American Drycleaner - October 2021

drycleaner

October 2021

Vol. 88, No. 7

FEATURES

Think Like a Marketer

Do you think of marketing as an expense or as an investment? While the competition is cutting back on their customer outreach, experts say that dry cleaners who communicate with their current and potential customers are growing their bases and building their businesses.

Cleaners: Raise Your Prices! (Part 2)

For this section of our three-part series, we’ll look at the myth that “I don’t need to raise my prices” and why, if this is your thinking, you might need to think again to maintain your profitability.

In-person Shows Still Feeling Pandemic’s Effects

Even though its grip on society has loosened, varients of the coronavirus are still calling travel plans for many into question. As a result, Texcare International 2021 has been canceled, and Texcare Asia & China has been postponed.

Our feature-rich software will help you run all aspects of your business more e ectively. CBS includes solutions for full service cleaners, delivery & route services, racking integrations, prepay/post pay, and two-way customer messaging; all features used across the dry-cleaning industry. Ask us about more features!

Our support team is a group of dedicated professionals based in the US that takes pride in taking care of customers without making them wait. We’ve been independently owned and operated for over 20 years, o ering you the long-term trust and support you need!

Within Our Control

There are many factors impacting our lives and our businesses outside of our immediate control in this world. The supply chain, the pandemic, the global economy — the list can seem endless if we dwell on it.

This makes it all the more critical to seize the things that are within our control, such as our mindset, our behaviors and our efforts. Your employees and customers will notice your attitude, and their behaviors and actions often flow from there. In this issue of American Drycleaner, we’re looking at ways dry cleaners can take hold of what they can control and make the most of it.

In our cover feature this month, “Think Like a Marketer,” we’ve asked experts what they believe dry cleaners can get from viewing marketing as an investment rather than an expense. These professionals say that cleaners who control this facet of their business have an essential advantage over their competitors who pare their marketing budget to the bone — or cut it completely.

Our second feature this month is the second part of our series, “Cleaners, Raise Your Prices!” We’re examining myths surrounding some cleaners’ mindset of keeping prices level, ignoring the market forces acting against their business. This month, we’re looking at the myth that “I don’t need to raise my prices” — any why that statement could be jeopardizing their profitability and perhaps their future.

In his article, contributing writer Jeff Quail challenges you to “Realize Your Plant’s Potential.” By expanding the services you offer your customers, you might find new profit centers that will not only allow you to ride out challenging times but enable you to grow your business. Often, this expansion only requires an open mind.

In our featured showcase this month, we’re examining tensioning equipment that will give your customers’ clothing the crisp appearance that lets them look good — as well as feel good about their choice to bring their business to you.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed in the world today. By keeping our attention on what we can control, we can maintain our confidence and make a positive difference. 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, 650 West Lake Street, Suite 320, 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 88, number 7. Editorial, executive and advertising offices are at 650 West Lake Street, Suite 320, 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, 2021. 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 2021

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 Dave Davis 312-361-1685 ddavis@ATMags.com

Digital Media Director

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

Production Manager

Mathew Pawlak

Advisory Board

Jan Barlow Mike Bleier

John-Claude Hallak Wesley Nelson Kyle Nesbit Mike Nesbit Fred Schwarzmann Beth Shader Vic Williams

Contributing Editors

Dan Miller

Diana Vollmer Martin Young

Office Information

Main: 312-361-1700

Subscriptions 847-504-8175 ADC@Omeda.com www.american drycleaner.com

Dave Davis

Find Staff in a Lean Labor Market

Many dry cleaners are facing a resurgence of business as society starts to return to something approaching normal. Based on the results of our latest American Drycleaner “Your Views” survey, however, we see that some are facing a new problem: They don’t have enough staff to handle the increased load.

When asked how they would describe their current staffing situation, more than 70% of our respondents said that they need more people. Of these, 31.4% reported that they are understaffed to the point of impacting their ability to serve their customers, and 39.2% said that it’s difficult to get all the work done some days. Only 2% found themselves with too many employees to keep everyone busy, with another 2% facing the prospect of cutting their staff.

Applications have been slow to come in for many of our respondents. “For the first time in 25 years, I don’t have a single application,” one cleaner reported. “We have had three open positions for four months,” another said, “and we can’t find employees.”

