American Coin-Op - August 2021

Pricing Strategies

Understanding internal variables plus pressure from competition

I N S I D E : IJNU SL IYD E2: 0 0A 5U G U S T 2 0 2 1 EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE TIPS FOR NEWCOMERS

‘LITTLE GUYS’ EMBRACE COMMUNITY, RELATIONSHIPS

PREVENTING & HANDLING EMERGENCIES IN YOUR STORE

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CONTENTS AUGUST 2021 VOLUME 62 ISSUE 8

COVER STORY

SELF-SERVICE PRICING STRATEGIES How should you price your equipment in a brand-new store? What about making adjustments in one you’ve had a while? When do you know it’s time to raise prices? Three experts analyze the factors at play, including revenue, store quality and the competitive landscape.

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(Cover image:(Photo: © Ladanifer/Depositphotos)

INSIDE

COLUMNS

8 EQUIPMENT TROUBLESHOOTING

AND SIMPLE REPAIRS

Offering fully functioning washers and dryers consistently is a key to any successful self-service operation, which means performing regular preventive maintenance and making swift repairs have to be a priority. Panelists talk basics in a Coin Laundry Association webinar, “Equipment Maintenance 101.”

24 POINTERS FROM PAULIE B: PREVENTING & HANDLING EMERGENCIES IN YOUR STORE Just as you sit down for dinner, you get one of those dreaded emergency calls. Probably maintenance-related but it could be just about anything: fire, utility interruption, customer violence, no-show employees, armed robbery, you name it. Retired multi-store owner Paul Russo saw his share of emergencies during a career of 40-plus years, so he takes a look at preventing emergencies (if possible), or at least some ways to handle them.

12 LEARNING FROM THE ‘LITTLE GUYS’ Without the volume potential of their big-city brethren, smalltown laundromats are often community-minded and place a premium on building personal relationships within their customer base. Let’s meet a few.

DEPARTMENTS 4 VIEWPOINT 6 YOUR VIEWS SURVEY 22 WEB UPDATE

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28 NEWSMAKERS 30 CLASSIFIEDS 31 AD INDEX

AMERICAN COIN-OP AUGUST 2021

DID YOU KNOW...

American Coin-Op releases a new podcast on a different topic of interest every other month? Give it a listen at AmericanCoinOp.com/podcasts/archive.

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VIEWPOINT

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

PRICING POSSIBILITIES

Bruce Beggs

Pricing of wash and dry cycles is quite literally the foundation of any self-service laundry business. The decisions you make now can make or break your operation down the road.

There are a lot of variables at play in your store or stores, plus there’s the pressure you might feel from nearby competition willing to price their equipment lower than yours.

In this month’s cover story, “Self-Service Pricing Strategies,” you’ll hear from a trio of industry experts about vend pricing strategies and weighing your bottom-line desires against the needs of your customer base.

If I had to sum it up: Don’t undervalue what you offer, and don’t let the competition make your decisions for you.

In our other primary feature this month, we meet three operators of rural or remote laundries in “Learning from the ‘Little Guys.’”

Self-service laundries share many similarities internally but their differing surroundings can influence their development and growth.

Small-town stores draw from less-populous regions than their bigcity brethren, so I thought it would be interesting to see how the former approach business.

Other stories in this month’s issues include a look at equipment maintenance basics courtesy of a Coin Laundry Association webinar panel and columnist Paul Russo’s take on handling and preventing emergencies in your store.

Fall will be here before you know it, so be sure enjoy this last full month of summer. And keep in mind that this time next year, the industry will be gathered in Atlanta for The Clean Show.

Bruce Beggs Editorial Director

Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director E-mail: bbeggs@ATMags.com Phone: 312-361-1683 Mathew Pawlak, Production Manager Nathan Frerichs, Digital Media Director E-mail: nfrerichs@ATMags.com Phone: 312-361-1681

ADVISORY BOARD Douglas Pratt Sharon Sager Luke Williford

Tony Regan Michael Schantz Andy Wray

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American Coin-Op (ISSN 0092-2811) is published monthly. Subscription prices, payment in advance: U.S., 1 year $46.00; 2 years $92.00.

