American Drycleaner - October 2018

GOOD NEWS!

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drycleaner

October 2018

FEATURES

Vol. 85, No. 7

DEPARTMENTS

Pre-Inspection

Vollmer

’Nups

He’s Greening to Grow

How do you grow your business? One way is by growing your name and reputation in your town, like Tom O’Brien did. He’s a second-generation owner of O’Brien The Cleaner, located in Berwyn, Ill., a near-west suburb of Chicago. He’s been working with his local arts initiative group, and a local Chicago graffiti artist, to develop the eye-catching mural on the east side of his drycleaning business. Finished in July, it has brought neighborhood pride to his town and business. Locals love it. Customers talk about it! Read his story. You might find yourself getting all greened-up with delight — and a new idea!

Tim Burke, Editor

6 Dime Up!

If anyone came to tell you a mere stack of dimes could change your revenue outlook, and bring you a whole new pathway to profit, you’d laugh. But a drycleaning operator in Owosso, Mich., is going to tell you just that, and more. Meet Bob Marks, owner of Ruthy’s Cleaners. He has a secret to impart to you. Learn about his little ups — and other things.

Tim Burke, Editor

NEED HELP FINDING THE

HIDDEN HANGER?

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

(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.”

“We’re moving faster. We’re moving better. We’re moving more efficiently. That means profitability”

PRE-INSPECTION

We’re Chill

Chill.

No, I mean, “Can you feel the chill in the air?” It’s autumn. Leaves turn color and fall. Prices might be on your mind, but they would be something to raise, not fall. Maybe it’s time you looked at raising yours? In this issue, we visit with Bob Marks, owner of Ruthy’s Cleaners located in Owosso, Mich. He shares his pathways to profits, aka learning what works to increase revenue at his business. One way he describes is what he calls “little ups” of 10 cents at a time in price increases. Check out the feature. It’s called — what else? — Dime Up!

The cover story, He’s Greening to Grow, is about Tom O’Brien, a second-generation drycleaning owner of O’Brien The Cleaner, located in Berwyn, Ill., a near-west suburb of Chicago. He got involved with his town’s art initiative group to have commissioned a mural on the entire length of the east side of his building. I visited with Tom. Talked to him and his team, and the graffiti artist, and a couple customers who stopped in. And took photos! The mural’s vibrantly green hues have brought him attention, put grins on people’s faces, and made for lively conversation — and that’s what we’re talkin’ about: all the ways you grow.

The first of a two-parter by columnist Diana Vollmer, Season-ing, is all about visually engaging your customers using the changing seasons to connect in an upbeat way. Columnist Dan Miller is out to tweak your senses again with Be Bold, Think Fresh, asking you to put a new spin on old adages. Next, savor industry veteran and longtime columnist Martin Young’s thoughts and become, just for the moment, The Wind Reader, realizing, fully, our changing garment-care world. And there’s a special feature about prenuptials (’Nups) for small-business owners.

Enjoy this fall season. I’ll be in Milan, Italy, at EXPOdetergo Oct. 19-22, but be back, just in time (and probably jacked up on espresso), to write a (if somewhat jittery) show wrap-up story for the Nov/Dec issue. But for now, remain calm, go kick some leaves around. It’s October, life is good, so enjoy the — wait for it — chill. 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 85, number 7. 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, 2018. 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, October 2018

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

Production Manager

Roger Napiwocki

Advisory Board

Mike Bleier

Steven Dubinski

John-Claude Hallak Mike Nesbit Herron Rowland Fred Schwarzmann Beth Shader Ellen Tuchman Rothmann

Contributing Editors

Howard Scott Diana Vollmer Martin Young

Office Information

Main: 312-361-1700

Subscriptions 630-739-0900 x100 www.american drycleaner.com

Tim Burke

DIME UP!

One particular profit pathway can be achieved through subtle price increases, as implemented in thin doses by Bob Marks, owner of Ruthy’s Cleaners, located in the small, scenic town of Owosso, Mich. His tip: If you are planning to raise your prices, do it in ‘little ups’ of maybe 10 cents.

By Tim Burke, Editor

Bob Marks and his wife Ruth bought a Laundromat in Perry, Mich., population 4,000. Then they bought some used drycleaning equipment and, as he tells it, just started dry cleaning in 1990.

“There was no dry cleaner in Perry so I started one. I saw a need,” he relates by phone recently.

There’s the sudden sound of a customer talking to him in the background and he excuses himself a moment to chat briefly. His friendly voice echoes through his store behind a hand over the phone, and then he’s back again,

picking up right where he left off.

“Then we bought Stoner’s Cleaners in Owosso, Mich., in 2000. This became our main drycleaning plant in this town of once about 40,000. It’s located between Lansing and Flint in the middle of the state.”

Marks is the owner of Ruthy’s Cleaners. Ruth does all the bookkeeping while Bob runs the operation and, he mentions, “also serves as vice president of MILD.” That stands for the Michigan Institute of Laundering & Drycleaning.

According to MILD’s website,

It’s Dime Time! A tower of 10-centers can add up. Or as one dry cleaner in a small Michigan town puts it, these “little ups” of price increases work best for him and his customers. (Photo: Tim Burke)

Growing your business is more than profits, it’s growing your name and reputation within your community, like O’Brien The Cleaner did!

By Tim Burke, Editor

Seeing green?

Yes. You are. Lots of it. And beautiful. But it’s not money green. It’s the multigreen hues and shapes of a stylish, modern new mural.

Beyond the green of profits, one drycleaning operation found out that growing green also comes in the form of local community involvement.

Meet Tom O’Brien, the owner of O’Brien The Cleaner, a drycleaning business located in the near-west Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Ill., population 55,000.

“Since January 2018, I have been working alongside the Berwyn Public Art Initiative (BPAI),” O’Brien says.

(continued)

Tom O’Brien, owner of O’Brien The Cleaner, says the public art initiative group in his city of Berwyn, Ill., a near-west Chicago suburb, picked the east wall of his building as the canvas for a locally based graffiti artist to create the stunningly eyecatching green mural. “When they came to me and explained it was for the community, I was all-in,” he relates. (Photo: Tim Burke)

“They have just completed a mural on my drive-up window side of the building. I have felt passionately about this mural to add to the beauty of Berwyn.”

