American Coin-Op - February 2019

AHEAD

GOIN’ WITH COHEN: THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SWEET LIFE

Laurance Cohen syncs his travel schedule to meet Thomas Landenberger, an American expatriate who owns a trio of stores—two quaint storefront shops named Wash & Dry Lavarapido in Italy and Veterans Coin Laundry near Jacksonville, Florida’s, Naval Station Mayport—separated by some 5,000 miles.

WATER HEATING SYSTEMS AND SIZING

While you may rely on a distributor, engineer or other project planning professional to determine the style and size of water heater that best fits your laundry, it’s still a good idea to understand the basics of water heating selection and sizing.

POINTERS FROM PAULIE B: GOING TOE TO TOE WITH THE CHALLENGER

There are three responses to a new competitor, says Paul Russo, and his favorite involves figurative fisticuffs.

FACING COMPETITION IN THE NEW YEAR

Multi-store owner Laurent Broda recounts his strategy when a competitor landed within a mile of his door.

PLANNING NOW FOR SUCCESS IN 2019

Ensuring your store is set up with the right equipment and processes are keys to long-term success, says Whirlpool Corp. Commercial Laundry’s Nick Koukourakis.

OF THE COMPETITION It’s understandable if your attention is on a challenger but you really should be looking within for the keys to staying at the top in your marketplace.

Build Your Empire

Simple. Powerful.

Run your laundry business from anywhere with robust operational and financial data—all from a simple, intuitive website. Technology built for the way you work and live. With Speed Queen® Insights, the sky is the limit.

From Speed Queen, the proven performer in laundry. SpeedQueenCommercial.com/Insights

READY TO RUMBLE

STAYING AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION

This early-in-the-year issue is largely about dealing with competition. Very few small businesses have a monopoly on the services they provide their community and the local Laundromat is no exception.

And whether it be a new store or an existing spot that someone has retooled, the arrival of a competitor inherently puts pressure on the status quo. Your status quo.

In my cover story, appropriately titled Staying Ahead of the Competition (starts on page 6), I polled several distributors on the subject. Almost to a man, they said the best defense against competition is to run your established store so well that rivals will look elsewhere to set up shop. The specter of a competitor may grab your attention, but you’re better served looking within to see where your operation can stand a boost.

It was just last year when guest columnist Laurent Broda, a multi-store owner based in the Miami area, discovered a competitor had opened within a mile of one of his stores. Broda’s strategy involved going back to basics, and he recounts his moves starting on page 26.

And in Going Toe to Toe with the Challenger (page 22), Pointers from Paulie B columnist Paul Russo says there are three basic responses to a new opponent. He has his favorite, but I won’t spoil it here.

I will echo his call to get into a “battle-phase mentality” by checking out 1982 fight flick Rocky III. Who can forget the training montage set to Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger?

Lace up those boxing gloves and start swinging—figuratively, of course—because the alternative is becoming the punching bag.

Bruce Beggs Editorial Director

Charles Thompson, Publisher

E-mail: cthompson@ATMags.com Phone: 312-361-1680

Donald Feinstein, Associate Publisher/ National Sales Director

E-mail: dfeinstein@ATMags.com Phone: 312-361-1682

Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director

E-mail: bbeggs@ATMags.com Phone: 312-361-1683

Roger Napiwocki, Production

Manager

Nathan Frerichs, Digital Media Director

E-mail: nfrerichs@ATMags.com Phone: 312-361-1681

ADVISORY BOARD

Kurt Archer Ann Hawkins

Wayne Lewis Kathryn Q. Rowen

OFFICE INFORMATION

Main: 312-361-1700

SUBSCRIPTIONS

630-739-0900 x100 www.AmericanCoinOp.com

American Coin-Op (ISSN 0092-2811) is published monthly. 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 Coin-Op, Subscription Dept., 440 Quadrangle Drive, Suite E, Bolingbrook, IL 60440. Volume 60, number 2. Editorial, executive and advertising offices are at 650 West Lake Street, Suite 320, Chicago, IL 60661. Charles Thompson, President and Publisher. American Coin-Op is distributed selectively to owners, operators and managers of chain and individually owned coin-operated laundry establishments in the United States. The publisher reserves the right to reject any advertising for any reason.

© Copyright AMERICAN TRADE MAGAZINES LLC, 2019. 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 Coin-Op 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 Coin-Op 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.

Bruce Beggs

STAYING AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION

by Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director

Your store is established and the money is coming in at a steady clip now. It’s taken you some time but you’ve built a customer base that makes visiting your vended laundry part of its routine. You’re operating comfortably in the black.

But, wait, what’s that happening up the road? A new store is being built. You’ve got yourself a competitor. It looks to be bigger, brighter. Rumors are it’ll have allnew equipment, including larger-capacity machines that your store doesn’t have.

American Coin-Op polled several distributors about the topic of competition this month. It’s understandable if your attention is on a challenger, they say, but you really should be looking at your own operation for the keys to staying at the top in your marketplace.

ASSESSING THE THREAT

Once you learn new competition is coming or has opened a store nearby, you should assess the threat it may pose. But how should you do that?

“Store owners should mix up (travel) routes when visiting their own store,” advises Brad Steinberg, co-president of PWS – The Laundry Company, based in California. “This will give them insight into what their competitors are doing, and also

see if any new competition is being built.”

“I would send in a secret shopper to actually use the (competing) facility to see what kind of equipment mix, what kind of ancillaries they have there, as well as what kind of staff they have,” says Michael “Stucky” Szczotka, president of Eagle Star Equipment, based in Michigan.

Some of the experts say the best way to ward off competition is to run your operation so well that challengers will set up shop elsewhere.

“When this whole competitor concept comes up, I think the biggest takeaway is don’t look like a victim,” asserts Bryan Maxwell, who works in sales and marketing for Western State Design, based in California. “If you’re the limping gazelle in the forest, you’re going to be a victim. You need to be a lion, and you need to be prepared to be attacked. The biggest thing I see is stores, somebody fixes up a store 15, 20 years ago, and then does nothing to it.”

“In my opinion, your store being attended, being clean, being bright and having the proper equipment mix is first and foremost,” says Szczotka. “Then (it’s) your ancillary services, or the products you may have.”

“Keeping your store current and your customers happy is one of the best ways to avoid the competition from coming in in the

first place,” says Brandon Hoffman, salesman for Gold Coin Laundry Equipment, based in New York.

“The biggest and best answer for that is you’ve got to look in before you look out,” says Brett Nolan, director of vended laundry systems for TLC Tri-State Laundry Systems, based in Georgia. “Honestly, it’s the best defense against a new competitor, to make sure that you’re on point, that your store is the best that you can make it, that you are engaging with your customer base on a regular basis.”

