m not saying this needs to be your way, but it was mine.

Low-key and tightly wound, I was an owner who fo cused on the workload, and was always there, willing to work as hard as anyone else (even harder). My staffers knew that when mistakes were made, it would make me unhappy, and they didn’t want that to happen.

My staff respected me because I was committed to mak ing the business grow. Finally, I wasn’t afraid to reward

them appropriately.

Was I the best manager? Of course not. But I was a good manager. My people generally liked me, and stayed with me; they were with me when I decided to sell in 1980.

Through the 10 years of ownership, the business av eraged a 30% growth rate. It even grew 30% when we grossed $700,000 back in the 1970s. Which bring us to you. How do you run your business? What kind of “leadership pheromones” do you emit?

• Do you try to be calm, cool, and collected, an analyti cal type who sticks with facts, never losing your cool?

• Are you barking out orders, pugnacious toward your competition?

• Do you try to lead through example, never command ing your people, but working harder than anyone else?

• Are you everyone’s buddy, urging them to do this or that for you, pointing out that if they didn’t come through, it would hurt business. Are you always say ing, “I need you to do this for me”?

• Are you a constantly angry leader, shouting out com mands and yelling when matters don’t go well?

STUDY YOUR STYLE

How do your people regard you?

Are you a bully, constantly goading to do better? Do employees slink away from you when they know they are not completing their tasks at the standards you set?

Do staffers respect you as a person, causing them to work harder than they would ordinarily?

Are you viewed an up-or-down (or hot-and-cold) per sonality, which makes one unsure of how you will react?

Are you seen as autocratic, confident you’ll be obeyed?

Do employees consider you an enigmatic presence, who confuses everyone with his/her indecisive pronounce ments, and can’t figure out what your real motives are?

Look at yourself. Analyze the kind of a leader you are. Write down a description. Was your insight accurate? Then decide how you motivate your people.

Perhaps you motivate the processing staff differently from the cleaner. Perhaps you use a different approach with your route sales. What is your management style?

Finally, give yourself a grade: “B+” manager? “C” manager? “A” manager?

Why give yourself this grade? Because it makes you evaluate your effectiveness. From that understand ing may come improvements to do things differently; refocus or realign your drive. Sure, it’s hard to change behavior, but not impossible.

Finally, it’s good to understand your leadership style, including both how it works and how it doesn’t work.

Now go out there and be a better manager. ADC

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

Bong returns to AristoCraft

Mimi Bong has returned to the dry cleaning industry, where she began some 20 years ago, as a cus tomer service representative for Aristo Craft and sister company EJ Thomas Co., suppliers to dry cleaners in the Northeast and Midwest, respective ly, notes AristoCraft.

“We are thrilled to have Mimi back. She is such a valuable re source due to her unique industry experience,” says Richard Ross, vice president of sales for Aris toCraft/EJ Thomas. “Not only is she integral to the relationships we enjoy with our Korean customers, but she is also a leading customer service representative for all of our customers.”

Bong says that AristoCraft/EJ Thomas is “great to work for,” and describes her co-workers as “a hard-working group with integrity and honesty.”

White hires Desjardins

White Conveyors Inc., providers of commercial laundry transport sys tems and automated garment-sort ing, storage and retrieval systems, has expanded its sales team with the appointment of Luc Desjardins,

the firm reports.

He will represent White Convey ors Canada Inc., a new subsidiary, as its regional sales manager.

have joined a team with such a great depth of experience,” says Desjar dins. “I hope to help White establish and nourish Canadian customers,

(continued on page 37)

Mimi Bong

The ‘It’ Factor at Clean ’17

missed it, well,

missed “It.”

The Clean Show was the biggest and, I believe, the best in a long time. The show floor went on forever. Those souls who had allotted only one day to meet, greet and evaluate, found themselves having to make some hard choices on time spent at a booth and the willingness of feet, ankles and knees to go forward.

Answers were available around each corner. I constantly overheard variations on the theme: “I didn’t know you could do that,” or “I didn’t know they made that.”

One of the show sponsors, the Drycleaning & Laundry

Institute (DLI), came to the Clean Show offering another benefit for its members at any level of membership above the basic level. The Encyclopedia of Drycleaning is now available to members as a phone app and is available online.

For the first time, some of the educational sessions were offered during show hours, in a theatre setting just off the show floor. Everything needed to “trick out” a cleaning plant could be found on the floor, all under one roof.

It was common to walk up on a newbie chatting with a 40-year veteran. Each exchanging ideas of their vision of the perfect drycleaning business model, while also hearing other owners excited to find an idea to help them prosper.

The cliché says: “You should have been there.” That is certainly true of the Las Vegas Clean Show. ADC

Martin Young

and bring efficiency and improved performance to their operations.”

Based in Ottawa, Desjardins will be responsible for enhancing client relations and leading new-business efforts, the company notes.

Desjardins brings 22 years of in dustrial sales experience to White’s accomplished sales force.

Tide ‘rises’ with opening

Tide Dry Cleaners, in partnership with Agile Pursuits Franchising Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Procter & Gamble (P&G), opened its 50th store recently.