According to its website, the BPAI writes: “The Depot District functions in many ways as the center of community life in Berwyn. Adding vibrancy with public art is vital.”

The BPAI already had another artist install a mural in May a few blocks away on the other side of the commuter train tracks. O’Brien The Cleaner was next for a mural to be completed in summer. It was completed on July 23.

“When BPAI representatives came to me in the winter and explained it was for the community, I was all-in,” the owner of the drycleaning business says.

He adds with a grin: “We were going to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.”

The artist picked for the job was a Seattle native, currently based in Chicago, who goes by the name Miss Merlot, a young woman in her 20s. This author asked her to be invited back to pose with O’Brien for a photo for American Drycleaner and she accepted. She wore her spray paint safety mask, however, to protect her identity.

On a bright fall day, they stood in front of the sea of greens of the wondrous graffiti artwork adorning O’Brien’s east wall of his drycleaning plant. It’s a long

building. The green is soothing, calming.

“It took her three days to install,” O’Brien notes. “Miss Merlot showed me designs and ideas on (her) computer at first, and we worked with her. She was wonderful.”

BPAI board member Rob Kowalski and his wife Melissa, also a member, came by for the photos as well and were beaming about the mural. “Commuters see it, residents come by, it’s great,” Rob Kowalski relates.

They express plans to do a future graffiti art project, possibly right across the big parking lot eastward, as they eye another space on a long, brick building.

O’Brien grins in the autumn sun. “Ninety-nine-pointeight percent of people love it, and tell me so, and that’s pretty good,” he laughs with an Irish twinkle in his blue eyes.

He continues: “I am a father of three beautiful daughters and I reside in Berwyn as well as work here. O’Brien The Cleaner has been in this town for 50 years as of this past spring. My father, Joseph O’Brien, originated this cleaning business in 1947 in Chicago.”

He notes that the Chicago location burned down during the riots of 1968. “After the devastating loss, my parents decided to relocate the business to Berwyn, which is about 15 minutes west. My father chose the Berwyn location because it was one of the first

Tom O’Brien poses with the graffiti artist Miss Merlot, who wears her spray paint safety mask to protect her identity in photographs. They are standing in front of just a small portion of the building-long mural, done in shapes and patterns involving many shades of greens. (Photo: Tim Burke)

stores to include a drive-up window.”

Being involved in the art project and living in the city makes him feel more involved in his community and more connected to his local customers, who are

neighbors, too.

“Ultimately,” he says, “I have found that talking with customers, learning their first names and genuinely listening to them has been the best way to build longlasting relationships. In this way you learn more about yourself, others, and the business. Customers feel open to express their thoughts and opinions and trust you with their garments.”

The learning portion comes with growing in your local community, something many drycleaning owners and operators share. Community is a big part of many operations. It’s shown in participation in clothing and dress drives, charitable works, and so many other ways.

O’Brien’s also sports a large bulletin board just inside the front door, covering almost an entire wall of the store, and it is overflowing, festooned you might even say, with town event notices, colorful posters, bulletins and handwritten notes of all manner, from dog-walking to bake sales to music in the park and more. It’s another way of showing that the community is vibrant and active — and so is the cleaners!

Murals on local buildings is yet another highly visible way to show support in the community. And there are still other ways to grow a cleaning business, too. O’Brien has grown up in his family business, and that’s a key part of it, too. Growing, or greening, a family business; making it thrive.

“Starting in 1974, I began working full time alongside my father, Joseph, my mother, Mary,

American Drycleaner,

Tom O’Brien (at left), who owns O’Brien The Cleaner, stands with Berwyn Public Art Initiative board members Melissa and Rob Kowalski. (Photo: Tim Burke)

Tom O’Brien (at left), owner, O’Brien The Cleaner in Berwyn, Ill., stands behind his front counter with his team. (Photo: O’Brien The Cleaner)

and my brother, Michael,” he explains.

“I started out as a pants presser and skilled my way up to 60 pants an hour. I also pulled clothes out of the drycleaning machine and hung them up. Towards the end of the night, I worked the counter until closing.

“Nowadays,” he says, “I am still working full time. I do everything in the plant but sew. My brother, Kevin, helps out on the weekends. I also have two finishers and a tailor.”

Today, O’Brien insists, he finds that “growing my business works the best through my excellent rating on Yelp. I believe everyone, young or old, looking to try a new cleaner heads straight to the Internet for their research.

“These excellent Yelp ratings stem from the relationships built though my previously stated customer service tactics,” he points out.

“I am also a UPS Access Point. This is great because I am on the UPS website. It also gets people into the door

and ensures they know I am here. People who never knew I was here have now discovered me,” O’Brien adds.

There’s no doubt that with the bright green mural helping to enliven the look of the town, it has brought a nice amount of attention to this business celebrating its place in the community.

A recent mural dedication ceremony for the O’Brien

The Cleaner graffiti art brought out local residents and officials alike.

On the early autumn day this editor visited to take photos and stood just inside the front door of O’Brien

The Cleaner, a customer walked in with the typical clothing draped over his arm to be dropped off and cleaned. Owner O’Brien said with a grin: “Good morning, Mr. Smith.”

With a big smile, Mr. Smith’s first words in reply: “Hi, Tom. Love that mural!”

That really says it all. Greening in the community, greening in business, greening to grow.

ADC

The patterns and shades of green catch the eye and hold it at O’Brien The Cleaner’s east-facing wall. (Photo: O’Brien The Cleaner)

THE DOLLARS COMPARING WET CLEANING & DRY CLEANING COSTS

New technologies allow wet cleaning to significantly improve throughput production over traditional dry cleaning. This makes a strong case for the eco-friendly wet cleaning process. But what about the costs associated with wet cleaning versus dry cleaning? When compared — dollar for dollar — wet cleaning is thousands less.

INITIAL INVESTMENT

First, let’s evaluate the initial cost of each system. This is the amount required to purchase new alternative-solvent dry cleaning machines versus similarly sized Poseidon wet cleaning systems. When the numbers are crunched, there’s a $67,000-$72,000 cost differential in favor of Poseidon wet cleaning. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s dig deeper.

1) Additional Capital Expenditures

Often, there are additional costs associated with operating a new dry cleaning machine, including upgrading boilers, chillers, air compressors and electrical. If you have to upgrade any of these because of your new dry cleaning machine, you’ll fork out considerably more. Whereas, if you go with a wet cleaning system, you won’t.