“There are a lot of little things that need to be done,” suggests Steinberg. “Cleanliness, safety, customer service and equipment in working order are the basics. Before offering other amenities, I would make sure a store owner has those down. I am obviously a supporter of replacing equipment, but if for some reason that is out of the question, small cosmetic changes go a long way: new paint, flooring, bulkheads, seating and folding are extremely important. Many times, a competitor will make you step up your game, which can be a good thing long-term.”

IMPACT AND REACTION

The impact of a new competitor on an established store could be felt almost immediately or take as long as 18 months

When a challenger appears, assess your own operation for improvement

(Photo: © iStockphoto/Jan-Otto)

after the opening, distributors say.

“Depending on the proximity, strength, size and promotions a new store is offering, the first six months normally have the greatest impact on business,” says Steinberg. “After six months, things generally seem to normalize. That’s to say, you will not know the true impact of a competitor until sixplus months after it opens.”

“I think it’s going to be a minimum of six months and may even go out as far as 18 months until the ‘honeymoon’ is over,” Szczotka says. “A lot of people would like to go in and try a new operation, because they’re coming into a neighborhood new and most likely lowering their entry-point pricing to try to bring, or draw, more traffic in.”

The store owner who keeps good financial records—profit and loss, projected growth, etc.—should know within the first month how a new competitor is or isn’t impacting them, Nolan says.

“You should, as a store owner, be keeping up with all of these metrics. Whatever your minimum reporting period is, whether you’re tracking it weekly, biweekly or monthly, you should be watching that. If you’ve got a new competitor coming in, honestly, I would say that you should take your minimum reporting period to a week and be tracking weekly so that you know if your business is going to be impacted.”

Whatever the impact, distributor experts warn against making operational changes immediately.

“I’ve seen stores that lose 20-25% of their business two weeks later because the new owner is doing free dry or dollar wash promotions,” Hoffman says. “Let the dust settle. Let the newness of the new place wear off before you go making any drastic changes in your place.”

“Many times, you will lose customers briefly,” Maxwell says. “They’re going to try the newest, if there’s some kind of entry special. Most Laundromats are personal, right? Is this new shiny place going to treat your customer better than you do? Lot of times, you lose a customer for a short period … but they come back to what they’re comfortable with.”

“Customers like routines, but they also like new. If you can upgrade your laundry, your existing customer base can keep with the routine of going to your laundry and also get new equipment at the same time,” says Steinberg. “If you are going to do some remodeling, I always recommend doing this before the competitor opens. You do not want your customers leaving your store to try something new and get out of their routine.”

“Our customers are almost exclusively entrepreneurs, and one of the few things

an entrepreneur is not capable of doing is sitting still. So that drives that knee-jerk reaction,” Nolan says. “But if you start changing things without taking the time to analyze what’s going on and collect some data so that you’re using facts to drive your change and not knee-jerk-reaction emotion, you may change something that your customers consider to be a benefit.”

PRICE WAR PERILS

In the face of a newcomer’s special pricing upon opening, you may be tempted to drop your own prices to match. The distributors polled oppose getting into “a race to the bottom.”

“I always strongly discourage it,” Nolan says. “It sends the exact wrong message to your customer base, and that message is: ‘I’ve been overcharging you and now somebody’s called me on it so I need to correct that.’ The better response is to do nothing and leave your prices where they are.”

“If you look at any industry survey, price is way down on the list for what drives people into a Laundromat,” says Maxwell. “You have to be competitive. Someone comes in and wants to be cheaper, how loyal is a price shopper? … In a capitalintensive business with ever-increasing utility costs, ever-increasing insurance costs, ever-increasing rent costs, and everything else tied into this business, why do you want to get into a price game?

“There have been exceptions but, generally speaking, I believe that a better store, long term, will outperform a cheaper store.”

“If you already know you’re going to be taking a hit, whatever percentage that is, why would you want to multiply that by also decreasing your prices?” Szczotka asks.

“A race to the bottom is never a good idea. However, it is definitely OK to focus on new pricing or marketing techniques when a new competitor opens,” Steinberg says. “If you happen to have a card store, instead of reducing machine prices, I like offering bonus dollars on their cards (spend $20 and get $5 free, or do nine washes and the 10th is free). This kind of marketing

TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

While a competitor may be banking on the newness of their store, an established store has advantages of its own.

“The customer base is absolutely the biggest advantage, because they can be your biggest evangelist out in the market,” Nolan says. “If you have an established store, you’ve paid off your equipment, and the guy coming in put down the bare minimum the finance company would approve and has a huge note that he’s got to meet every month, that’s a huge advantage as well.”

In that vein, listening to and acting upon your customers’ feedback is vital to success, especially when there is competition that could draw them away.

“I think it’s at the top of the list,” Szczotka says of customer feedback. “The ultimate bosses of any business is the customer base. Without them, the power of the signatures on our checks mean nothing.”

“Customer feedback is extremely important. Before a new laundry opens, get feedback from your customers, and also try new things to see what works and what doesn’t,” Steinberg says. “This is really helpful to observe before the store opens.”

“It’s essential. Without customers, you have no business,” Hoffman says. “For you not to listen to your customers’ reactions and what they’re telling you, you’d be a fool.”

“If you’re coming in to a new market with a new store, you have maybe a rough concept of who you want your ideal customer to be,” Nolan says. “As the existing store owner/operator, you have the ideal customers standing there dropping quarters in your machines and telling you what they want. Your market research is bringing money to you, you’re not paying for market research.”

But Maxwell says that if you’re listening only to your current customers, you’re missing an opportunity.

leads to customer loyalty.”

“Many times, you will lose custom-

ers briefly. They’re going to try the newest, if there’s some kind of entry special.”

—Bryan Maxwell, Western State Design

INTRODUCING HUEBSCH COMMAND™

We understand that when you have all the facts, there’s no limit to your business’s potential. With an intuitive interface and easy-to-use tools, Huebsch Command lets you easily run custom reports, accept mobile payments, control machines and much, much more. So you can focus on doing what you do best: making smart business decisions. And better yet, now you can make them from anywhere with an internet connection.

GOIN’ WITH COHEN

Talk about a long commute. Every time Thomas Landenberger visits his newest coin-op, it’s a day of airport connections and a long-haul flight across the Atlantic. He’s by no means a jet-setter; just an international laundry entrepreneur living la dolce vita (the sweet life).

The American expatriate is a rare breed in an industry where most operators get behind the wheel and reach their stores

The

Sweet Life Entrepreneurial

Ocean poses no barrier for expat laundry operator

by Laurance Cohen

in minutes, not hours sitting in coach. Although two of his laundries are just down the winding road from where he calls home in Italy, the third is 5,000 miles away on the Florida coast. Despite the distance, connecting with store operations for this tech-savvy businessman is just a click away.

MANAGING FROM AFAR

It’s not easy keeping up with this Wisconsin native, who served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve before strapping on his own backpack to discover himself and the world. These days, he balances family and business, helping raise three daughters while juggling the aforementioned trio of self-service wash-and-dry locations along with a Tuscan bed-and-breakfast.