Increased government unemployment benefits, passed as a measure to lessen the impact of the pandemic, are the reason many of our respondents blamed for the shrinking labor pool. “The Federal help has allowed employees to make higher demands,” one cleaner said. Another reported that while “many apply to work, they never respond to a call for an interview or, if scheduled an interview, never show up.”

Because of this lack of available workers, many cleaners are actively searching for more help — and the way they conduct this search has changed over the years.

More than half (54.9%) report that online job search sites are their primary method of adding members to their staff. A third (33.3%) of our respondents said that word of mouth is their preferred way of finding people. What many think of the “classic” ways to find help have fallen out of favor, with only 7.8% reporting that newspaper want ads are their primary focus when hiring, and in-store displays trailed the list at 3.9%.

Indeed was listed as the primary job board for this purpose, with 51.2% of respondents saying it had given them the best results.

When asked what changes they have put in place to make their companies more attractive to potential employees or retain their current staff members, most respondents reported that they have increased wages. Some have also

How would you describe your current staffing situation?

How would you describe your current staffing situation?

How would you describe your current staffing situation?

Understaffed — it’s impacting our ability to serve our customers

Understaffed — it’s impacting our ability to serve our customers

Need a few more employees — it’s difficult to get all the work done some days

Need a few more employees — it’s difficult to get all the work done some days Properly staffed — the workload is well balanced

Properly staffed — the workload is well balanced

We have a few too many employees — it’s difficult to keep everyone busy

We have a few too many employees — it’s difficult to keep everyone busy

Overstaffed — We’re going to have to cut staff

Overstaffed — We’re going to have to cut staff

What is your primary method of finding new employees?

What is your primary method of finding new employees?

What is your primary method of finding new employees?

Online job search site Word of mouth/referral

Online job search site

Word of mouth/referral

Newspaper want ad In-store display

Newspaper want ad In-store display

added more flexible work schedules or other creative ways to fully staff their stores. Responses included:

• “Have a policy to pay a bonus when a current employee refers a new employee — after the new employee has had six months of successful employment.”

• “Our starting wage is $15 per hour. Our price for pants is $14, and laundered dress shirts is $4.25. No problems.”

• “It’s time to pay our staff a living wage if you are not already doing so. We don’t need mandated minimum wages. Finally, market forces are putting pressure on employers to pay staff a respectable wage. Long time coming.”

The “Your Views” survey offers a current snapshot of the trade audience’s views. The publication invites qualified subscribers to American Drycleaner emails to participate anonymously in the unscientific poll each quarter.

SankoshaUSAInc.

SankoshaUSAInc.

Cleaners: Raise Your Prices!

Think again.

By Dave Davis, Editor

There are two separate skill sets that all owners of drycleaning companies need to have. The first, and most obvious, is the ability to clean and care for their customers’ goods. The second is the ability to effectively operate a business, keeping profitability front and center of all their efforts.

This second set of skills can be difficult for many because the mindset might not come as naturally to them as does the day-to-day routine of cleaning. However, without the ability to consistently turn a profit, it’s almost impossible to keep a business afloat for the long term.

One of the traps many dry cleaners find themselves in is not keeping pace with rising costs. For this three-part series, American Drycleaner has asked industry experts, along with dry cleaners who have discovered the benefits of appropriate pricing, to dispel some of these myths that hurt profitability.

In Part 1 last month, we examined our first myth — “I’ll price myself out of my market” — along with ways successful cleaners have broken themselves out of that mindset. For the second part of this series, we’ll look at another justification some owners give for keeping their prices the same season after season:

MYTH NO. 2: “I DON’T NEED TO RAISE MY PRICES”

For cleaners who only consider their short-term needs — and as long their business is stable for the moment — the risk of potentially upsetting customers with a price hike might not seem worth it. This can be a short-sighted outlook, however, and one that puts their future in jeopardy.

“Businesses are not supposed to run at a break-even basis,” says Kermit Engh, managing partner of the

drycleaning consulting group Methods for Management and the owner of Fashion Cleaners in Omaha, Nebraska. “If it is, it’s just a job — it’s not a business. You want a business that has value for the day you wish to retire. Keeping steady price increases, knowing what your costs are and controlling your costs are all imperative for operating a successful business.”

