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Thread Number: 88267
/ Tag: Other Home Products or Autos
Laundromat Business - Anyone Considering? |
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Post# 1128390 9/11/2021 at 20:20 (949 days old) by Launderess  (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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At least here in NYC area laundromats, dry cleaners and even laundries have been going through hard times for awhile. Then came covid-19 which just piled on more misery.
citylimits.org/2021/04/20/worker... www.thecity.nyc/coronavir... smallbiztrends.com/2020/07/laund... www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20... High rents and other fixed costs along with competition from various app or online services are driving self-serve laundromats out of business. This coupled with increasingly multi-family housing is offering either on premises laundry equipment, or allowing residents to have washing machines and dryers in their units. Local laundromat attendant tells that bulk of their business comes from wash and fold service. And this is from a place that is the only laundromat around for miles. | ||
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Post# 1128447 , Reply# 2 9/12/2021 at 12:56 (948 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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Post# 1128480 , Reply# 4 9/12/2021 at 18:56 (948 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Dry Cleaners on this side of pond were already on shaky ground thanks to changing habits. More casual office and so forth wear meant less need for dry cleaning.
Covid came along and is piling on more misery. In our area alone about four or more dry cleaners closed since March 2020. There are pages upon pages of hits for Google search "dry cleaners closing" www.latimes.com/californi... www.ourmidland.com/opinion/lette... Once a staple in areas all over USA, "Chinese" hand laundries are closing at a rapid pace as well. Their numbers had been declining for years, and we just lost one the last NYC. www.nbcnews.com/specials/... www.fox5atlanta.com/news/histori... | ||
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Post# 1129136 , Reply# 6 9/20/2021 at 10:19 (941 days old) by neptunebob (Pittsburgh, PA) |
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It was an environmental disaster in the 50s. | ||
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Post# 1129182 , Reply# 8 9/20/2021 at 21:30 (940 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Dry cleaning isn't just about formal wear
Until the process came along entire groups of clothing, household furnishings and other items simply couldn't be cleaned.
Certain silks, linens, cottons, woolens, etc.. and or things made with dyes that ran couldn't be wet cleaned. Contact with water meant dye loss, color change, shape change (shrinkage), loss of certain effects (crepe), and so on. Trousers, dresses, gowns, jackets, coats, drapery, rugs, entire range of things simply couldn't be cleaned properly. Best one could do was apply or immerse things in some sort of absorbent like fuller's earth, clay, bran, to absorb oils, then brush off. Now if by "formal" one means everyday business suits, dresses, slacks, etc.. Then yes, the ever increasing casual nature of both work and social life has meant less of that in wardrobes. Twenty or thirty years ago no one would dare show up at office, meetings, certain social events in jeans and trainers. Now you see that even at funerals or other once dress up occasions. | ||
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Post# 1129183 , Reply# 9 9/20/2021 at 21:47 (940 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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While laundromats may be dying as a business, laundry services (especially app based) are taking off.
www.arlnow.com/2017/05/15... Problem Cleanly and other app services have is they largely don't own their own plants. Work is farmed out to various wholesalers which makes quality control difficult. It also means a high loss rate since orders can be anywhere. www.yelp.com/biz/cleanly-... play.google.com/store/apps/detai... www.vice.com/en/article/v745kj/w... | ||
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Post# 1129188 , Reply# 10 9/21/2021 at 02:13 (940 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Post# 1129192 , Reply# 11 9/21/2021 at 05:52 (940 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Hard to believe almost over 70 years ago now how revolutionary coin laundromats were to society.
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Post# 1129206 , Reply# 12 9/21/2021 at 10:36 (940 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Did you notice | ||
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Post# 1129245 , Reply# 13 9/21/2021 at 19:46 (939 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area) |
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I went past two washaterias (same owner - one in Goshen, other in Blanchester) tonight about 7 PM, and business was booming. The Goshen location is near a mobile home park, and both are near homes that have well water and septic tanks. They seem to do well in rural areas. | ||
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Post# 1129250 , Reply# 14 9/21/2021 at 20:35 (939 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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In general laundromats do best where they have potential for captive market. That is large percentage of households who for various reasons do not have access to at least washing machines.