“The ribbon-cutting ceremony and grand-opening events throughout Columbus were an absolute success, and a very special milestone for all of us at Tide Dry Cleaners, including our franchisees and all team mem bers in each of our stores throughout the country,” says Thomas Flaherty, president and CEO, Agile Pursuits Franchising.

Located in the heart of Ohio, the new store joins the ranks of its neighboring Columbus locations to ensure customer convenience is top priority, the company says.

Dreams free: Glass Slipper

The 2017 Glass Slipper Project (GSP) collection drive, with the support of high school partners and customers, helped Zengeler Cleaners, based in Northbrook, Ill., collect 6,107 new and lovingly used dresses, the company notes.

“Over the years, I’ve had an opportunity to person ally talk to some of the high school women receiving the dresses,” says Tom Zengeler, president of Zengeler Cleaners. “One comment that comes up consistently is that the opportunity to pick out and wear a prom dress is often the very first time some of these students have ever had a dress to call their own.”

The GSP was founded by women who recognized many girls cannot afford the luxury of spending big dollars for prom, no matter how special that night may be, Zengeler Cleaners says. The number of dresses donated was a new record in Zengeler Cleaners’ 15th year supporting GSP, it reports.

Luc Desjardins

plant is 10,000 square feet and is located on 1.9 acres. There

Dry Clean Plant Manager

We are a full service up-scale Dry Cleaners in Minnesota looking for a Plant Manager. This is only a dry clean plant with the Shirts done at another location.

The right person will have at least 5 years experience in a high volume plant. Good management skills, able to lead a team of pressers and assembly staff. Have a high standard of cleaning, pressing and spot removal.

Compensation is based on experience. Very competitive wages with benefits. Paid vacation, paid Holiday and Health Insurance offered.

PO SI TI ON S AV AILA B LE Luetzow Industries .............................39 Magicool ............................................38 Maineline Computer Systems ..........IFC Mustang Enterprises...........................29 Newhouse Specialty Co. ....................39 Northern Hanger Co. . ........................37 Parker Boiler Co. .............................IBC PROS Parts.........................................38 Railex .................................................38 Realstar ..............................................31 ScanQ .................................................13 SMRT Systems .............................19-22 SPOT Business Systems ......................7 Trevil America ...................................25 Union Drycleaning Products ..............17 U.N.X. Inc. ........................................36

LEATHER-RICH INC.

Suede and Fur;

Sign of the Times!

10 YEARS AGO. Fewer jobless claims and rising wages are fueling consumer spending in spite of gas prices and a weak housing market. Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of overall economic activity. First-quarter unit labor costs were revised upward from a 0.6% to a 1.8% annualized rate of growth, the Labor Department says.

35 YEARS AGO. Here’s another sign of the market’s receptiveness to new ways of caring for clothes — especially if they promise to save money. An ad depicts a product that has been tested both by IFI and by a leading manufacturer of drycleaning chemicals. The test indicates that a freshening product, recently after extensive test marketing by another company in the product development stage, is essentially a perfume or cover-up of odor and light soil, rather than a true cleaning agent. … “You don’t look your best if your clothes don’t look their best.” That great lead-in for our industry was the opening line of a “complete guide to clothing care” that was splashed recently across the first three pages of the Chicago Tribune’s Feminique section. A fanciful drawing over the copy focused on a sort of animated shirt holding some containers (presumably to represent home laundry supplies) under one arm, and a “Sparkle Cleaners” hanger under the other arm.

50 YEARS AGO. An off-duty policeman was hired by a Chicago-area dry cleaner in conjunction with a local drive for the use of seat belts. The officer was instructed to check slow-moving cars in a shopping center to see if drivers were using seat belts. All such safetyminded drivers were destined to receive certificates good for free dry cleaning. Seems that in two days of checking, only a total of 25 motorists could be found who qualified for the free gift, despite the Illinois law requiring all cars of a vintage later than 1962 to have seat belts installed. The rest of the shopping-center motorists were sitting on their lumpy, uncomfortable belts; they were the losers in safety — and free cleaning. …

Togetherness in the Altogether! You’ve heard of a bicycle built for two? Old hat! It seems that some of the bathtub boys have been working overtime. They’ve developed — and are marketing — a bathtub built for two. We present this newsworthy little tidbit of trivia as a public service — for your information only. We have absolutely no editorial comment. (!)

July 1967

75 YEARS AGO. Sign of the Times! A new angle on saving tires comes from a dry cleaner in Gary, Ind. He has devised a sign (see photo) that flips up in the rear window of his car whenever he pulls a cord running over to the front seat. The sign reads, “Travel 40. Thanks. Uncle Sam.” Living 15 miles east of Gary, he travels back and forth on the state highway — at not over 40 miles an hour, of course. Whenever a truck or car starts to pass him, he flips up the sign. A writeup and photo appeared in the Gary newspaper after the sign had been used three days. The man adds: “After 12 days use, I can truthfully say that it is good. Not one truck has passed me yet, and only 12 passenger cars, of which 90% were driven by boys or women.” Many drivers have started around him, he reports, but have slowed down when they saw the sign. “If I’ve slowed some of them, I’m helping in the war effort.” ADC

— Compiled by Tim Burke, Editor

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

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