“I don’t think most cleaners will have the option not to adjust pricing if they want a sustainable business,” says David Dawson, a longtime industry veteran and principal of the Clean Expertise consulting group. “It’s critically important to generate profits that allow one to reinvest in the business. If you generate the capital necessary to employ productivity-enhancing equipment and technologies and support a brand-building marketing budget, future price increases become less urgent.”

COUNT THE (REAL) COST

Randy Parham, CEO of Acme Cleaners, based in Orlando, Florida, believes the trap many cleaners fall into is worrying too much about what the competition is doing to price their services correctly — to the point that they fail to take into account their own overhead.

“Your pricing is your own,” he says. “Your competitors’ prices may be drastically different than what yours are. They could be higher than yours unnecessarily, or they could be significantly lower. I don’t think a lot of cleaners put much thought into what their actual costs are. You’ve got to look at costs such as rent, labor, electricity, telephone, supplies for both the counter and in production, repairs, maintenance and insurance. A lot of these are commonly overlooked.”

Think you don’t need to raise your prices?

Once these factors are accounted for, only then can a dry cleaner see the full scope of their business.

“You’ve got to figure out what your costs are, and then figure out what your production is capable of doing,” Parham says. “If you say, ‘I’m going to be at this price, but I need 60,000 pieces a week to make it profitable,’ chances are you’re going to be pretty short of that production goal. Once you factor in your labor, fixed costs and everything else, you’ll have the information necessary to say, ‘Here’s the number that I need to make every month to be profitable.’”

DO THE MATH

Before factoring in price increases, Dawson says that cleaners should first make sure that they are running their business as cost-effectively as possible.

“Reducing production costs are an option worth considering,” he says. “Not everyone has tapped into all of the efficiency options available to them. Dry cleaners can’t avail themselves of some of the strategies other businesses employ. You can’t put less ice cream in the tub or make the candy bar smaller to avoid raising the price. But in times like these, you might try to develop creative ways to work around the temporary shortage and availability issues that are causing supply cost increases.”

Once this process is complete, Engh says, it’s time to get down to business and do the math.

“A substantial number of cleaners really have no idea what their costs are to produce the work that they’re putting out,” he says, “so they don’t have a process and a system in place for determining their pricing. What are their costs? What is their overhead? What’s their desired profit margin? Rarely do operators know these costs.”

SETTING PRICES FOR PROFITABILITY

In the past, Parham has increased prices about 1% a

year, rounding up or down slightly to make the prices convenient for the customer and his staff. With the current global supply chain issues and increasing labor costs, however, his overhead is rising, and he is keeping pace with his own incremental pricing increases.

“We’ve got manufacturers calling us and sending us emails saying, ‘Hey, get ready. Your prices are going to be going through the roof,’” he says. “To stay profitable, I can’t just eat those costs. I may be able to do that for a certain period, but I can’t do it all the time.”

Parham points out that his customers have been understanding about price increases. “I’ve found that, as long as you give an answer with confidence, people are OK with it. They just want to know that there is a reason.”

Part of the overhead Parham factors into his expenses is the training and the above-minimum-wage salaries his staff receives. While he could skimp in this area, he says that it would be a huge mistake.

“We are in a time where everyone’s OK with people making a living, so why not your employees, as well?” he asks rhetorically. “Customers tell me all the time that we have the best customer-service people, and that doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to find and train the right people, and that’s a cost. Is that cost factored into your pricing?”

Parham believes that the service he provides to his customers and the training he gives his staff makes each customer’s experience positive and provides value to his clients. Because of this, although he checks in on the competition, he doesn’t worry about what other cleaners in his area are charging their own clients.

“I think you want to be aware of it,” he says. “If they’re half the price, you need to figure out why. Is it some sort of competitive advantage that they have over me? Or are they just severely underpriced? If that’s the case, they’re going to burn through their own money — and my philosophy is that I’m OK with that. Them losing money every month doesn’t bother me one bit.”

Parham says that keeping his prices competitive, but also high enough to provide profitability, gives him something that many dry cleaners have been yearning for: peace of mind.