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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 62, number 8. 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, 2021. Printed in U.S.A. No part of this publication August 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 August arise therefrom.

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AMERICAN COIN-OP AUGUST 2021

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INDUSTRY SURVEY

70% OF LAUNDRY OWNERS SAY BUSINESS ACTIVITY ON RISE: SURVEY Larger share say they’re ‘better positioned’ for post-pandemic future

by Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director

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OVID-19 immunizations are nearing 50% of the U.S. population as the nation presses forward to leave the months-long pandemic behind. Workers are being called back to their offices, schools are planning to reopen to in-person classes, and stadiums are welcoming larger and larger crowds. Things seem to be getting back to normal.

But what do you see coming? Are there better days ahead in a post-pandemic world, or are you braced for an uncertain future?

Through this quarter’s Your Views survey, American Coin-Op asked its audience how it felt about the recovery and what could be expected moving forward.

Roughly 70% of respondents describe their current business activity level as “booming” (20.8%) or on “a definite uptick” (50.0%). Another 8.3% say it’s comparable to where it was in 2020.

Some 17% say their activity is “lagging behind where it’s been previously” and the remaining 4.2% report being “in a scary decline.”

Looking ahead to the second half of 2021, 41.7% expect there to be “increased business going into a brighter 2022” and 25% expect “greater growth and success.” One-quarter of respondents expect “slightly better days,” and the remaining 8.3% expect “more of the same.”

What actions did you take to adapt your laundry business to the changing conditions in 2020-21? Here are some responses from those surveyed: • “We adapted to current regulations and also what we felt was responsible policies for the health of our employees, their families and our customers. At different times, this included masking, limiting the number (of people) in the building, removing TVs and chairs, and closing off folding areas to social distance. Sanitizing and cleaning got stepped up, also.”

• “Staffing is my biggest issue. We had a great business but we don’t have anyone to do the work, so I’ve had to close my store on weekends … and I’ve had to cut hours to 7 to 7 during the week.”

• “Ditch quarters and focus on touchless and cashless phonebased payments. Trying to optimize unattended operation.”

When asked if they are “better positioned for the future” now than in early 2020, 37.5% said “Absolutely – we’ve learned valuable lessons and put them to work” and 41.7% said “Yes – we know now what works and what doesn’t.”

Roughly 17% are unsure (“I can’t predict the future”), and the remaining 4.2% said “No – we’re simply in survival mode.”

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AMERICAN COIN-OP AUGUST 2021

As society starts to return to normal, how would you best describe your business activity level now?

As society starts20.8% to return to normal, how would you Booming! best describe your business activity level now?

A definite uptick 50.0% Booming! 20.8% Comparable to 2020 8.3% 50.0% A definite uptickbehind Lagging 16.7% where it’s been 8.3% Comparable to 2020 A scary decline 4.2% Lagging behind 16.7% where it’s been A scary decline 4.2%

Are you better positioned for the future now than you were in early 2020?

Areput you better 37.5% positioned for the future Absolutely, valuable lessons tothan work you were in early 2020?

now

Yes, know what works 41.7% and what doesn’t Absolutely, put valuable 37.5% lessonsUnsure, to workI can’t 16.7% predict the future Yes, know what works 41.7% and what No,doesn’t we’re simply 4.2% in survival mode Unsure, I can’t 16.7% predict the future

To read other 4.2% Your Views survey stories, visit www.americancoinop.com No, we’re simply in survival mode Did your laundry business adopt any new strategies or programs due to the pandemic that you’ll continue to use because they have worked so well?

For many respondents, increased sanitization efforts will continue, as will looking at converting coin-based operations to cashless.

A healthy share of respondents don’t plan to keep any changes made due to the pandemic and will be “back to normal.”

American Coin-Op’s Your Views survey presents an unscientific snapshot of the trade audience’s viewpoints. Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100%.

Subscribers to American Coin-Op emails are invited to participate anonymously in the survey. The entire trade audience is encouraged to take part, as a greater number of responses helps to better define owner/operator opinions and industry trends.

ACO www.americancoinop.com

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EQUIPMENT

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TROUBLESHOOTING AND SIMPLE REPAIRS Preventive maintenance tips for industry newcomers

by Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director

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AMERICAN COIN-OP AUGUST 2021

properties, including two 35,000-square-foot shopping centers.