For example, a customer is installing an 80-pound capacity dry cleaning machine at a cost north of $100,000 list price. It’s going into an existing facility. To operate correctly, the dry cleaning machine will require the purchase of another chiller ($16,000) and an 80 amp breaker. Additionally, the new chiller will require another 70 amp breaker. In the end, the new dry cleaning machine not only requires a new chiller, it demands a costly electrical upgrade. All this adds up.

By comparison, an 80-pound capacity Poseidon wet cleaning system, which operates on 15 amp breakers, doesn’t require anything extra. So, if you add a wet cleaning system, you’ll likely not have to purchase or upgrade anything else.

2) Operational Costs

We know now that the minimal initial investment of a 60-pound capacity dry cleaning machine is at least $67,000 greater than that of a similarly sized wet cleaning system. We also know other capital expenditures and upgrades are also part of the installation and operational equation. Now, let’s compare labor, chemistry/solvent, regulatory/licensing fees and utility costs.

Chemistry — Initial start-up costs for chemistry for a 60-pound wet cleaning machine is around $2,000. It’s $6,000 for a 60-pound dry cleaning

machine. From there on, there is not a huge difference. Water — Water usage can vary. On the dry cleaning side, when a chiller is utilized to recycle water through a dry cleaning machine, very little water is used. But, a chiller costs between $15,000 and $30,000.

In general, a 60-pound wet cleaning machine uses 40 gallons of water per load, and over the course of a year, would go through as much water as a dry cleaning machine hooked to a water tower. A dry cleaning machine hooked to a chiller is the most water efficient. The only problem is that this scenario requires a costly initial investment.

Electricity — When it comes to electricity, wet cleaning comes out ahead. This is because a dry cleaning machine requires 60-90 amps to operate, whereas a wet cleaning system requires just 15.

Natural Gas — The boiler needed to operate a dry cleaning machine uses 670,000 BTUs, which dwarfs the wet cleaning requirement of 118,000 BTUs. Plus, a boiler will run until all plant production is completed for the day. A wet cleaning system dryer operates in 15-20 minute increments a dozen times a day. Again, wet cleaning wins.

Labor — When compared, labor costs are very similar in both dry cleaning and wet cleaning.

3) Regulatory & Waste Disposal Fees

Finally, regulatory fees and waste disposal costs are not uniform across the country because each state has its own set of laws. Typically, it costs hundreds per drum for removal of dry cleaning still-bottom-solvent wastes. On the flip side, there are never disposal or regulatory costs for wet cleaning.

WET CLEANING — A THIRD OF THE COST OF DRY CLEANING

At the end of the day – when all factors are considered – wet cleaning costs are thousands less than those of dry cleaning. Plus, wet cleaning delivers 50 percent more throughput. That’s a one-two punch that’s hard to reckon with. Please contact Jeff Quail at jquail@poseidonwetcleaning.com with any questions.

COST OF INSTALLING A POSEIDON WET CLEANING SYSTEM VS. AN ALTERNATIVE SOLVENT DRY CLEANING MACHINE

Season-ing (PART

1)

There is a season (turn, turn, turn), sang The Byrds.

Customers must be reminded when it’s time to get things cleaned. Seasons help. Draw attention by stressing the benefits to the customer. Visuals are vital. So is inter acting with your customers.

Interaction with customers is a proven way to increase loyalty, sales and profit. Examples from experts: First example (from inc.com): (Customer engagement) “is pay ing off: Companies that engage with their customers via social media have more loyal customers. Better yet, customers who engage with a brand online report spending 20% to 40% more on that brand, or on that com pany’s products. Customers decide if and when to com municate.

“Your job is simply to give them the tools that make the interaction and communication easy and natural. Not only should these tools be easily accessible and highly visible, but they should also offer options for different types of conversation.” (https://www.inc.com/wendy-lea/new-rulesof-customer-engagement.html)

Second example (from allroads.me):

“Engaged customers spend much more time and money with their favorite business. Data shows that when busi nesses offer something valuable to their customers, those customers are willing to give back — that is, spend more — in spades. Engaged customers provide businesses, on average, a 23% premium in share of wallet, profitability, revenue and relationship growth. Conversely, disengaged customers represent a 13% discount in those same metrics. Here are some samples of how engaged customers behave in several industries:

• Consumer electronics: Engaged customers visit their favored retailers 44% more often and spend an average of $84 more per visit;

• Retail banking: Customers who are engaged provide

37% more annual revenue to their primary bank;

• Casual dining: Engaged customers visit their favorite spots 56% more often;

• Hotels: Engaged guests spend an average of 46% more per year;

• Insurance: Engaged policyholders buy 22% more products.”

(http://www.allroads.me/customer-engagement/thebusiness-benefits-of-investing-in-customer-engagement/)

VISUAL CLUES FOR CUSTOMERS

The results of interaction with customers sound great and you can achieve similar outcomes with a simple ap proach: Use visual cues in all your media, both in-store and out, to communicate and engage your customers and prospects in a way that prompts them to take action.

Customers often need to be reminded that it’s time to do something.

Seasonal changes provide the perfect opportunity to remind them. Use these changes to your advantage to en gage the customers by reminding them it is already time to do the right thing. Choose an approach that fits you and your business, so the message will be entertaining for your target audience.

If you are into music, take

Visually engage your customers and use the changing seasons to help connect both socially and emotionally!

Diana Vollmer

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

At SMRT systems We Get it

At the heart of SMRT, we are a dry cleaner. It’s the reason we created our software in the first place: To solve the everyday problems we ran into at our own business.

We’ve stood in your shoes -- pressing, cleaning the button trap, filling in when the driver is sick, making payroll, and replacing equipment.

And with a dry cleaner’s perspective, we’ve built, from the ground up, the best dry cleaning software in the marketplace.

We understand that dry cleaners are dynamic, high-performing entrepreneurs. It’s no small feat to run both the factory and the dealership every damn day. You deserve a software partner that knows your business and is there for you 24/7. You deserve SMRT.

Next-level customer service to match their next-level technology. The SMRT team is passionate about solving problems and supporting their users.

Jason Yerby

Vice President: Crest Advanced Dry Cleaners

There’s more to SMRT than great software. They really know the business, bringing a new dimension to customer support.