That game is changing in many areas for many reasons. First and foremost the expansion of front loading washing machines has done wonders for those living in multi-family housing. Something long known in Europe, you can fit a five or six kilogram capacity front loader pretty much anywhere, and do a full load of washing. In comparison top loading portables (with central beaters) are rather limited. You can do blankets an a set of queen or king sized bed linens in 5kg front loader. Top loading portables OTOH may be a different story. Other thing is since H-axis washers use less water than top loaders per cycle, worries about overwhelming plumbing or whatever in old buildings are less. That and also risk of flooding when twenty or more gallons of water for some reason is accidently goes astray. In Europe homes with their own washers (front loaders) will go use laundromats under certain situations. Things like big/bulky items, and or having lots of wash they want done in short period of time. www.automaticwasher.org/c... | ||
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Post# 1129252 , Reply# 15 9/21/2021 at 21:01 (939 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Not that anyone asked....
But in case people wondered why all those startup app based laundries have such huge problems with losing things, answer is simple; they're cheaping out in trying to do huge volumes of commercial laundry using various laundromats or whatever spread out.
Since they arrived on scene commercial/steam laundries that did wholesale or direct customer (usually route) work had one big problem. Making sure customers got back items that they sent. This usually meant marking things with tapes, ink, or whatever marks. Today it is done with barcodes, but never the less it has to be done. Until smaller h-axis washing machines (say 20 to thirty pounds) came along only thing available for commercial laundries were huge machines for 50, 60, 100 pounds or more capacity. This actually works out well for a laundry because one, two or three machines can process hundreds of pounds of laundry all day. Long as things are property sorted (whites, lights, darks, etc...) you're good to go. Obviously using smaller laundromat sized machines means individual customer loads can be kept separate. But it is also time and labor consuming because workers have to track what order is in what machines, fold, repackage and return. It is also time consuming because each washer takes about 30 minutes to complete a cycle. If you're only doing one customer's load per wash (and not using machine to full capacity at that), it just isn't very efficient. A small laundromat doing service washes obviously has more control over things. Same place trying to process hundreds of pounds of wash per day is a recipe for trouble. If you're not too picky about finished results, things can be upscaled to industrial level. However this requires a huge investment in equipment. | ||
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Post# 1129258 , Reply# 16 9/21/2021 at 22:20 (939 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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When we lived in San Francisco (I was still a teen) it was nearly always in flats, and either we had access to a washer on-site, or we were a few doors down from a laundromat.
I do remember washing things in the sink or bathtub sometimes. I *think* the relative cost of decent washers has come down a lot in the past five decades. And of course now I have a surplus, LOL. | ||
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Post# 1129268 , Reply# 17 9/22/2021 at 06:46 (939 days old) by jamiel (Detroit, Michigan and Palm Springs, CA) |
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Post# 1129351 , Reply# 19 9/22/2021 at 21:36 (938 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Ohh I say!
If one were going to open an launderette, should like one like Bridge Street run by Dot Cotton or Pauline Fowler on Eastenders.
You'd find me with ciggy in one had, cup of tea in other, and always ready to dispense advice; wanted or not. Oh and if you don't want an earful don't come in five minutes before closing asking for a service wash. Hahaha | ||
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Post# 1129354 , Reply# 20 9/22/2021 at 21:47 (938 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Post# 1129367 , Reply# 21 9/23/2021 at 01:48 (938 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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While Cleanly/Next has their problems the textile care market world over is moving toward on demand services.
All over USA and Europe dozens or more start-up app/on demand laundry and dry cleaning services have launched over past several years. More are in pipeline soon as they can rise funding. Oxwash UK www.uktech.news/news/mond... www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/178476... www.businessinnovationmag.co.uk/... Across the pond you have among others Lavoir Moderne: www.lavoirmoderne.com... www.crunchbase.com/organization/... SoyezBCBG is another: www.soyezbcbg.com/my5asec... | ||
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