From the outset, first-time store owners should assess their own abilities when it comes to performing maintenance, panelists say.

This will inform their decision-making later on.

“Find your comfort level in electrical abilities and mechanical abilities. Understand where your limits are to start with, then build from that,” Barrett says. “Take every chance you can to learn more and expand, and understand those steps on what makes the equipment work so it helps you troubleshoot what the problems are.”

As for tools and parts to have on hand, Arbuckle recommends having a basic tool set containing wrenches and sockets (standard and metric) and a multimeter. Supplies might include zip ties, solderless connectors, wire nuts and electrical tape.

“I always keep an adjustable wrench and needle nose pliers in my back pocket, because I can do a lot with those,” he adds.

“Sometimes you’re better off with a good set of tools than a mediocre mechanic, rather than the other way around,” Marrazzo says.

“Honestly, you’re not talking about a lot of tools or a lot of money.”

COMMON AREAS OF REPAIR First up in the common areas of repair is coin mechanisms,

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ffering fully functioning washers and dryers consistently is a key to any successful self-service laundry operation, which means performing regular preventive maintenance (PM) and making swift repairs have to be a priority for the store owner.

For a recent “Equipment Maintenance 101” webinar, the Coin Laundry Association (CLA) invited a panel of three experts to weigh in on the topic of troubleshooting and simple repairs.

Russ Arbuckle is president of distributor Wholesale Commercial Laundry Equipment S.E., based in Southside, Ala. The 32-year industry veteran got his start as a service technician for a small parts and service company servicing primarily household laundry equipment before transitioning to commercial and industrial machines. He owns four laundromats ranging in size from 2,400 to 5,000 square feet.

Ken Barrett owns five Washin’ laundromats in east-central Alabama. Before he joined the laundry industry, the multi-store owner worked in automotive industrial robotics.

Dan Marrazzo is a multi-store owner of several Laundry Depot laundromats in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and has decades of experience in residential and commercial construction. He has owned and managed several residential, commercial and industrial

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Marrazzo says: “Money is extremely dirty, and it’s difficult when it gets recycled over and over again in a coin mechanism. So, if you have a store that takes quarters … that’s one of the items that usually goes bad often or quickly.”

Water valves can be another source of problems when they go bad or become clogged, he adds.

“We buy them in bulk (because we have six stores). It depends on what kind of equipment you have. If you’ve got different types of equipment like Ken does, you’re going to need a lot of different manufactured valves.”

Drain valves represent another area where problems can arise, and they often can be blamed on … bras?

“Bra wires are a villain of this industry,” Marrazzo explains.

“They have a stainless steel ring in the bottom of them for rigidity.

It’s stainless, so it doesn’t rust. It goes through the barrel very easily, finds its way through the drain and, for some reason, gets caught in the worst part of the drain. All the sediment and lint gets backed up on top of it.”

REGULAR PM TASKS Barrett summarized some PM tasks that you should perform regularly, although the recommended timing could range from almost daily to more than a year between servicing.

• Clean coin drops — “Get those long Q-tips, like the ones at the doctor’s office, and usually with just water, clean your drops.

It’s not too often, every couple of years, it just eliminates a lot of issues, that little bit of soap residue in there.”

• Clean drain valves — “We’ll work our way through a store and just pull the drain valves apart and clean out the drain tube behind it. It’s not something you do every month, it’s every six months or a year, depending on how busy you are.” (Don’t forget to clean the drain level tubes as well, he adds.)

• Clear lint buildup from dryers — “Lint in dryers is something you’ve got to stay on top of. There’s access from the front, access from the back, depending on which manufacturer you have. …

Ideally, just set a time when you’ve got a slower day, hit it with a couple of people and good Shop-Vacs, compressed air and compressor, and just work your way through.”

“Those are ones that you really do want to schedule,” Barrett adds. “Look at the manufacturer’s recommendations, and understand (with the help of) your distributors how busy your store is. I might do one store once a year but another store every six months due to the volume going through there. … Then you can adjust.

Maybe it’s too often, maybe it’s not often enough.”