Daniel Cha

Owner: Orchid Dry Cleaners

SMRT is light years ahead of the competition! We’ve never been so on top of our business and in tune with our customers.

Wayne Edelman

Owner: Meurice Garment Care

Robust

Richard Aviles

Owner: Bridge Cleaners & Tailors, King Garment Care

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

(continued from page 18)

the theme from songs. If humor suits you better, incorpo rate comedy. If traditional is your approach, use calendar events to trigger action.

Whatever your approach, display action-inducing visual cues in your stores, on your windows, on your vans and, most effectively, in your print and digital communication.

Whatever your style, remember to draw attention by stressing the benefits to the customer to prompt the desired action. From analytics firm eyeQ: “According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, the average customer’s attention span is eight seconds, down from 12 seconds in 2000. That is officially less than the attention span of a goldfish (nine seconds).

“Our capacity to focus on one thing is diminishing, making the initial impression all the more valuable. It’s important to catch their attention quickly. If it takes the human brain less than a second to interpret a single image or video, that leaves the brand more than seven seconds to engage with the customer (and) push the customer further down the path to purchase.” (https://www.eyeqinsights. com/power-visual-content-images-vs-text/)

Which makes your point quicker? The slogan, “It’s time to clean your rugs,” or a visual image of a baby and a dog sitting on the living room rug, captioned, “Rugs need cleaning?”

How about: “Let us store your winter clothes,” or a vi sual image of an overcrowded and messy clothes closet, captioned, “Need more closet space?”

Visual messages work in-store, online, and in the great outdoors on vans and billboards, reinforcing when the cus tomer needs the service. From consulting firm bain.com:

“Cutting-edge companies create a different kind of marketing organization, one that is less siloed, more in teractive, and more collaborative, and that increases mar keting’s value and effectiveness.” (http://www.bain.com/ insights/decision-driven-marketing-hbr; note: Full article is on the Harvard Business Review website.)

Seasonal giveaways can be effective triggers, helping staff overcome their reluctance to cross-sell services.

Example: A complimentary Koozie in your company color with your logo imprinted can reinforce the message, “It’s summertime – are your patio cushions ready?”

Flowers are affordable and easy to display. A bucket full of daisies to hand out to customers reminds them of

spring cleaning. Huge mums say, “It’s homecoming season — time to clean winter coats.”

If you are sports-minded, use the sport(s) of the season and hand out wrist sweat bands while mentioning that you can keep their tennis whites (and colors) looking like new.

Lesser known holidays can promote special services, too, and they don’t get lost in the deluge of advertising that happens on the major holidays. For instance, Feb. 20 is Love Your Pet Day, so it is a good time to hand out pet treats and promote pet bed cleaning or doggy sweater cleaning.

National Grandparents Day is celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day and is a good time to let customers know you clean heirloom quilts.

Traditional holidays provide plenty of opportunities for selling extra services because hosting family gatherings entails showing the home to best advantage.

It is a particularly good opportunity if you have ultrasonic cleaning capabilities for household items beyond textiles, like baskets, silver, blinds and toys.

Seasonal vinyl banners are inexpensive and offer the benefit of being reusable year after year, so the expense can be spread over time if the design is kept relatively ageless. Choosing a more contemporary theme will grab attention but may be appropriate for only one season.

The vinyl banners are usable on store windows, inside stores, on vans, on company cars, at events, on billboards, and on staff badges. The design and message can be duplicated in all your print and electronic media to reinforce the message again and again.

Three-dimensional displays, such as before and after samples, will provide another visual cue to show potential results of using your services.

Many of you have used this approach with your wedding gowns and it works for other services as well.

Seasons keep turning (and turning, and turning). So, in my next column, we will explore specific tactics for your seasonal promotional calendars. ADC

Diana Vollmer is a managing director for Methods for Management, which has served dry cleaners and launder ers with affordable management expertise and improved profitability since 1953. For assistance with your seasonal promotional planning, contact her at dvollmer@mfmi.com or call 415-577-6544.

Be Bold, Think Fresh

New twists on old adages are in the air: Assessing the true power of technology is one; another is refiguring your build-out costs as a percentage of profit

The drycleaning and laundry industry has been around a long time.

Over the decades, owners of dry cleaners have gained tremendous wisdom concerning how to run a great drycleaning and laundry business. Most of the conventional wisdom is truly valuable and too rarely followed.

I remember one of the first pieces of advice I received was from a cleaner who said, “Never forget about quality. You can have all the bells and whistles, but if the clothes come back with stains, wrinkles, or broken buttons, your customers won’t come back.”

That was great advice that should be followed every day.

While most of the conventional wisdom in the industry is spot on (no pun intended), there are a couple of pieces of advice you’re likely to hear which can lead you astray. Here’s a pair of quotes you’ll hear in the industry that you might want to reconsider before following.

The first one goes: “Don’t worry about technology, focus on the cleaning.”

Owners who have been in the drycleaning industry for years can give you a seemingly endless list of “revolutionary” technologies that were supposed to change the industry forever but ended up fading into oblivion.

New delivery methods were going to make stores obsolete. New solvents were going to make traditional cleaning a thing of the past. Home products were going to eliminate the need for dry cleaners.

It is certainly true that a number of drycleaning technologies have failed, but dry cleaners that ignore the opportunities presented by new technology do so at their peril.

The key is to focus on the technologies that add value to your customers and expand the reach of your business.

A great case study for the power of technology in a mature industry is Domino’s pizza. In the early 2000s, after nearly 50 years in the pizza business, Domino’s

sales were declining and there was concern that the pizza industry as a whole was in decline.

To counter this trend, Domino’s pursued a new technology strategy that focused on improving pizza quality and making pizza fun again. Domino’s developed the Heatwave bag, which kept pizzas hot during delivery.

They created a Domino’s pizza app that allowed customers to order with the tap of a button. The app and website featured a pizza tracker that enabled customers to “watch” their pizza being made, and showed how long it would be before their driver arrived.

The company also created a virtual assistant called Dom that accepted voice orders. They even allowed users to tweet their pizza orders by tweeting a pizza emoji.

As a result of these and other innovations, Domino’s revenues doubled from $1.4 billion in 2009 to $2.8 billion in 2017. Traditional pizza customers can still go to a Domino’s store and pick up a pizza in the same way they could 50 years ago, but using technology, Domino’s has broadened its customer base dramatically.