“I know that every single dry cleaner over the past year and a half has been on the verge of heart attack more than once,” he says. “If your prices are set right, though, you’re going to have a higher cash flow, which is going to put you at ease to be able to pay for repairs and higher hanger prices. When you’re sitting around watching your bank account, it’s not fun. And it doesn’t take much to really improve your bottom line.” ADC

Next month, we’ll conclude our series by examining Myth No. 3: Never Raise Prices in a Tough Market.

(Photo: iStock.com/Rasi Bhadramani)

Think Like a Marketer

By Dave Davis, Editor

When lean times strike, the temptation is to cut expenses down to the bone. While this is a sound strategy for many areas of the business, there’s one budget area that experts agree should remain in place — or should even be expanded.

THE PROPER MARKETING MINDSET

“From my experience, most operators in our industry see marketing as a cost rather than an investment,” says Dave Coyle, team leader of Maverick Drycleaners, an online group focused on marketing and advertising ideas and concerns of cleaners. Instead of a drain, Coyle says, marketing can be used a fuel

“You are giving attention to your competitors’ top 20% of clients while their current provider is cutting costs and neglecting these clients,” he says. “It is the perfect time to gain market share. Hit the accelerator when almost everyone else is pumping the brakes.”

Connecting with your clients in a meaningful way is key to making your marketing investment pay off, says Diana Vollmer, managing director for Ascend Consulting Group. This is especially true in this post-pandemic landscape where customers’ demands have changed.

“Marketing has become much more challenging,” she says, “because it is necessary to remind the customer of what you could do for them, and then really pivoting to what they need today.”

Vollmer says that adding or expanding routes — and marketing their availability and benefits — was one method many cleaners used to reconnect with their clients.

“If the customer hadn’t been on the route before, once they experienced the convenience, it got them back into the habit much easier,” she says.

“It’s no secret that the pandemic had a large impact on our industry,” Coyle says. “The speed of the rebound after the bottom fell out was determined by the experience of the operator — how quickly they adjusted expenses to the lower revenue — and how they handled their relationships with clients through marketing.”

(Photo: © peshkova/Depositphotos)

CONNECTING WITH THE CUSTOMER

The heart of effective marketing is to keep the needs of the client in mind, Coyle says.

“Most businesses talk about themselves way too much,” he says. “The operators fall in love with their own company, their services, their equipment, and their processes. This is completely the wrong approach. They should be falling in love with their clients and constantly be asking how they can provide the very best outcome for them. This is what puts them in the position of a trusted adviser.”

Part of this bond comes from simply connecting with clients the way they prefer.

“Customers are expecting to be more and more individually targeted,” Vollmer says, “so it seems like the marketer is talking to only them. The way this can be accomplished is by keeping lots of information and data in the system. For example, if you know the last time they had their rug cleaned, they can get a notice that says, ‘Your rug was last cleaned on Oct. 17, and it’s time to do it again.’”

Vollmer believes that no one wants to be part of a faceless crowd, and modern marketing allows cleaners to forge personal relationships with their customer base.

“Point of sale systems can provide an analysis based on their data, and cleaners who don’t know how to do this should get with their POS provider to get over that hurdle,” Vollmer says.

She points out that third-party companies can provide customer profiles to help dry cleaners narrow their focus and provide their customers with what they need, when they need it. She also belives cleaners shouldn’t be shy about asking their marketing company for this service.

“If they ask their marketer about profiling and they get a blank stare, they have the wrong marketer,” Vollmer says. “It’s a very common, everyday practice in marketing circles now.”

This capability to granularly sift data to target individual clients is a game-changer, and one cleaners have full power to take advantage of in their promotional efforts.

“Having the ability to talk to the clients one on one — and have them believe that they’re being spoken with as individuals, as opposed to mass marketing — is really the direction it’s going,” Vollmer says. “It’s a very customer-specific focus.”

GOING SOCIAL

Social media is all around us, and dry cleaners who can leverage this type of communication will find themselves far ahead of their competition, Coyle says. Still, it’s important to remember why people use social media in the first place — and it’s not to look at advertisements.

“Part of marketing is to tell a good story,” he says. “Social media can be used to tell the story of the business, including spotlighting team members, services and special offerings. But it can also be used to tell the story of your clients — how much time they have saved, how great they feel in their cloth ing, and how safe they feel having you sanitize their house hold items. Make sure you are always telling a story using social media, rather than always selling.”