“In newer machines, make sure you’re keeping the inverters clean,” suggests Arbuckle. “Inverters are one of the more expensive components in washers and now in dryers. They don’t like dirt and dust that allows them to build up heat. When they build up heat, they start to break down and eventually they’re going to go bad.”

TIPS OR SHORTCUTS? Marrazzo was asked if he could share his favorite PM tips or shortcuts: • Lint screen drawers — “Those screens oughta be on a PM routine because oftentimes the attendant in your store wipes them out with a heavy hand. They’ll tear them. They get ripped from time to time. … When you pull the whole drawer out, sometimes they don’t go all the way back in again. There’s a gap in the front, 10

AMERICAN COIN-OP AUGUST 2021

maybe three-quarters of an inch. Oftentimes it’s a bunch of lint that got driven to the back as you go.

“We carry around a 1-inch, thin metal bar that we bend in the shape of an L. We pull the drawer out, slide that (bar) in and go along the back edge. That pulls all the garbage out that the drawer is hitting instead of closing on.”

• Fill valves — “When you have water valves that are trying to fill, oftentimes it’s in a machine that’s in the center of the store, where you have to crawl in the back and try and get the valve out.

Oftentimes, if you’ve got something to pop the (washer) top off with, you can get a pair of vice grips that are good for metal … (and) squeeze the hose. You can undo it, flip it over the pipe, change the valve, put the hose back on and take the vice grips off. You’re not going behind machinery, tripping over drains, breaking things.”

DO IT YOURSELF OR CALL FOR ASSISTANCE? “From a repair standpoint, if they don’t know how to use a meter and/or can’t read a wiring diagram or a schematic, I wouldn’t suggest that they get heavily involved in doing a lot of electrical troubleshooting,” Arbuckle says of new laundromat owners. “Most of the mechanical stuff, if they know which end of the screwdriver to hold and they know what a pair of channel locks (pliers) looks like, they’ll probably be fine with most of it.”

But there are owners who prefer to have their distributors do 100% of their maintenance, and it’s the best situation for them, Barrett says. And there are times when a store owner will hire someone as a service technician dedicated to their operation.

“I did all my own maintenance for far too long, up until a couple of years ago,” he says. “Then I finally got a guy who had some decent abilities and really wanted to learn it. He works for me three days a week, comes in Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. If I got nothing for him, I tell him not to come in, and he’s OK with that.”

When not working on equipment, this employee fixes trim, paints, and performs a number of tasks unrelated to equipment that keeps Barrett’s stores fresh and updated.

To learn about vended laundry equipment maintenance and repairs, YouTube offers plenty of how-to videos, and don’t forget to take advantage of your distributor’s service schools when they’re offered.

If an equipment problem has you stumped, contact the manufacturer for technical support.

“If you’re calling in to them, have your multimeter ready and have your earbuds in, because they’re going to start talking you through what to check here and there,” Barrett says. “Every time I’ve called in, they were very helpful. … But you’ve got to be ready to give them the feedback they’re asking for.”

“One of the best things you can do is understand what (the equipment is) supposed to be doing and then figure out what it’s not doing,” Arbuckle says. “If you approach it that way, it points you in the direction of wherever the malfunctioning part is.

Understand what the machine should be doing at specific points of the cycle and if it’s not doing that, we can work on trying to figure out why. Don’t just change parts.”

ACO The Coin Laundry Association frequently offers webinars that cover topics such as marketing, store operations and management, and new investor education. Visit www.coinlaundry.org/events/ webinars to learn more. www.americancoinop.com

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‘Little Guys’ All about community and building relationships

This Ladybug Cleaners is in Knox, Ind., one of the smaller communities where the laundromat chain has a store. Logan Wuethrich (pictured with wife Marissa and children Leah and Selah), head of operations and facilities for the eight-store chain, says starting in a small town allowed ownership to learn the ropes while incurring less risk. (Photos: Ladybug Cleaners/Logan Wuethrich)

by Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director

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here are similarities between self-service laundries regardless of location but those in rural or remote spots generally don’t enjoy the volume potential of their big-city brethren; opportunities to garner business may be fleeting.

Small-town laundromats are often community-minded and place a premium on building personal relationships with the members of their customer base. Let’s meet three of them.