We sync our travel schedules and catch up

at his year-old Veterans Coin Laundry anchored in a strip center near Jacksonville’s Naval Station Mayport. Team member Sue Wahl cheerfully welcomes me inside and introduces me to the variety of stainless steel machinery lined up with military precision and set against a backdrop of the Red, White, and Blue.

The 20-washer, 20-dryer-pocket coin-op is the proving ground for what Landenberger and longtime business partner Dr. Matt Dahnke hope will give rise to a chain managed from afar. Since their school days, the two buddies were determined to follow their ambitions. The latter established a thriving medical practice in the San Francisco Bay area, while the former built a profitable portfolio from the ground up in the Mediterranean.

It is there, tucked away in Italy’s picturesque rolling hills south of Florence, where two quaint storefront laundries under the banner Wash & Dry Lavarapido were established. At 430 square feet and housing a handful of machines, these pint-sized versions of the classic American business

Expatriate Thomas Landenberger served in the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve and now shuttles across the Atlantic between his patriotic-themed Florida coin-op and a pair of self-service laundries in Italy’s Tuscany region. (Photo courtesy Thomas Landenberger)

Team member Sue Wahl (center) chats with Monday morning customers as their wash cycle commences at the Veterans Coin Laundry in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo: Laurance Cohen)

GOIN’ WITH COHEN

model put a new spin on a traditional way of life.

The routine of domestic machine washing and hang drying may be woven into Tuscany’s fabric, but there’s a wrinkle come winter when rains soak the region and render clotheslines useless. Residents warmed up quickly to the convenience of renting tumbler time even at the pricey equivalent of $4.55 (4 euros) for a halfhour spin in one of the two 30-pound pockets, and $5.70 (5 euros) in the upper or lower 45-pound basket set.

“I knew I had won their hearts when I saw the older women coming in,” the operator recalls of luring locals away from hanging wash. “Having a dryer at home (in Italy) is a luxury because electricity is so expensive.”

Wash & Dry Lavarapido’s inaugural branch, launched six years ago in Vaggio, a village of 1,500 inhabitants, is laid out with side-by-side stacks flanked by twin 20-pound and 40-pound front-load washers, vending at 4.5 euros ($5.15) and 7.5 euros ($8.55), respectively.

A second outlet swung open its doors months later with five washers and four dryer pockets in the nearby municipality of Reggello. Unlike the first leased storefront,

this branch was built out following the purchase of the two-story structure.

Both Wash & Dry Lavarapido facilities are unattended and utilize a central payment kiosk accepting coin and cash to activate machines. Loyalty cards are available for purchase at 5.5 euros ($6.25), providing a vehicle for patrons to obtain bonus credits with loads starting at 20 euros ($22.75).

According to Landenberger, the biggest hurdle to store development revolves around dryer exhaust, where multiple roof or wall penetrations are a definite no-go. Reluctance by landlords to permit shoehorning ductwork from the street to the second-floor residential rooftop poses another obstacle, best overcome by locating a storefront — as in the case of Reggello — with an existing chimney grandfathered in.

While self-service laundries dot Italy’s cosmopolitan areas, they’re a novelty out in the rural landscape. Earning a reputation as a responsive operator helped the expat cultivate a following and put Wash & Dry Lavarapido on the map.

“If there’s ever a problem, my number’s on the wall — call and I’m there in two minutes,” the owner says, noting the proximity of his farmhouse residence to his storefronts.

FROM LATTE TO LAUNDRY

The laundry biz was introduced to the now47-year-old Landenberger when he first put down roots in the Italian countryside. He resettled overseas from the Midwest after his Italian-born wife’s emigration process became bogged down. Serving as coffee barista in a café he co-owned with his brother-in-law, he struck up a conversation one day with a Speed Queen equipment importer who had a successful track record setting up shops in the market. While rolling out an

American-style, do-it-yourself wash-anddry format in his adopted home was intriguing, the plan would have to wait. After having his fill of latte, and inspired by the classic Frances Mayes’ memoir Under the Tuscan Sun, Landenberger hung up his apron so he and his wife could start life anew raising their family in a farmhouseturned-bed-and-breakfast.

Laundry re-entered the picture as he ferried his daughters past a shuttered newsstand in Vaggio.

“It was a light bulb moment,” he recalls. “‘I’m going to put a Laundromat in there.’”

After securing the site and circling back to his distributor contact, Wash & Dry Lavarapido took shape.

The novice owner tended to the laundry, including opening and closing up shop. A guest at his B&B offered him a little sage advice.

“‘Success,’ he said, ‘is three things: delegate, delegate, delegate,’ and that stuck in my head,” Landenberger relates, explaining his decision months later to hire a security firm to take over twice-daily door duty.

The move, which didn’t sit well with his spouse, underscored the direction he was headed.

“When I have 10 Laundromats, how can I open each one? I gotta get a system into place,” he recounts telling her. “And with one Laundromat, I was already putting systems in place.”

ATTENTION TURNED STATESIDE

After the second Italian branch was humming, attention turned across the big pond to Florida, a stateside destination that checked all the boxes: warm weather, a growing economy and, most importantly,

Landenberger launched his first branch of Wash & Dry Lavarapido six years ago in a 430-square-foot shophouse catering to 1,500 residents of the Italian village of Vaggio, near Florence. (Photo courtesy Thomas Landenberger)

A changer dispensing dollar coins and a four-column soap vender are positioned next to Veterans’ bank of four 50-pound and six 30-pound stack tumblers. (Photo: Laurance Cohen)

GOIN’ WITH COHEN

a place this father of three could put the wheels in motion for an income-generating engine should his daughters desire to uproot and study or live abroad.

He flew over and eyed a few residential rental properties along the state’s northeast coast before an adrenaline rush of soap suds ran through his veins whenever a coinop came into view.

In Jacksonville, he spotted an index card posted in the window of a shuttered laundry leading him to the strip center’s landlord and a months-long lease negotiation carried out back in Tuscany. Before departing, Landenberger reached out to Laundry Pro of Florida’s Carlos Noriega, whom he became acquainted with earlier, to advise on a top-to-bottom rejuvenation of the 1,500-square-foot premises.

The approach to the project on the Atlantic mirrored those undertaken earlier in the Mediterranean.

“It’s going in, taking out all the old, putting all the new in and starting over,” Landenberger says. “That’s what I had to do in Italy and here, too.”

Top loaders — along with a mixed bag of worn-out washers and single-pocket tumblers — were scrapped in favor of 20 new front loaders and 20 stack dryer pockets. The five largest 60-pound washers take center stage, backed by an equal number of 40-, 30- and 20-pounders. For simplicity, vend prices are all in whole dollar amounts,

ranging from $3 and $5 on the smaller models to $6 and $8 on larger washers.