Also critical is the choice of which social media platform to use for specific audiences.

“All social media is targeted at what I’ll call tribes,” Vollmer says. “These are people with similar needs, wants, lifestyles, and so on. Part of the profiling effort identifies those tribes, and then you can sell specifically to them through whatever media they’re enjoying at the time.”

A key part of marketing is keeping track of where the intended audience is, Vollmer says, because that can quickly evolve. Different age groups and demographics tend to flock to different platforms.

“With millennials, for instance, it changes a lot,” she says. “When a channel like TikTok becomes popular and well known among other generations, the millennials will abandon it for something that’s more esoteric, something that they feel is just them until that becomes overpublicized. It’s important to stay on top of the most utilized media for your target tribes. You might have five or six or more tribes that are good customer segments for you, but they need to be marketed to differently.”

TAKE THE TIME, MAKE THE EFFORT

This constant undertaking of keeping track of the desires and habits of your customer can seem overwhelming at times, but it’s necessary to keep up with your clients. When dry cleaners feel they are “too busy” for this task, they are putting their businesses at risk.

“If a cleaner said they’re ‘too busy’ for marketing, I’d ask them if they’re too busy to become extinct?” Vollmer says. “It’s one of the most important things they can do.”

Coyle agrees with this assessment: “‘Too busy’ means the operator is working in the operations of the business too much, and not spending time working on the business.”

Cleaners might not be able to get their marketing and operations under control with a snap of their fingers, but over time, applying the correct focus to the right areas can make a huge difference.

“The solution is simple — but not easy,” Coyle says. “First, create marketing systems that work to increase operational cash flow. Second, use this new cash flow to invest in key team members who can give you the freedom to work on the business. Third, find the joy in helping your team members to grow, and finally, optimize your financials.”

In-person Shows Still Feeling Pandemic’s Effects

Texcare International 2021 canceled, Texcare Asia & China postponed

Although vaccines have loosened the grip of the pandemic on society, its effects are still rippling through the industry. Coronavirus variants are causing ongoing travel concerns, and in-person events are paying the price for this uncertainty.

TEXCARE INTERNATIONAL 2021 CANCELED

Messe Frankfurt, the organizer of Texcare International 2021, recently announced that the event, scheduled to be held in Frankfurt, Germany, in late November, will not take place this year due to pandemic concerns and exhibitor departures.

In a statement, Messe Frankfurt reported that several leading drycleaning and laundry technology suppliers used the free cancellation deadline it offered to opt out of the Texcare International show, citing the ongoing challenges posed by the global coronavirus pandemic. In light of this, the Texcare International Advisory Council voted to cancel the event because its success could no longer be guaranteed.

Messe Frankfurt offered exhibitors the option to cancel their participation free of charge up until Sept. 3. Because the pandemic looked to be increasingly under control thanks to vaccinations, around 200 companies had registered for the event. However, because of uncertainties that have arisen in recent weeks, many companies decided to cancel their participation because of the uncertain future of travel and other pandemic-related concerns.

“Together with our partners, we worked untiringly to stage the Texcare International for the textile-care sector in the autumn,” says Kerstin Horaczek, vice president technology shows at Messe Frankfurt. “However, a leading international trade fair with a significantly reduced spectrum on show would not do justice to participants’ expectations of the fair as the most important meeting place and innovation hub for the sector. Therefore, we

have decided to accept the vote of the Advisory Council and cancel Texcare International 2021. We are extremely sorry about this. At the same time, we are grateful for the ongoing, high level of commitment demonstrated by the sector for their most important trade fair.”

When asked about rescheduling, a spokesperson for Messe Frankfurt said that Texcare International will not take place in 2022 and that the team in Frankfurt hasn’t disclosed plans for future editions at this time.

TEXCARE ASIA & CHINA DELAYED

The Texcare International announcement came just after organizers announced that the 2021 Texcare Asia & China Laundry Expo has been postponed until Dec. 22-24.

The event, initially scheduled for September, was moved due to uncertainty about participants being able to travel to Shanghai because of an increase in coronavirus cases and China’s resultant anti-epidemic measures.