FROM ONE LITTLE LADYBUG Ladybug Cleaners is an eight-store Northwest Indiana coin laundry chain headquartered in Francesville, a village of less than 1,000 people. The Francesville store was the company’s first and Logan Wuethrich, who’s responsible for Ladybug’s operations and facilities, says that starting in a small community gave ownership the ability to learn the ropes while incurring less risk.

“My father (Tim) started the company back in 2002, basically as 12

AMERICAN COIN-OP AUGUST 2021

LET’S GO TO PARTY COVE! Jessica Haney and her husband Chris are fairly new to the laundry industry, having opened Jess’s Laundry Wash & Fold in Lake Dallas, Texas, one year ago this month.

The northeast Texas community of approximately 8,000 residents lies about 30 minutes north of Dallas. It’s one of four cities surrounding Lake Lewisville, a mammoth recreational lake with 233 miles of shoreline and a hangout spot known as Party Cove.

Jess’s Laundry Wash & Fold covers 2,100 square feet and offers customers 16 front loaders ranging in capacity from 30 to 100 pounds, and 16 dryers. The smaller-capacity machines are stacked—washer on bottom, dryer on top—for convenience.

The attended laundromat has become a welcome part of the community but the pandemic didn’t make that easy.

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Learning from the

a side income,” Wuethrich says. “At the time, he was a real estate agent and a farmer. Francesville is our hometown, that store came up for sale and he thought it was a good opportunity to diversify.”

Soon, there were Ladybugs in the larger communities of Knox and Valparaiso. The Wuethrich portfolio at the time included other small businesses, and when it was clear that the Valparaiso store was going to be a good producer, it was decided to focus on developing laundromats.

“Real estate costs in Indiana really don’t change, whether you’re in a small community or large,” Wuethrich says. “Machine costs are the same, utilities are the same, a lot of the fixed costs are the same, which means the more volume you had, the more money you could make.”

Today, the Ladybug chain also includes laundries in Rochester, La Porte, Hobart, Michigan City and Gary; Gary is the largest community served by the chain, with a population of roughly 76,000. All Ladybug stores are open 24 hours and partially attended … except Francesville.

Administration, as well as processes and procedures, were the areas where Ladybug learned and evolved, according to Wuethrich.

“Having the time to devote to getting rid of pilferage, people stealing from you,” he says. “When you’re a low-volume store, it’s easier to monitor and you can catch mistakes really quickly.”

And when your return on investment only goes so far, you learn how to “cut the right corner.”

“You find ways to save money that you wouldn’t think of initially,” he explains. “Things like doing our own plumbing, doing our own electric, working with our HVAC guys.”

A smaller store is also a proving ground for equipment mix, and what works and what doesn’t.

“I also learned how important supplemental income is, making sure that if you staff that laundromat, you supplement that income through a drop-off service, check cashing, a car wash on the back side of the property, stuff like that,” Wuethrich says.

Plus, there’s generally some distance between you and your distributor/service technician, which creates a greater need to do equipment maintenance and repairs yourself, he adds.

Every step taken along Ladybug’s 20-year path has helped the laundromat chain fine-tune its operation.

“Had we started in the bigger areas, it would have cost us a lot more money from all the mistakes we would’ve made,” Wuethrich says. “We learned a lot doing smaller-volume stores that really translated over well to the higher-volume stores.”

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IN THE WOLFE’S DEN

Jess’s Laundry Wash & Fold utilizes an open concept with washers and dryers stacked along the walls that’s been well-received by customers.

(From left) Owners Chris and Jessica Haney pose inside the store with members of a local fire department. (Photos: Jess’s Laundry Wash & Fold) “We had signed a lease at our location and one week later, it got shut down because of COVID,” Haney says. “We had not even gotten approved yet. We had not gone before the council yet.”

By that, the business hadn’t received the zoning approval it would need because of its planned location. But the OK eventually came and the laundromat was constructed.

It was the lack of a laundry that prompted Haney to open one.

“They were unloading the moving truck and I said, ‘Don’t take in any of the blankets or anything like that. Just load them up in my car and I’ll go to the local laundromat.’ I started driving around and discovered that there wasn’t a laundromat here any longer.”