Veterans Coin Laundry’s six 30-pound and four 50-pound stack tumblers are also priced in dollar increments, with $1 and $2 starts delivering 15 and 20 minutes of dry time, respectively. Dollar top-ups during the vend cycle add 15 minutes on the 30-pounders and 10 minutes on the 50s.

A rear-loading changer dispenses dollar coins for bill insertions of $1 to $20. Customers carrying in quarters can opt to feed them at the dual acceptance drops fitted on all washers and dryers. Landenberger says catering to traditional quarter customers while instituting dollar pricing and higher-denomination coin circulation mirrored the industry online buzz.

Months into the new operation, hours were extended round-the-clock coupled with an overnight 50% promotional discount on wash cycles. Having the capability to initiate time-of-day pricing, program equipment, and monitor machine performance while overseas led him to enhance the store package with a state-of-the-art management platform during buildout.

High-resolution surveillance cameras allow Landenberger to keep watch on the comings and goings by phone or computer while overseas.

“When it’s midnight or 1 a.m. here in Florida, I’m waking up over there and having coffee,” he says in response to a question on the dreaded late-night call. “What’s the first thing I’m doing in the morning? I’m watching my Laundromat.” Collections, maintenance, and daytime service counter duties are carried out by a team of loyal employees. Key personnel — including Landenberger — have their contact phone numbers posted in the event assistance is needed during unmanned hours. After a year of operations, the owner reports his system of checks and balances has worked well, leading him to think his transatlantic itinerary can be cut down from the current bimonthly schedule.

He relishes the time inside Veterans Coin Laundry and breaks our conversation to peer into

Both Wash & Dry Lavarapido shops are unattended and utilize a central payment kiosk accepting coin and cash to activate machines. Loyalty cards are available for purchase at 5.5 euros ($6.25), providing a vehicle for patrons to obtain bonus credits with loads starting at 20 euros ($22.75). (Photo courtesy Thomas Landenberger)

the middle aisle where his staffer takes a respite from wash-dry-fold duties to greet guests stepping in amid a morning downpour.

Landenberger shares a special bond with military personnel who make up a segment of the clientele. Conversation with retired vets — especially those who served in Europe — often turns to life overseas past and present. The operator says a vetowned, patriotic-themed laundry has proven a good drawing card in a metropolitan area that includes both the Mayport facility and Naval Air Station Jacksonville.

But, just like in Italy, he hopes cleanliness backed by responsive customer service keeps them coming back: “If you have pride in what you own, then the people who come in will also take pride.”

Comparing Tuscan-style self-serve laundry to American-style, Landenberger is quick to point out that, back home, he never recalls an incident when a customer’s clothes left with someone else.

What he really longs to carry over the Atlantic from Italy to Jacksonville is the vend price: “If I could get six bucks for a half-hour dry over here, I’d be very happy.” ACO

Laurance Cohen crisscrosses the country seeking out the most unique vended laundries. He served as American Coin-Op editor in the early 1990s and currently operates Laundry Marketing Concepts based in Hallandale Beach, Fla. He can be reached at goinwithcohen@outlook.com.

Wash & Dry Lavarapido broke the routine of domestic machine washing and hang drying in Vaggio, Italy, with its big load offerings set in an attractive décor.

(Photo courtesy Thomas Landenberger)

Water Heating Systems and Sizing

What factors, either internal or external, influence selection?

by Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director

While your store’s washers provide your customers the means to wash their clothes quickly, it’s your behindthe-scenes workhorse, the water heating system, that supplies the warm and hot water they need cycle after cycle.

If you rely on your distributor, an engineer, or some other project planning professional to determine the style and size of water heater that best fits a laundry, you’re not alone.

But while you may not be doing the Btu/ hour and gallons per hour calculations yourself, it’s still a good idea to understand the basics of water heating selection and sizing.

Jeff Deal is the director of sales for Hamilton Engineering, which has been supplying water heating equipment exclusive to laundry applications since 1981. His company’s database contains information on an estimated 12,000 individual washer models made throughout the years and their water usage.

“Brand by brand, model by model, there’s a pretty significant variation in the water usage by model,” Deal says, adding that today’s equipment is much more efficient in that area. “Certainly, if you look at the last 15 years, water consumption has changed by probably as much as 65%.”

Aside from the greater efficiency, a wider availability of wash options has also impacted water usage, he adds.

“With our world of electronics and variable pricing schemes and all that, a number of stores offer a different price, whether it’s cold water, warm water, or hot water, so that tends to also decrease the usage of hot water a little bit because somebody doesn’t want to pay an extra 50 cents or a buck to have it be hot.”

Deal says there are four basic water heater styles:

• Tankless, often wall-hung, with cold water coming in and hot water going out, with no storage.

• Self-contained tank type, which heats the water from within the unit.

• Circulating tank type, with a water heater paired with a storage tank and the water circulates between them.

• Indirect hot water boiler.

Dan Orr owns National Combustion Co. (NATCO), which has been selling water heating systems to the laundry industry for some 40 years.

“In general, what I like to tell people is, every region is different, every store design is different, and there’s no cookie cutter way to say one system or another is the best for a particular store,” Orr says. “That’s where distributors should come in, typically, with an idea of what’s worked for their customers and what hasn’t worked for their customers.”

SIZING THINGS UP

When sizing a water heater for a selfservice laundry, the first step is looking at the store’s peak usage period and then working backward, Deal says.

“What you have to look at is what’s my busiest hour of any given week,” he explains. “I say week because, sometimes, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it’s like a bowling alley in there and you could throw a ball and not hit anything. Saturday and Sunday, you can’t move. So we have to worry about that busiest hour.”

The washer brand/model, quantity of machines, and their capacities all factor in water heater selection and sizing.

“Then the next pieces are, in that busiest hour, how many turns you’re going to have by each size of washer,” Deal says. “Sometimes, you’ll find the 18- and 20-pounders—what the industry likes to call the single loader—gets far more turns than the triple, the quad, even the 80- or 100-pound machine. You really look at your maximum expected turns that busiest hour.”

“Generally, the fundamental issue is what does a peak day look like. What does a Saturday or Sunday look like?” Orr says. “In some dense urban areas, I hear numbers as high as 10 or 12 turns per peak day. But in other areas, it’s more like six or seven. Yes, I do size differently based on what the expectation is. Typically, what I ask is what is a good store doing in that area on a peak day, because nobody’s looking to build a bad store.”

Next, it’s the store’s audience. The location will play a part in how much hot water is used.

Deal described a study from many years ago comparing two identical laundries built by the same distributor and featur-

(Photo: © iStockphoto/Pakhnyushchyy)

ing the same quantity and models of washers. One was on an affluent college campus, the other was in blue-collar Chicago.

“The store at the college campus used a quarter of the hot water as the store in the blue-collar neighborhood in Chicago,” Deal says. “If you use the rule of thumb: I’ve got so many washers, so I need this water heater, no. Who’s your audience? Who’s actually using the water and how much hot water do they want in the percentage of what they’re doing in their wash?