In a statement, the organizers of the show say they made the decision to delay the event to provide more certainty for participants in their preparation. The annual event is organized by the China Laundry Association and the China Light Industry Machinery Association, as well as Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. and Unifair Exhibition Service Co. Ltd.

The 2021 Texcare Asia & China Laundry Expo will remain at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre for the new December dates.

Additional public health measures will also be put in place during this year’s edition, organizers said. “These include real identity pre-registration and entry checkpoints to verify the digital health code of all participants and onsite temperature scans,” the statement reported. Frequent sanitization of facilities will also take place, and distancing measures will be implemented for seminar attendees.

Capacity = More

TENSIONING EQUIPMENT

Unipress Corp.

Because the most daunting hurdles to profitability for dry cleaners include production and labor, Unipress Corp believes that its Versaform V4 all-purpose tensioning finisher is more valuable than ever.

The company says that the V4 will finish garments no matter what process is used — laundry, wet cleaning or dry cleaning. The unit features a microprocessor with nine programs that will allow the operator to finish everything from a size 2 ladies blouse to a full-length gown, suit coat or a lab coat.

The unit, Unipress says, includes centrally located air valves, color-coded air lines, high-capacity blower motors, easy-tochange pads and one-touch program selection.

The company notes that factory training is available at no additional cost.

www.unipresscorp.com | 813-623-3731

Trevil America

Trevil America has introduced the latest version of its multigarment tensioning finisher — the Princess Ultra. The company says that this machine can press everything from ladies’ blouses to men’s shirts, along with suit jackets, chef coats, lab coats, and more. The smallest shoulder in the industry allows finishing of blouses as small as size 0 petite, the company claims, with the capability to reach men’s sizes 3XL or larger.

New updates include a dual expansion system for better finish ing of shirts/blouses or jackets requiring side tensioning. Trevil America says that its patented dual rotating front clamp allows for simple conversion from wet to dry garments without needing to remove and store the unused clamp.

This finisher, it says, is fully programmable, allowing for the finishing of both wetcleaned or drycleaned garments. Programs include wet shirts and blouses, dry shirts and blouses, jackets, pullovers and spandex, and can be modified to fit the specific needs of any plant.

www.TrevilAmerica.com | 877-873-8451

TENSIONING EQUIPMENT

Hi-Steam

For the past 20 years, the company reports, the Hi-Steam SAM-451 has been the leading tensioning equipment to finish all types of garments — laundered shirts as well as drycleaned blouses, suit jackets, polo shirts, and more. The machine is height adjustable, so longer garments, such as dresses and lab coats (up to 48”) are no problem, Hi-Steam says.

When the operating cycle starts, the bag on the machine in flates in the shape and size of the garment, so the operator can finish the small blouse (size XS) to large men’s shirt (Size 3XL). The machine holds the garment under tension while blowing hot steam and air into the garment using a three-horsepower blower motor. No hot metal touches the garment, the company says, so there are no broken buttons, no wear and tear on the fabric, no shine on dark fabric, no loss of color and no damage to heat-sensitive fabric. With no sick days and no vacation, SAM-451 will simply keep working, the company says, so it saves time and labor for the busy dry cleaner.

www.histeam.com | 888-460-9292

Forenta

Forenta’s model 607TFF Tension Form Finisher ranks as one of the most versatile steam-air finishers on the market, the company states, ready to finish a wide range of garments. Capable of finishing men’s and ladies’ coats, jackets, dresses, shirts, blouses and more, Forenta says the form can be raised an extra 30 inches from its base position to accommodate extra-long garments such as robes or lab coats.

Accessories include sleeve forms and a front placket clamp. Additional features include adjustable shoulder expanders, the ability to finish with or without tension, and an ergonomically placed control panel.

The 607TFF o ers front and rear clamps for tensioning and nontensioning garments, the company says, noting that this model’s semiautomatic vent clamps close manually and automatically release at the end of the cycle.

www.forentausa.com | 423-586-5370

Sankosha

Sankosha’s DF-740U-V3 Tensioning Pants Topper marks the fifth generation of the Sankosha Tensioning Toppers that debuted more than 20 years ago. This machine provides a wide range of options for a variety of fabric and pant styles, the company says. From corduroys to spandex, Sankosha says that this machine can finish them all.