By using technology in your drycleaning business, you can expand your reach in the same way that Domino’s has.

For customers who don’t live near your store, you can offer pickup and delivery service through a website. For customers who like to see the status of

Dan Miller

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

OWNER’S OFFICE

their order, you can bar code your garments and update their location on a mobile app.

For customers who want to visit your stores afterhours, you can offer lockers or automated kiosks. All of these technologies can broaden your customer base and increase your revenue if implemented properly

The second quote to reconsider is: “You have to keep your store rent and build-out costs low.”

If you are opening a new store and ask for advice, you will often hear that the most important thing you can do is to keep your rent and your construction costs as low as possible.

As a result, many drycleaning owners tend to find inexpensive locations in the middle of strip malls and build the store out with a couple of counters and a conveyor.

While this strategy certainly keeps rent and build-out costs low, it also can keep revenue and profits low because it fails to provide a pleasant experience for your customers. It’s a classic example of penny wise, pound foolish.

Instead of keeping your rent and construction costs low in dollar terms, you should think of keeping them low in percentage of profit. The Starbucks approach is a perfect example of this mindset.

As you can see from driving down any major street in America, Starbucks has incredible (and expensive) locations. The vast majority of their stores are on the corner of Main and Main, have drive-thru locations, and are easily visible.

The rent at Starbucks stores averages over $60 per square foot. Not only that, their average store build-out cost averages $380,000.

So, how is Starbucks so successful if it isn’t keeping its rent and build-out costs low? The answer is that it is, in fact, keeping its costs low, just in profit percentage terms instead of dollar terms.

Because Starbucks leases great spaces, its stores attract many more customers than your average coffee shop. In addition, because the company spends so much on building beautiful stores, its customers spend more time and money per visit.

As a result, the average Starbucks store makes $1.3 million per year in revenue. Contrast that with the average coffee shop that makes $215,000 in revenue, or about the same as an average dry cleaner.

This huge gap in revenue between Starbucks and the typical coffee shop far outweighs the additional rent it pays for its space. Counterintuitively, with all that it does, Starbucks is spending a lower percentage of its revenue and profits on rent and construction than the typical coffee shop.

The same lesson applies to your drycleaning store.

If you spend $30,000 per year on rent and spend $30,000 to build your store out, you’re keeping your store costs low, right? Wrong. Because chances are, your store is doing around $200,000 and you’re breaking even after paying yourself a salary.

That means that your return on your build-out cost is 0% and your rent is gobbling up all of your profit.

But what if you spent $60,000 per year on rent at a better location, spent $60,000 on the build-out of your store, and made $400,000 in revenue?

Your profit would probably be at least $60,000 after paying yourself, so your return on your build-out cost would be 100% and your rent as a percentage of your profit would be 100%.

Now, that’s what I call keeping your costs low. ADC

Dan Miller is the chief executive officer of Mulberrys Garment Care, a premium drycleaning and laundry business with 17 locations in Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Dallas. You may contact him at dmiller@mulberryscleaners.com or 866-473-0798.

To find past Owner’s Office columns or share this month’s with your friends, visit AmericanDrycleaner.com.

Instead of keeping your rent and construction costs low in dollar terms, you should think of keeping them low in percentage of profit.

“Not only did I reduce my assembly sta from 2 people to 1, I also noticed signi cant reduction in mark in labor costs as well.The opportunity for human error has been vastly reduced. I should have switched years ago when Brett rst spoke with me!!”

“I can honestly say that the QuickSort is the single best item I’ve ever purchased. The direct labor saving payback was less than one year. The increased e ciency from barcoding at the mark-in counter coupled with the complete elimination of assembly mistakes makes this the smartest business decision I’ve ever made, and one that is paying daily nancial dividends. “

Allan R Cripe CED,CPD

Brian Robertson

Owner, Valet Cleaners and Coin Laundry

Owner, Comet Cleaners of Corinth

Don’t Get ‘WIGGED-OUT’ About ’NUPS

By Chantale Suttle

Aprenuptial or postnuptial agreement can save your business.

Consider two dry cleaners, Ricky and Fred. Both thought they would be married to their wives until “death do they part.” Unfortunately, they both ended up divorced.

Ricky walked out of divorce court personally and professionally ruined. Fred, while emotionally drained, was able to maintain and grow his successful business.

RICKY

Ricky owned a drycleaning business with Lucy, his wife of 19 years. Ricky was in charge of all aspects of the business, but Lucy did manage the company’s payroll and vendors part-time. For the most part, Lucy raised the children and cared for her elderly parents.

When they decided to divorce, Ricky and Lucy were still civil and wanted their divorce to be amicable. Ricky and Lucy worked together, without lawyers, to craft a plan for sharing time with their teenage sons, and for sharing the family’s expenses. They also agreed to sell their house after their youngest son graduated high school.

After a few months, and at the urging of a well-intentioned friend, Lucy hired a lawyer to write up the couple’s plan. Lucy’s main goal was to make sure the divorce ended fairly for her children.

The lawyer, however, believed that since any smallbusiness owner could hide income, assets, or a company’s true value, then Ricky must be doing that, too.

Even though Lucy had a base of knowledge of the business’ finances, she trusted her lawyer and figured that he knew better. So, she agreed to his “scorched earth” strategy to protect her children.

What is a “scorched earth” strategy? This is a common tactic to squeeze a business owner into a large and early settlement.

The lawyer hires an accountant, and they go after every scrap of information and document pertaining to the company’s assets and liabilities, and they question it all — every argument and angle of attack is fair game.

Much of the cost of providing the information and documents, and defending business decisions, must be paid by the business. Desperate, Ricky “lawyered up,” too.

Unfortunately, Ricky’s law firm couldn’t advise him on the settlement terms proposed by Lucy’s lawyer without conducting its own analysis of the company’s records.

Much of the paperwork involved in operating a drycleaning business was foreign to him, and the stringent environmental regulations and reporting was overwhelming. Ricky’s law firm had to hire its own accountant to help value the business for the divorce.

Ricky and Lucy were now far from civil with one another, and the mud began to fly.

Faced with dueling accountants, complicated and conflicting arguments about the business’ finances and value, and accusations against Ricky of financial wrongdoing, the family court judge appointed an independent forensic accountant to advise the court.