“College kids are scared to death of ruining clothes, so they put everything in cold. The factory workers are going, ‘I’ve got to get the grease and grime out,’ so they throw it all in hot.”

Another aspect of location that should be taken into account is the local water quality, Orr advises.

“In New York City, we’ve got water that’s well balanced; it’s got a little bit of minerals but not a lot,” he explains. “Then you’ve got places like southern Idaho where (the water) is incredibly full of calcium. And then you’ve got areas where the water is soft in the fall and the

winter and is hard in the spring, like Ohio or places in a river valley.”

Another location-related selection factor is the inlet water temperature, Orr says.

“Typically, we heat water to somewhere between 120 and 130 degrees,” he says. “If you’re in Miami, you start at 80 degrees and then you need a 40-degree rise to go up to 120. In New York, you start at 40 (degrees) or lower in the winter. … Places where you get water from deep in the ground, it’s 50 degrees, so you’re going from 50 to 120. That’s a big difference.”

Aside from the expectations related to running a self-service laundry, if ownership is contemplating taking on commercial accounts, that, too, can change the nature of a sizing because of the quantities and types of goods to be laundered in the store, Orr says.

Where wash-dry-fold work is typically done in an ordinary water temperature range, commercial laundry work can require much higher temperatures to enhance stain removal.

“It’s important for everybody to know if a laundry is intending to take on, say, gym towels, or massage parlors, or whatever,”

CALENDAR

Orr says. “A lot of places in the upper Midwest or Texas, they also have separate rooms for processing uniforms or other materials from oil or natural gas workers.”

If a distributor has a new store project in the pipeline, Orr suggests enlisting the aid of a water heating company early in the process.

“That’s not just to get the water heating system right,” he says. “Water heating people are often experienced in mechanicals, generally, in laundries and can keep people away from making mistakes that cause problems.”

If a store ends up sizing its water heating system poorly, what could be the result?

“It’s a pretty big investment for most laundry owners,” Deal says. “In my speeches over the years, I’ve said it’s your single most expensive piece of equipment when you look at it as a stand-alone piece of equipment. If you undersize it, it’s going to basically work itself to death in a very short period of time. You’ve thrown that investment out the window. If you’d sized it properly and it worked as designed, you’d get a nice long life, assuming proper installation and maintenance.” ACO

UPCOMING EVENTS

FEBRUARY

12

CLA Connect LIVE - Missouri Kansas City, Mo. Info: 800-570-5629; danielle@coinlaundry.org

19 Laundrylux Service School Seminar - Level I Inwood, N.Y. Info: 800-645-2205; https://laundrylux.com/events/ service-school/

20

CLA Connect LIVESouthern California Burbank, Calif. Info: 800-570-5629; danielle@coinlaundry.org

Inwood, N.Y.

Info: 800-645-2205; https://laundrylux.com/events/ service-school/

21 CLA Connect LIVEWashington state Seattle, Wash. Info: 800-570-5629; danielle@coinlaundry.org

27 CLA Connect LIVENorth Carolina Raleigh, N.C. Info: 800-570-5629; danielle@coinlaundry.org

20

Laundrylux Service School Seminar - Level II

28 Laundry Pro of Florida Open House Lakeland, Fla. Info: 863-701-7714 or 800-232-5736

MARCH

5 Daniels Equipment Spring Show

Nashua, N.H. Info: mahanl@decequip.com

5 Weiss Bros. Trade Show Hagerstown, Md. Info: 301-739-3069; www.weissbros.com

16 PWS - The Laundry Company Spring Distributor Show

South San Francisco, Calif. Info: www.pwslaundrywest.com

16-17 Yankee Equipment

St. Patrick’s Day Trade Show Waltham, Mass. Info: www.yankeeequipment.com

GOING TOE TO TOE WITH THE CHALLENGER

If you’ve been in the business for a while, sooner or later you will get that churn in your stomach when you discover a new competing Laundromat under construction.

For an existing mat owner, it’s not a pretty sight. By the time you see a new mat under construction, in 99% of the cases, it will open. This applies to brand-new competitors, or to old mats that have been retooled.

If more washers and dryers are added to an existing market, I believe that no matter what you do, prices will invariably fall to a new lower equilibrium, until and if more customers enter the marketplace.

It’s the law of supply and demand and there’s no escaping this basic, proven principle.

You’ll have a few months to prepare while a new mat is under construction. So, what do you do?

There are basically three responses to a new competitor. All three have their place, but I have a favorite. Let’s take a look at the options:

1. DO NOTHING

when a new competitor shows up, the logic being that you trigger a price war and nobody wins (except the consumer). I’ve tried this and personally do not believe in this approach. You only allow your new competitor to grow at your expense by siphoning off your customers. Drip, drip, drip.

If you allow this attrition of customers to continue while doing nothing, you could end up being forced to sell your mat. Then guess what will happen? The new owner will probably respond with fixing the place up somewhat, running some kind of sale, or even dropping some prices, to attract more customers. This is what you should have done in the first place!

2. RE-EXAMINE YOUR STORE’S WEAK POINTS AND CORRECT THEM

Most mat veterans will agree that you need to at least take this option. All else being equal, a new competitor really has only one major advantage: everything is new, which does attract customers.

After all, if a customer will spend, say, $25 to do their laundry somewhere, will they choose to spend that money in an old, rundown mat, or in a brand-new

Some Laundromat owners will say to do nothing

Paul Russo

one? If you need to rent a car from an inventory of compact cars priced identically, will you pick the nicest, cleanest, newest car, or one that has some scratches, a couple of dings, and smells of cigarettes?

When it comes to laundry, you have a big advantage! You already have a going business with satisfied customers. It’s a lot harder to get new customers than it is to retain old ones. People are creatures of habit, and old habits are hard to break. The edge belongs to you if you make sure your mat is up to par.

Here’s another big advantage you most probably have: Your new competitor almost surely has a lot of debt on his mat to pay off.

So, simple logic dictates that you spruce up your mat as much as possible to dilute that one advantage your new competitor has. Make and keep your mat always looking as new as possible.

Step back and take an honest assessment of your mat’s strong points and weak points. As the owner, you are biased, and your own denial will cloud your interpretation of your store’s strengths and weaknesses.

You’ll need to ask other people (especially customers, but employees and friends may also help) their honest opinions of your mat’s plusses and minuses.

Do this verbally, but also in writing. People are far more likely to share what they really think of your store if it’s done anonymously on a paper that goes into a locked “suggestion box.”

Don’t forget to check your online reviews as well, for there is valuable feedback there.

Do some brainstorming with friends, family, employees, and most importantly, your customers. Not only should you ask customers what changes they would love to see you make, but have your employees ask the customers as well. They may be more open and honest speaking with a worker rather than the boss. You should even ask this question on your written questionnaire.