Features of the DF-740U-V3, Sankosha reports, include easy garment settings for greater productivity, an automatic pants cu clamp unit to ensure proper finish quality, a manual pre-steam feature to minimize wrinkles and an inverter to adjust the blower motor depending on the fabric type.

The company states that ease of use, durability and a design from the eye of a dry cleaner are all hallmarks of this best-selling line of products. Sankosha says that, with its attention to detail, this machine is labor saving and makes a great set with other Sankosha products.

www.sankosha-inc.com | 847-427-9120

Realize Your

Plant’s Potential

Grow your business through restoration, routes and wash-dry-fold

By Jeff Quail

As a textile care business, there are ways to generate new revenue that don’t necessarily mean reinventing the wheel or investing in a bunch of new equipment. One of the best ways to expand is by getting more money out of your existing customers. In many cases, your competition is spending more to steal your customers away than you are trying to keep them. Growth doesn’t have to be new growth — it’s much easier to grow with what you already have.

In this column, I’ll highlight some markets primed for growth that complement dry cleaning and offer some tips on serving those markets through smart use of equipment and labor. The good news is that when new equipment is justified to ramp up production, the return on investment (ROI) is typically less than two years.

EXPAND ROUTE SERVICES

Many dry cleaners already run a routes for residential/ business dry cleaning and pressing. Why not pick up and process the rest of your customers’ stuff as well, including bed linens, comforters, jeans, t-shirts and socks? You likely already have the employees and equipment needed to process the extra work in the plant. Don’t forget area rugs and window treatments. Even if you have to wholesale out, you want your customer to think of only you when they have a textile that needs to be cleaned.

OFFER DROP-OFF WASH-DRY-FOLD

It doesn’t matter if your operation is small or big with a bunch of satellite stores — you will benefit from offering drop-off wash-dry-fold services. This is a fairly new concept in the industry, previously reserved for area laundromats. But, why? Again, most dry cleaners have

ADD TEXTILE RESTORATION

Now let’s talk about a market that’s a little more complicated: textile restoration and the process of restoring clothing and household items to pre-incident condition after being damaged by water, moisture or smoke. In this business, you’ll work directly with insurance agents to gather documents and sort damaged items. Cleaned items will need to be stored until they can be returned to the owner. This is a much larger subject that can’t be covered here, but keep it in mind when thinking expansion.

REDUCE BOTTLENECKS

Now that you’ve increased the number of items your plant will process, look at where and what you’ll need to accomplish the job. The typical production bottlenecks are found in the cleaning of textiles, finishing of textiles, and the matching, bagging and storage of textiles. Sometimes new equipment is justified to break through these productivity lags.

FIND NEW EQUIPMENT SOLUTIONS

Wetcleaning Systems

One of the easiest ways to increase production to handle new or expand wash/dry/fold, route and textile restoration services is through a wetcleaning system. It can be less expensive than an additional drycleaning machine and can clean virtually any item or garment in a shorter time.

Not only can a wetcleaning system streamline the wash/dry/fold business, water is often the best way to re-

the equipment and staff in-house to handle cleaning everything from household items to clothing.

((Image licensed by Ingram Image)

store garments damaged by soot, smoke or water. Thanks to low upfront and operating costs, a wetcleaning system, depending on volume, will have a 24-month-or-less ROI.

Tensioning Equipment

Garment finishing is becoming a lost art. Fortunately, technology is helping solve the problem of finding experienced finishers. Today’s tensioning equipment does a fantastic job with minimal training.

If you’re having trouble finding pressers, whether you’re actively trying to expand your business or not, investing in new tensioning equipment is strongly recommended. Trust me — the garments will fly through the plant. It’s another investment that should pay for itself within two years.

Garment Management System

Garment management has really grown over the years. When properly set up, it tracks a customer’s order from drop-off until it is returned to them. These systems are no longer only for large plants or multi-store operators. The automated matching systems can actually be more of a benefit to the smaller stores because they typically run with a smaller workforce. The automated matching system acts like an extra employee who never calls in sick or takes a break. Larger operations can take it a step fur-

ther and go with the automatic bagging stations, another example of an extra “employee.”

Restoration businesses, for example, need a complex garment-management system because their orders tend to require long-term storage. Having an accurate way to track these orders is an absolute must.