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

Prenups and postnups protect your business; think of them as another form of security

The independent accountant saw that the business, which was the couple’s biggest asset, was crumbling be cause the ugly divorce was keeping Ricky from focusing on the business. The accountant was also worried about the accusations of financial wrongdoing.

So, on the independent accountant’s recommendation, the court appointed a receiver to operate the drycleaning business. Ricky and Lucy were now paying six different professionals, and trial was still months away.

The receiver discovered that the company’s records did not comply with drycleaning waste disposal regulations, and reported the noncompliance to government authorities. Ricky and Lucy blamed each other for the missing paperwork, and the sour relationship between them stalled and prevented joint efforts at an amnesty program and damage control.

The business began to accrue daily statutory fines, employees were laid off, debts mounted, and the business eventually shut its doors, while Ricky and Lucy continued to fight in court.

A year later, with no business to provide income for Ricky or Lucy, Ricky agreed to settle by paying Lucy more than half of his share of the house. Lucy accepted the offer, even though it was smaller than what she expected originally, because her share of the house was pledged to pay her lawyer’s fees.

FRED

Fred was married to Ethel for 22 years, and they have a daughter.

Like Ricky and Lucy, Fred ran the business while Ethel was involved part-time in just certain aspects. But unlike Ricky and Lucy, when Fred bought his drycleaning busi ness nine years earlier, Fred and Ethel signed a postnuptial agreement to protect each other in case of divorce.

The attorney-drafted agreement laid out a strict structure for evaluating and dividing the business, and for determin ing Fred’s true income for spousal and child support.

It identified and limited the financial information and documents that the business would have to disclose.

It also required that the couple use a single, neutral accountant, who would be paid from marital property and not by the company.

Early in the divorce, Ethel agreed that the postnuptial agreement was valid.

She waived any right to ask the court to force the com pany to disclose more information or documents than described in the postnuptial agreement. This entitled Ethel to an immediate, fair, and higher award of support, thanks

to a provision that she and Fred put in the agreement to encourage a quick resolution.

Within a month, Fred and Ethel’s divorce was finalized, with minimal attorney and accountant fees, and with no interference or intrusion into the drycleaning business.

How could two similarly situated businesses and fami lies leave divorce court with such different results?

The first story is horrifying, but exceedingly common. Many states have onerous disclosure require ments that unnecessarily burden the time and finances of a small business.

Unscrupulous divorce lawyers are trained to hone in and target a business owner’s fear of having the business’ confidential and financial information exposed to the world.

Fair and careful divorce lawyers will also want extensive company records, because they fear being liable for giving bad advice if they make recommendations without investigating the whole picture themselves.

Either way, good lawyer or bad, smart judge or not, a case involving a small business can be very cost ly. One way to avoid being a Ricky is to get a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement like Fred.

A good prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can render the most intrusive and damaging financial disclosures un necessary, and can limit or attribute the related costs away from the business. In some situations, as explained, they can save the business itself.

If Ricky had a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement in place, maybe a receiver would not have been necessary, and Ricky and Lucy could have resolved the business’ regulatory problems confidentially without going out of business.

Ricky and Fred were not wrong to believe in their mar riages. A lifelong commitment is not fanciful; it is a hope ful and beautiful goal. Most couples think they will reach that goal and that other couples will fill our country’s de pressing divorce statistics.

But consider this, we buy life insurance, install security systems, and wear seat belts “just in case.” They give us security even if we think that odds will always be in our favor.

A careful and thorough prenuptial or postnuptial agree ment can provide you, your spouse, and your business with security that all will be protected in a divorce. ADC

About the author: Chantale Suttle has been a family law attorney for more than 21 years and founded the Miamibased DADvocacy law firm (www.dadvocacy.com).

Chantale Suttle

35 YEARS, 2 GENERATIONS, AND FLOURISHING,

35 YEARS, 2 GENERATIONS, AND FLOURISHING,

. .

. .

.

.

BY WAY of GREENEARTH CLEANING

BY WAY of GREENEARTH CLEANING

Zach Kinzer and Dad, Ken Kinzer of Bridgestone Cleaners in Brooklyn, NY, working as a team, have shifted the 35 year old business into double digit growth, utiliziing all of the tools available from GreenEarth – including two machines using GreenEarth’s safe branded products as well as social media, email/print marketing, and technical support. When Ken started the business as a laundromat, he got help from Zach’s Grandma Arlene. They used to call her the “Queen of Clean” and she laid the ground work for a quality product and service ever since. Ken says his move to 100% GreenEarth in 2010 was the best move he could have made for his employees, customers, and business!

Zach Kinzer and Dad, Ken Kinzer of Bridgestone Cleaners in Brooklyn, NY, working as a team, have shifted the 35 year old business into double digit growth, utiliziing all of the tools available from GreenEarth – including two machines using GreenEarth’s safe branded products as well as social media, email/print marketing, and technical support. When Ken started the business as a laundromat, he got help from Zach’s Grandma Arlene. They used to call her the “Queen of Clean” and she laid the ground work for a quality product and service ever since. Ken says his move to 100% GreenEarth in 2010 was the best move he could have made for his employees, customers, and business!

KEN & ZACH KINZER / BRIDGESTONE CLEANERS’ OWNERS

KEN & ZACH KINZER / BRIDGESTONE CLEANERS’ OWNERS

SPOTTING TIPS

The Wind Reader

Check the “weather.” Look to the horizon. Learn to read fabricare’s “signs.” Be the wind reader!

The way we do business is changing.

From point of sale (POS) systems to wet cleaning to social media marketing, the options available to the fabricare industry are expanding. If you are still doing business exactly as you did just five years ago, you are losing ground to your competition.

Take time to consider your POS system. You don’t have to understand it all, just consider what it can do for you. Versatile in tracking orders, tracking customer visits, handling discounts and upcharges, POS can retain contact information, addresses, phone numbers, social media and e-mail.

If you are not using true wet cleaning to some extent, you are doing yourself a disservice. But, wet cleaning is not going to the supermarket and buying the cheapest detergent. Wet cleaning is using specialized detergents, conditioners, and texturizers to clean and restore drycleanonly textiles.

It is strict control of water temperature, water/detergent pH, mechanical action, and drying. Wet cleaning can improve your productivity, quality, and bottom line.

Association membership gives the opportunity to network with other professionals. It offers information from your computer, tablet, or smartphone. You can get stain removal advice at the touch of a button, in real time.