The requests for improvements can range from small things that may only cost you a few bucks, to things that can cost you many thousands of dollars, such as replacing wornout machines. Get as many of the improvements done that you can afford. Also, don’t forget the human factor, that you and your employees should always treat the customers with respect and a smile.

The key thing here is to make a positive difference in people’s perception of your mat

If you think about it, getting this feedback from customers is something that all businesses should do from

time to time. It’s entirely possible that if you were doing this all along, you would have made more money, and maybe even scared off your new competitor! You, the boss, cannot think of everything. You need the feedback.

In some cases, existing mats have been neglected for so long that they actually “invited” the new competitor.

If your mat has been clean, well-managed, attractively priced, with highly functional equipment all along, a potential investor just may decide to build his or her new mat in less threatening territory.

After all, look at it from the other side. Would you decide to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a new mat that must start with zero customers and heavy debt service near a well-run established Laundromat?

Seems to me there are plenty of newbies out there who don’t understand what they are getting into and don’t do their due diligence.

So, they buy the weaker mats that are already in an unfavorable competitive position instead of letting them fall by the wayside. I believe that weak mats in highly competitive situations should fade away, but they often don’t in some markets.

3. THIS IS WAR! TAKE NO PRISONERS

I ran multiple mats for decades. Most of my life, actually. I experienced the challenges of new competitors many times, and tried all three of the approaches described in this column. With all this experience, I’ve settled on the “war” approach.

A new store opens up, usually offering free drying or some other

enticing deal like low prices across the board. It’s time to go into “battle phase,” not only re-evaluating and fixing up your mats (while also assessing the competitor’s strengths and weaknesses), but creating a deal so sweet as to make your customers have no desire to leave

As I mentioned, people are creatures of habit, so they will tend to stay with you if they feel you are giving them an incentive to do so. Yes, you will lose customers no matter what you do, and, yes, your income will drop, especially initially when you drop your prices, but you will have at least planted a floor to the loss of volume. At some point, your business will begin to grow again.

Eventually, you may end up drawing people from other parts of your market because they now feel it’s worth it to travel an extra few minutes to go to your nice, clean mat with enticing prices. It may take several months, maybe even a year or so, but you will turn it around.

You simply have to accept the fact that you will lose customers and prices will eventually drop anyhow (it’s supply and demand), so swallow your pride and come out with both guns blazing right from the start!

Yes, you will be in a price war, which will probably extend the new mat’s opening specials, and it will cost you money. You must accept your new norm, your new equilibrium, but you will stay in the game during this battle!

What’s more, you’ll end up sending a signal to your local equipment distributors that they should steer newbies away from you, this crazy mat owner who will fight tooth and nail to retain his customers!

When I first opened way back in 1976, my closest competitor hit me with a 2-for-1 sale on all his washers. He did this for about six months and really scared the daylights out of me. But then he mysteriously stopped his sale and went back to his regular pricing.

Years later, we became friendly, even to the point that he did a few tub bearing jobs for me.

One day, he told me, “Paul, I have an admission to make. When you first opened up, I panicked so much that I did the 2-for-1 deal. After six months, I ended up making more money and more profit than before you opened!”

To motivate you into battle-phase mentality, watch the movie Rocky III. It’s a terrific metaphor for this exact scenario, only in the business of professional boxing. Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) becomes complacent with his world heavyweight title until challenger Clubber Lang (Mr. T) knocks his lights out.

You can let a newbie knock your lights out, or you can do what Rocky did: Pick yourself up and fight back with a vengeance. Eye of the Tiger!

Show everyone that anyone who competes with you will get their lights knocked out—financially speaking, of course.

So, lace up your boxing gloves and come out swinging when the bell rings. ACO

Paul Russo owned and operated multiple Laundromats in New York City for more than 40 years before retiring recently. He’s a regular on the Coin Laundry Association’s online forum, posting under the pseudonym “Paulie B.” He invites comments from readers at MyLaundromat@aol.com.

FACING COMPETITION IN THE NEW YEAR

When a competitor opened its doors within a mile of my Laundromat, 2018 became a challenging year — very quickly.

Knowing that customers are price-sensitive, one obvious answer might be to lower prices. Yet, it’s a short-term solution and one that could trigger a price war, decreasing revenue even further. More important, it could hinder the opportunity to try new ideas.

One of the marketing basics is understanding customers’ needs and wants and then delivering the products and services better than the competition can. Going back to basics seemed to be the right approach, and it starts with learning more about the customer base.

SIMPLE SURVEYS AND CONVERSATIONS

About 80% of my customers live within a 1-mile radius of the two Laundromats affected by the new competitor. Proximity is important. This being the case, faces become familiar, and it’s easy to learn a lot from customers directly and through store personnel, simply by engaging them in friendly conversation.

Another tool that I use to learn more about customers’ needs and wants is a simple paper survey. The Laundromat affords a captive audience — they have time. Typically, if the survey is not too long or complicated (one page), customers don’t mind taking a few minutes to fill it out, especially if you present it by telling

them the goal is to make their visit to the laundry more enjoyable.

Alternatively, you can ask the questions yourself and then fill in the answers. It doesn’t have to be scientific, nor does it take long to start seeing some trends.

Capturing simple and directional information from customers can be used in two ways. The first is it allows insights to make the environment and experience in the Laundromat more comfortable and convenient. The details matter, with facility cleanliness being the most important. The second is the establishment of a database that can be leveraged for future marketing purposes and, of course, ideas that just might make your store the preferred Laundromat.

TOP THREE AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT AND NEW IDEAS

1. Enhancing Comfort

One thing I learned from my retail experience in women’s fashion is that little details matter. They can all affect a customer’s comfort level with your Laundromat. The surveys easily uncovered what’s most important to customers and—no surprise—cleanliness is at the top.

Cleanliness covers a lot of ground, starting with the floor. It also covers the folding counters, the restrooms (if you have them), restroom upkeep, the garbage cans, surfaces of the machines and windows, the seating, the condition and cleanliness of the vending machines, and much more. Just about everything you see in your Laundromat has a surface — and it needs to be clean and sanitary, every day, throughout the day.

What about when people are waiting? There’s a lot of downtime. Most of my customers turn to their phones for information and entertainment while they wait, so Wi-Fi is a given. Comfortable chairs and adequate lighting are also important.

Another Laundromat element that I categorize under “comfort” is the quality and features of the washers and dryers. Part of comfort includes not having to be at the Laundromat longer than necessary, no matter how comfortable. Customers want faster and better results. Good-quality machines make a difference to customers, and they do notice.

2. Making My Location Easier to Find

A lot of customers learned about my operation by

Laurent Broda

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

driving by it. But what about potential customers who don’t drive by because their work and lives take them down different routes? Even though most of my customers live within a mile or so of my Laundromats, I discovered that customers looking for local laundry service didn’t always know my store was nearby.