The labor savings allow automated matching and bagging systems to pay for themselves in less than a year. Operations can replace an employee and allow their pressers to go home when they are done pressing, rather than having them pitch in to match the clothes on the rack.

EMBRACE YOUR DISTRIBUTOR’S KNOWLEDGE

Monika Manter of Balfurd Dry Cleaners discusses growing into a leadership role in a family business, and how to make a smooth transition for everyone involved.

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To help you sort it all out and pinpoint new potential markets in your area, reach out to your equipment distributor. This is key because your distributor knows the market trends, can help identify bottlenecks in your plant, and can recommend appropriate products to ensure you start off on the right foot.

ADC

Jeff Quail, of Eagle Star Equipment, Troy, Michigan, is a textile care, drycleaning and wetcleaning expert with more than 30 years of hands-on industry operations experience. He is a frequent contributor to industry journals and associations.

Every FREE episode offers:

• Topics of specific interest to dry cleaners like you

• Engaging industry-specific conversation with an expert

• Business-building tips you won’t find anywhere else

Jon Simon of Parkway Custom Drycleaning shares his experiences of starting a new plant — selecting the location, moving his operations and surprises he found along the way.

Brian Butler, president of Dublin Cleaners, discusses how to handle customer complaints, ways to train your staff, methods to avoid conflict and what to do when conflict is unavoidable.

Listen in at: americandrycleaner.com/podcasts

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Maintenance, Superfund and Sage Advice

10 YEARS AGO.

Maintaining the Store

— As part of American Drycleaner’s Wire survey, dry cleaners were asked who does the majority of the maintenance in their stores. Half (50%) of the dry cleaners polled said they perform “most” of their plant’s basic maintenance, while another 28.3% reporting that they performed “all” of the maintenance. Only 36.2%, however, reported following a regular maintenance schedule. “All drycleaning operators should have basic mechanical knowledge of every aspect of the plant,” one respondent said.

25

YEARS AGO. Superfund Fights

— As a way to publicly address the drycleaning industry’s ongoing battle with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“Superfund”), former IFI Chairman Wade Elam spoke to a group of Superfund managers at their conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Elam discussed the industry’s experience with state programs. Entitled “Times, They are a-Changin’,” the conference was intended to give managers an opportunity to hear from different industries.

50 YEARS AGO. Sage Advice — Ben Rosenfield, executive director of the Chicago Drycleaners Association, felt that business conditions were improving in the industry, but noted in the CDA’s newsletter that dry cleaners could help their own cause, not-

ing among other things that “cutting prices below your breakeven point is cutting your own throat,” “raising prices without giving the customer more for her money can similarly put you out of business,” and “you are not in business to dry clean — you are in business to make a profit! And you can only make a profit from sales to satisfied customers.”

85 YEARS

AGO. Chemical Rain —

After a five-year fight, the Federal Cleaners & Dryers moved the loca-

tion of their plant in Bloomfield, N.J. The move came after residents complained about the smoke that came from the plant, also saying that “the atmosphere rained chemical particles,” and the noise from overtime work at night kept neighbors awake. Since the original plant had moved into that location before zoning ordinances were passed, the company argued, the ordinance did not apply

Compiled by Dave Davis, Editor

Productshaveproventolastupto10timeslongerthan similarproductioninthisindustryandapplications.

Wehavemanyinstallationswithsteamboilersthathave beeninserviceforover50-years,10hoursperday.

Thematerialsusedincurrentproductsarebetterthanthe materialsused50yearsago.Forexample,inthe80’s, steam drumwentfrom3/8”thickto1/2”thick.

Ourheatingsurfaceoramountofsteelabsorbingenergy has alwaysbeen2to3timesthatofotherunits(upto6sf ofheatingsurface per boilerhorsepower,whichsomeunits arecloserto2sfofsteel per hp,andsomeeven1sf).

Wehavethebestdistributedflameormostevensurface areaevenlydistributedundertheentirepressurevessel. It isalsoamodulardesign,so it canberepairedeasily.

Tube materials were upgraded from seamlessrated pipe to seamlessrated tubing. Material is not only thicker, ends up .133 wall, but is annealed which give the surface on both sides a mill scale coating that is more resistant to corrosion and is long lasting from testing.

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