You now have the ability to market on social media, just by supplying a little information about your plant.

WHERE WE’VE COME FROM

In 1990, dry cleaners were in great shape. This manifested itself in having a financial magazine declare that dry cleaning was one of the 10 best ways to become a millionaire.

But, this was also about the time that environmental interests began taking a hard look at chlorinated products,

including perchloroethylene (perc), the solvent of choice for about 80% of the dry cleaners nationwide.

The knee-jerk reaction to get to no environmental impact has turned into a headlong rush to mediocrity, leaving the customer believing that he or she can do it at home.

The growth of casual attire in the business sector began a slow decline in office dress that required professional care. A growth in turnkey plants lead to oversaturation, with each cleaner getting a smaller slice of market.

All these factors softened the market for dry cleaning.

When we look around today, we see a continuation of this trend. Home appliances are coming to the market preprogrammed for the “dry-clean-at-home” products and tout microprocessor controls that allow the user to get (at the touch of a button) a specialized cycle in a home washer based on fiber, construction, and staining material.

There has been an increase in plant operators who settle for only processing garments. The attitude: Let the machine do all the work. With no follow-up stain removal or touch-up finishing, these operators are working overtime to perpetuate a negative stereotype of the industry.

While the fad of home dry cleaning seems to have faded, the stigma of the possibility of “doing it at home” has remained.

When the buyer of a cleaners fails in the area of gaining knowledge of the profession, they don’t differentiate themselves in the marketplace, with the exception of price.

The spiral continues downward to a level that will not support a return on investment, maintenance and repairs, or reinvestment in up-to-date equipment.

Management is more than having a set of keys and

Martin Young

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

This is for those wondering what’s next in fabricare, told by someone who knows

making payments on a bank note. Management is oversee ing the effective use of all assets: employees, equipment, utilities, supplies, even the cash flow.

Many drycleaning owners are trying to maintain piece count at the expense of profit. While many large corpora tions have downsized over the last 10 years, many dry cleaners have reduced their prices to try and maintain piece counts and poundage.

Cross-training good employees to split time between two departments can reduce your payroll. An example would be having an employee spend six hours in shirts

Companies recognizing this will try to cash in by bringing new products and equipment to market. Cleaners will need as much information and insight as possible to separate true advances from smoke and mirrors.

Home appliance manufacturers will continue to ag gressively pursue a share of the consumer’s fabricare dollar. Plant operators will have to prove to the con sumer that their product is superior to anything that can be done at home.

Managers will have to apply tighter controls to maxi mize quality and productivity, while maintaining or

its mission is to “Establish and maintain excellence and uniformity in commercial drycleaning and laundry service.”

It also writes that it is the “voice for the laundering and drycleaning industry since 1913, and is a state trade association representing hundreds of retailers operating in Michigan.”

The Markses’ business, Ruthy’s, is right in the center of Owosso on Main Street, just east of the Shiawassee River.

“Profits today are steady,” Marks says.

“When I bought this store, there were five cleaners, but now it’s just us. Our population is down to well under 20,000 and falling. It’s becoming a sleepy retirement town.”

In this scenic town, there’s a castle and a steam railroading institute, according to Wikipedia.

This resilient owner offers a tip he learned about raising prices in his small-town market, which he passes along: “Our price raises are small. I don’t like to raise

prices. So we maybe raise them 10 cents or 15 cents. We’ll do it every six months,” he relates.

Marks explains the shift in population in their town and the adjustment he and Ruth had to make to deal with the challenges.

“About 11 years ago when things were changing and numbers were down, cleaners were closing, so I bought their equipment,” Marks says. “There wasn’t enough business to build a new plant.”

“We did do pickup and delivery, but it wasn’t exactly a route,” he continues. “We delivered after 5 p.m., when people were home. But now, our retired customers will just bring us their clothes.”

This small-business owner shares how he does business in his town today, showing how he has adapted, found out what works, and where his niche lies.

“We now serve courthouses, police departments, small business offices. We go right to their businesses as it’s such a small community,” Marks says. It’s busy again

Ruthy’s drycleaning business logo.

where he is and there’s another brief pause. But only for a moment.

“We wanted to keep our business revenue growing,” he says. “We got into fire restoration. Now we have two Laundromats and we bring fire-damaged clothing and work overnight to separate clothes and use the ozone room.”

He found out another new pathway for his business to thrive. And he went with it. Ever the opportunist.

“Fire restoration,” Marks exclaims, “is the most profitable thing I’ve ever done. But things are feast or famine, as many drycleaning owners know. The price of the restoration cleaning is set by the insurance company. I don’t set prices.”

HIS DIME, HIS DANCE

There is brief chit-chat again on his side of the phone line. But he’s right back again.

“I’m busy but I still want more.” Is it hard to be profitable today?

“It is.”

Staff is an issue, he points out. “To have people working for you who show up, who care, you pay

a premium for them.”

Marks talks price again, a factor in his profits, as with any business owner, that must be delicately maintained. He gauges his customers carefully. He knows what competitors get, but he knows his customers so well.

“For the setting of prices, I’m doing shirts at $2.50 and making money but we don’t want to price ourselves out of our market,” he notes. “The bigger towns of Grand Rapids and Lansing are getting more per shirt.”

One last bit of advice from the owner of Ruthy’s before another customer demands his attention and he has to get going:

“If you are planning to raise your prices, do it in ‘little ups’ of price increases.”

He says that by doing it that way, customers barely notice.

“That’s the way I’ve learned my lesson,” Marks advises. “Maybe twice a year, do small, incremental price raises, a dime or so. You can’t just jump up 50 cents.”

That’s one pathway to profit, pointed out by one drycleaning owner. No doubt there are many more ways dry cleaners go about it. But for this Midwestern cleaner, it’s all about those little ups!

Banner year for Hilltop Cleaners

Ben Kohan, owner of Hilltop Cleaners, Encino, Calif., has advice for any cleaner with a big space to fill: “Be bold. Be cre ative. But, mainly, do something!”

Hilltop Cleaners is right around the corner from an upscale supermarket, Gelson’s, freelance writer Larry Siegel reports for Hilltop.

For a long time, Siegel writes, Kohan had pondered how to get the market’s customers to drive half a block farther to his cleaners.