I’ve tried some TV advertising, which is great and allows you to target perfectly, but it’s only useful in certain areas. The problem with direct mail is that people get so much garbage in their mail already, they tend to throw it out without even looking at it. Social media, however, offered some new possibilities.

Many of my current customers turn to the web to learn about a variety of products and services. It seemed logical that potential customers might also turn there to find a local laundry service. The key, then, becomes getting your store to come up first, or at least easily, when prospective customers are conducting a search for laundry services. When your store rises to the top of a search, there’s a better chance (if the messaging for your store is appealing) a customer will visit your Laundromat.

For me, the web and “search engine marketing and optimization” is new territory. There’s a lot to learn, and it takes work to keep your operation highly visible. In fact, I knew I would need help. Suffice to say, I contracted the services of a professional to help market my Laundromat on the web for 2019.

3. Improving Customer Communication

Part of the reason for conducting informal surveys was to create a database of customers. The goal is to create “relationships” in a business where brand (Laundromat) loyalty is largely driven by price and proximity. Reminding the customers that you’re there,

are keeping in touch, and occasionally offering them a special deal goes a long way toward building a connection with them.

Building connections is most important at the store level and especially for building loyalty with wash-and-fold customers. The topic would require a larger chapter.

NEW IDEAS

Understanding the customer better, through surveys, conversations or other methods often leads to new ideas — or maybe not new, but at least untried at our Laundromats. For 2019, we are going to try a pickup and delivery service, which customers can access by phone, the web or by using an app. While we know that the laundry business is price-sensitive, certain customers are willing to pay for this convenience.

FINAL THOUGHTS

When it comes to retaining and attracting customers, there’s no substitute for having a Laundromat that offers comfort and convenience in many forms. It’s the basics we all know, executed well. Yet, sometimes we overlook or don’t give enough attention to the little details that accompany those basics. Where the hidden gems may be uncovered, however, is by learning as much as you can about your current customers and thereby discovering what may attract new ones. ACO

Laurent Broda is a multi-store owner based in the Miami area. He has extensive retail experience and can be reached at broda laurent@gmail.com.

PLANNING NOW FOR SUCCESS IN 2019

Vended laundry facilities that deliver profitable returns to owners don’t do so without continual enhancements and improvements. In an industry where out-of-order machines mean fewer turns and the possibility of losing revenue, ensuring your store is set up with the right equipment and the right processes are both keys to long-term success.

ADJUSTABLE PRICING BASED ON ACTIVITY

There are a few immediate adjustments that vended owners can make to improve the efficiency and revenue of their store.

One such change an owner can make is adjusting machine prices to coordinate with their store’s activity.

Observing the times of day the store is busiest and which cycles are being used most during those times provides insight into when to increase prices to help turn more profit. Owners also need to know how much is too much or too little to change, so they don’t discourage customers and still cover their own expenses.

The good news is that more modern commercial laundry equipment makes adjusting pricing easy. For example, the new Maytag® Multi-Load Washer can deliver customizable pricing, giving owners the ability to price each cycle independently, as well as adjust prices based on the day of the week and time of day. This type of flexibility can help build business even on slower days — setting lower wash and dry prices for a few hours can create a sort of laundry “happy hour” and potentially help turn a sluggish business day into a busier one.

COMING INTO 2019

In looking at where the vended laundry business is headed in 2019, we’ve seen an increasing number of multi-store owners where former single-store owners are choosing to grow their investments—expanding their vended business to include two or three more stores. These owners are in need of greater flexibility as they work to expand their business, manage costs, increase profitability and continue to provide a better end-user experience.

PAYMENT OPTIONS; UPDATING EQUIPMENT

Getting back to adjusting operations to improve efficiency and drive revenue, there are some more extensive changes that owners can implement as they have time.

Because coin payment is still the more popular payment in the industry, there’s a chance most, if not all, of a store’s machines utilize coin drops. However, recent trends are indicating that there’s a growing demographic of vended laundry customers who prefer to have more flexible payment options. Adding card readers gives them a quicker, more convenient laundry experience and saves the owner time from collecting coins from each machine.

In addition, owners may decide it is time to update equipment. This is not always easy due to the expense, yet investing in new, energy-efficient equipment will have a lasting impact — not only in helping to increase customer satisfaction and retention, but in helping to reduce utility costs.

Many new machines provide better water and energy efficiency, delivering utility savings, but those with advanced Wi-Fi capabilities also allow for remote management. Being able to see real-time data on machines allows owners to keep their business running at optimal capacity, making the initial investment to upgrade worth it because of the potential effect on profit margins.

SPEAKING OF TECHNOLOGY...

Utility costs account for a significant portion of a coin store’s operating expenses. These costs can be addressed by taking steps to conserve water and energy, which can happen through monitoring operations, running machines efficiently, and paying attention to details such as utility costs. Innovative technology can help owners make more informed decisions about those details and allow them to better manage their business their way and focus on revenue and operating costs.

The best part about the advancements in today’s technology is that it can help an owner manage their store, even when they’re not there. Machines with remote connectivity capabilities are now equipped to help laundry owners do things like adjust pricing, rates, or cycle modifiers, and provide credits from a computer, tablet, or smartphone. This technology can

Nick Koukourakis

also deliver real-time data, so they’re always aware of how their machines are running.

THE ROLE OF EQUIPMENT CAPACITY

Adding multi-load equipment into the mix can be a profitable decision for vended owners. With bigger capacities, multiload machines allow for higher pricing, which means they can potentially bring in more revenue per wash than singleload machines. To get the most out of their machines, owners should consider the store demographic, competition, and utilities before setting pricing rates.

Additionally, multi-load washers offer the benefit of high extraction speeds to help with fast drying, and quick turnover.

“Customer feedback is critical in the sense that you need to make people who come into your store happy and resolve their concerns, but if you only listen to them, well, they’re already your customer. … But what does the marketplace need?

“It’s very important to satisfy customers and keep them happy but you need to understand global trends in the industry and find out if any of those trends make sense for you, and you need to think outside the box to attract new customers. The way you drive the business is to drive new customers into your store.”

MARKET SHARE SHAKE-UP

In competitions like these, sometimes the older store comes out on the losing end. Why is that?

“I think the biggest mistake that business owners make is not realizing … that the only constant is change,” says Szczotka. “If you’re not willing to look at the horizon and see what is changing to adapt to it, you’re not going to stay in business.”

“I see larger stores knocking out smaller, older stores,” says Steinberg.

ACO

As you set yourself up for 2019, whether you’re only investing in a few machines, or equipping your entire store, this equipment is a great way to help maximize your operational investment.

Nick Koukourakis is senior product line manager with Whirlpool Corporation Commercial Laundry and has held several product and sales roles over the past two decades.

“Where it happens, it’s because the existing store owner was not taking proper care of their business,” Nolan says. “They were not in the store regularly engaging with customers. They may have been letting machines sit out of order for extended periods of time. The place may not have been as clean as it could be. So it showed when the competitor came in.