The answer that came to Kohan was to get right into the market’s customers’ faces. He commissioned four huge ban

Ben Kohan, owner of Hilltop Cleaners in Encino, Calif., stands in front of one of the large banners he had installed on the back of his store. His bold, creative idea has brought attention from customers who call them “cute.” (Photo: Hilltop Cleaners)

ners to hang on the back of the clean er’s building.

“We use lots of posters and ban ners inside our plant to promote our services and some of them are up to 5 feet tall since we have high ceilings,” says Kohan.

“But filling a 95-foot-long wall is on a whole different scale … liter ally,” he adds.

The banners, installed in late May, are definitely having an impact, ac cording to Raquel Toledo, Hilltop’s office manager.

“Nearly every day, our customer service reps tell me comments from customers relating how the banners are ‘attention-getting’ and ‘cute.’ Def initely the desired result,” she says.

Meet new FabriClean team

FabriClean Supply has promoted several people to its executive management team, including Trevor Hericks, who has been promoted to president. Hericks has served in numerous operational and management roles since joining the company in 1998.

Jeff Joyce has been named vice president, administra tion. He has extensive distribution management experi ence and currently serves as the company’s controller, FabriClean reports.

Canessa Hericks joined the company in 2001 and has experi ence managing admin istrative functions. She has been promoted to chief information offi cer, a role that includes “managing computer and communication sys tems as well as human resources and internal audit,” FabriClean says.

Joann Sheridan has been named director of purchas ing. Sheridan “has been involved in industry purchasing

for Dallas Tailor, Phenix Supply and FabriClean Supply for the past 24 years,” the company relates.

Other key members of the senior management team in clude Hoppy Williams, who has served as vice president, operations for more than 20 years, and Orville Johnson, a 30-year industry veteran who serves as vice president, sales and marketing.

Drop anchor on Five Stars

Speakers are set for Brainstorming & The Five Stars conference, scheduled for Jan. 17-20, 2019, at Son esta Ocean Point Resort, St. Maarten, co-hosted by the National Cleaners Association (NCA) and the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI), the organiza tions report.

Persuasive Communication is the Only Superpower You Need will be presented by keynote speaker Jeff Tippet. John DiJulius will speak on How to Attract and Retain Millennial Employees and Clients . Finally, Arthur Greeno, long-time Chick-fil-A employee-turnedowner and author, will present The Secret of Chickfil-A’s Success: From Attracting & Training the Best Minimum Wage Employees to Attracting and Optimiz ing Media.

Jeff Joyce

Trevor Hericks

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IN

Ready... Aim... Fire!

10 YEARS AGO. Cincinnati-based consumer-products giant Proctor & Gamble teamed with GreenEarth Cleaning to open three Tide-branded drycleaning stores in the Kansas City metro area this month. Testing the market for branded, “environmentally friendly” drycleaning services, P&G says it will work with an existing operator to convert two plants to the Tide Dry Cleaners flag, and has built and opened one new store. …. A drycleaning clerk suffered a gunshot wound to the head during a robbery in August and survived to tell the tale on NBC’s Today show. According to police reports, the man walked into an East Coast cleaners at 11:30 a.m. and fired a shot into the ceiling and told the clerk to give him the money in the register, then lie facedown on the floor. He then fired a shot — execution style — into the back of her head before fleeing the scene. The clerk regained consciousness after 20 minutes and was able to call 911.

35 YEARS AGO. Danny Eisen, NCA’s garment analyst, went to market to see what is being shown for fall 1983. He reports that there are racks and racks of knitted garments. He warns that some of them may be problems. Some of the knits are finished very poorly with loose yarns. Again, some are very noticeably snagged. These snagged yarns are susceptible to unravel-

ing, creating large holes. Many knits are trimmed with angora, suede, and fur. Care labels on some ignore the trimmings and suggest washing. The Neighborhood Cleaners Assn. offers this timely advice: When accepting a knitted garment, examine it for snagged or broken yarns. Broken yarns can develop into holes — sometimes large holes. Measure knits before drycleaning them and record measurements so the garment can be blocked to its former size after dry cleaning.

50 YEARS AGO. Ready... Aim... Fire! Christmas is coming, and here’s a suggestion for a gift you might give to your employees. An executive of a Chicago corporation recently sent a dart board targeted with his photograph to 70 of his subordinates. Get the point? …. An early-rising stick-up man tied up two employees of a Detroit drycleaning plant, and then sat down to wait for the boss to come in and open the safe for him. Meanwhile, several customers came in while he waited. And to avert suspicion, he waited on them at the counter. He did a pretty fair job of it, too. He worked for well-under minimum wage because his two-hour wait netted him a haul of only $1.50 in the safe’s cash box. Now, let’s see... How do we word that help wanted ad? “Only ex-burglars need apply...”

October 1968

75 YEARS AGO. Taking Off the Heat. In their third advertising campaign of the year, Michigan Plant Owners Association members have been sponsoring a series of ads designed to “take off the heat” — in other words, to avoid a fall cleaning jam. Spread over six weeks and costing around $500 a week, the series started in August. The first ad urged mothers to “Get Those School Clothes Cleaned Now,” and subsequent ads advised sending fall clothes “before the grand rush starts.” The ads are also calling attention to a new Michigan law whereby unclaimed articles left with the cleaner for over 90 days may be disposed of to pay charges. ADC

Compiled by Tim Burke, Editor

The Evolution of Clean

Join these satisfied customers...

Hear what they have to say...

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Fast forward 10 days, I can honestly say I am very happy with the purchase! e learning curve is minimal, the solvent does the job as advertised, we are down to 4 spotting chemicals, the running cycle is just a little bit longer than perc, the clothes come out soft and the colors are vibrant. And when you open the door at the end of the cycle, instead of getting a blast of perc, you get a pleasant and refreshing smell.”

~Craig Ford, Owner/Operator,

“I’ve been in the drycleaning business for 28 years, always using perc. I have been searching for an alternative solvent for the past two years. After researching Sensene, visiting plants running with Sensene for the past few months, it has been beyond my wildest expectations. It’s better than perc! As the owner of Ruthie’s Cleaners, Owasso, MI, I am a hands-on operator and the one that has always done the cleaning. is solvent is just phenomenal. is is my second Columbia machine. In 23 years Columbia has always been the leading company in technology and my new Columbia is a testament to that fact.”

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