“It’s probably a large factor in why the competitor chose to come in there: They saw this potentially ‘run-down’ location that somebody is finished investing in and is now just taking from, and they thought they could do it better … and they were right.”

As your appetite for knowledge to improve your business grows, give our American Coin-Op Podcast a listen. Join Editor Bruce Beggs as he engages a special guest in one-on-one conversation about the topic of the day. This free channel provides another convenient way for you to gain self-service laundry information and insight from industry peers and other experts—no muss, no fuss.

CHECK OUT WHAT YOU’VE MISSED:

Finding and Keeping Good Laundromat Employees

San Francisco Bay Area multistore owner Brian Brunckhorst shares tips for hiring and training attendants, enabling them—and you—for success.

Things You Thought You Knew About Laundry Design ... But Really Didn’t

Longtime distributor and store owner Karl Hinrichs takes a common-sense approach to washer/dryer placement and customer workflow.

Listen in at: americancoinop.com/podcasts

Getting a Fresh Start: Out with the Old, In with the New (Year)

Columnist and retired NYC Laundromat owner Paul Russo talks year-end/newyear tasks and deciding what it will take to have a successful 2019.

PAYMENT FOR CLASSIFIED ADS: Must accompany order.

HILLSIDE AVE. # 394 HOLLIS NEW YORK 11423

Call Toll Free: 1-888-532-6677 (888-JECON77) Local: 718-525-3733 • Fax: 212-656-1913 718-525-2266

IN MEMORIAM: BERNARD MILCH, FOUNDER, LAUNDRYLUX

Bernard Milch, the retired founder of commercial laundry equipment supplier Laundrylux, died January 6, the company reports.

“It is with sadness, admiration and respect that Laundrylux announces the passing of its founder, Bernard Milch, at age 93,” says son Neal Milch, executive chairman of its board of directors.

“It was an honor to work alongside my father for 25 years; he was a business genius and innovator. As a third-generation family business, we honor Bernie’s legacy as he would want by taking care of our distributors and end customers every day.”

The elder Milch was a Holocaust survivor, having lost much of his family in World War II, the company says. He came to the United States with $8 in his pockets and the dream of a new life. He started in business as a mechanic. In 1956, he was hired to assess damage to the laundry room aboard the Swedish American Line’s M/S Stockholm after it had collided with the Italian steamship Andrea Doria in the Atlantic Ocean, near Nantucket Island.

He was astonished that the machines functioned after a violent collision, being submerged in seawater, and drying out. Milch made inquiries to the Swedish manufacturer and eventually purchased a Wascator washer for testing and technical investigation, certain he could adapt them for the growing coin laundry and institutional markets.

He obtained the sales and marketing rights for Wascator machines in North America. He regularly ate lunch at the selfservice coin-operated “Automat” restaurant and liked the modern-sounding name, so he decided to use the name “Wascomat” for marketing coin-operated self-service washers.

He was convinced commercial front-loading washers in larger sizes than appliances could revolutionize the industry as the baby boom exploded, and quickly was proven right, the company says.

Electrolux, which purchased Wascator in 1973, credits its growth in professional laundry in North America to the extraordinary marketing efforts of Milch and his team.

Milch was honored by the Kingdom of Sweden in 1980 for his contribution to Swedish-American business when he was knighted with “Nordstjerneorden,” the Order of the North Star. From a refugee who came to the U.S. with virtually nothing, Milch was now a Swedish Knight. “Only in America!” he used to say.

Milch retired as CEO in 2007. His company, Bermil Industries Corp., which distributed the Wascomat and Electrolux brands of commercial and professional laundry equipment in North America, unified its equipment offerings under the Laundrylux trade name for purposes of marketing, advertising and communications in 2010.

“Laundrylux is what it is today because my grandfather had such drive and determination,” observes Cody Milch, president

of Laundrylux. “He was a visionary who saw possibilities at a time when conventional wisdom said he was crazy trying to sell a more expensive machine from Scandinavia. Ignoring the skeptics, he risked all his savings, worked incredibly hard, and became the quintessential American success story.”

Electrolux issued this statement about Milch’s passing: “Bernard Milch’s contributions to the industry are unquestioned, and it is no coincidence that so many leaders of the industry in North America worked for or with Bernie at some point in their career. Electrolux has done business continuously with the Milch family longer than any other customer, which is a testament to this remarkable man.”

Milch is survived by his wife, Lusia; his children, Neal and David; and his grandchildren, Cody, Julia and Jason.

The family invites anyone with photos or anecdotes of Bernie Milch to share them by emailing nmilch@laundrylux.com.

ENVIROSTAR BOARD APPROVES CORPORATE NAME CHANGE

The Board of Directors of Miami-based commercial laundry and drycleaning equipment distributor EnviroStar Inc. (EVI) has approved changing the corporate name to EVI Industries Inc., the company reports.

The name change signifies EVI’s focus on executing its buy-andbuild growth strategy in the commercial, industrial, and vended laundry industry and across a group of industries that meet its strategic criteria. Since the completion of fiscal year 2016, EVI has acquired nine other laundry equipment distributors.

HUEBSCH ADDS ATLAS INTERNATIONAL TO DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

Huebsch recently appointed Atlas International as a distributor covering Oklahoma and Northern Texas. Based in Dallas, Texas, Atlas International has served the commercial laundry needs of the Texas and Oklahoma markets since 1980.

“Huebsch prides itself on being a smart partner for customers and that shines through our exceptionally knowledgeable distributors,” says Kathryn Rowen, Huebsch North American sales manager. “The team at Atlas has a reputation for providing that level of customer service, so I’m excited to see them represent our brand in their market.”

Atlas has been prolific in helping new investors explore the opportunities available in the vended laundry business, while also helping current owners improve profitability, Huebsch says. On-premises laundry managers also rely on the expertise of Atlas.

Boasting a well-stocked parts department and factory-trained service personnel, Atlas has grown to a staff of 20 employees.

“Our business has been built upon becoming a trusted partner to our customers,” says Ulli Mandelbaum, owner of Atlas International. “That’s helped Atlas build strong relationships. By partnering with Huebsch, we are aligned with a brand that truly values that business approach, and provides some of the greatest products in the industry.”

Bernard Milch

BOLDER. STRONGER. BETTER THAN EVER!

• Designed to deliver more strength, storeowner control & servicing ease.

• Advanced programmability of water temperatures, fill levels, cycle times, spin speed & vend prices.

• Individual sensors are removable & replaceable.

• New twin spray water-delivery system ensures a quality wash.

• Inverter Direct Drive provides superior durability & reliability.

• Optimized Washing System automatically detects over-sudsing & counteracts with a suds-reduction process.

• Quiet, energy-efficient & 400 Gs!

• Compact

TWIN SPRAY