She complained to her husband, who ultimately challenged her to do something about it, so she did.

Haney is dedicated to getting to know the people she serves.

“My customers instantly become friends,” she says. “I have this kid who works for me and he said, ‘It’s so funny, you don’t say ‘customer,’ you say ‘friend.’”

At present, the laundry’s revenue is fairly evenly split between walk-in and drop-off business. Haney says she strives to provide consistency in service.

“I don’t care if we have 22 drop-offs that day or we have three, I want them all done the exact same way, just like it’s going home to our closet, and that’s what I stress,” she says.

But apart from that, when someone walks in her laundry, they know they’re going to be noticed and welcomed.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re wiping down a sink in the restroom, if we hear that door, we’re to stop what we’re doing and make sure that we acknowledge that customer.”

Haney is already set to expand. She just placed an order for additional laundry equipment; the plan is to establish a separate area in an adjoining property solely for wash-and-fold work.

“To be in an area like me, you need to not just be in it to come in during evenings to collect coins,” she says. “That’s not going to build your business in these small (communities). What’s going to build your business is being there to encounter customers and building relationships with them.”

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John Wolfe, with wife Nancy, owns and operates Wolfe’s Laundry Den in Schoharie (pronounced skoh-HAIR-ee), N.Y. The village of roughly 1,000 people is located some 40 miles west of Albany, the state capital, and Wolfe estimates the business draws customers from a 30-mile radius.

2021 marks the retired couple’s eighth year in business. They acquired the laundromat two years after Hurricane Irene flooded the area and filled the building with 52 inches of water.

“We gutted it. All we had left was four walls and a ceiling,” Wolfe recalls. “A laundromat has been located there since 1967.”

Today, the air-conditioned, 3,000-square-foot store offers 15 front loaders ranging in capacity from 30 to 80 pounds, a couple of top loaders, and 24 dryers. Besides its walk-in business, Wolfe’s offers fluff-and-fold on large items like bedding and provides pickup and drop-off drycleaning service.

The Wolfes grew up in Schoharie, so they know their community and its people well.

“I think knowing our customers, personalization, (is a benefit),” Wolfe says. “We work it so that I do the morning shift, 8 to noon.

My wife is there 8 to 5, then I go back down and help her clean up. The best thing about a small community is everybody gets to know everybody.”

He estimates they know 90% of their customers, and this familiarity instills a desire in customers to take care of the store.

“They treat the equipment better, keep it cleaner,” he says. “If we leave for a few hours to run an errand and come back, we can tell the type of clientele that’s been in there by how bad the store is.”

Nancy and John Wolfe, owners of Wolfe’s Laundry Den, Schohaire, N.Y., pose at their front counter. The Wolfes grew up in Schoharie, so they know their community and its people well. This familiarity instills a desire in customers to help them take care of the store, John Wolfe says. (Photos: Wolfe’s Laundry Den) The Wolfes did some newspaper advertising when they first opened but now let word-of-mouth do the marketing for them.

“We offer clean, friendly service,” he says. “They like our laundromat because we spend the time to keep it clean. That is the big key that I would pass on to anybody.”

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, Schoharie residents looking for a laundromat had to travel elsewhere to find one. But those days are just a distant memory.

“It means everything to our local community,” Wolfe says of his small-town business.

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Self-Service Pricing Strategies Understanding the internal variables plus competitive pressure

by Bruce Beggs, Editorial Director

H

ow should you price your self-service equipment when you’ve just opened a brand-new laundromat? What about adjusting prices in a store you’ve had for a while?

When do you know it’s time to raise prices? There are plenty of factors at play, including revenue, store quality and the competitive landscape.

American Coin-Op invited representatives from some vended laundry equipment distributors to answer several questions about vend pricing strategies and weighing your bottom-line desires against the needs of your customer base and any pressures brought by nearby competitors.

Q: Upon what criteria should a laundry owner base his/her wash and dry vend prices?

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▼

(Photo: © Ladanifer/Depositphotos)

Russ Arbuckle, president of distributor Wholesale Commercial Laundry Equipment S.E., Southside, Ala., and a multi-store owner: There are a few things that they need to include in their decision-making process on the pricing structure. One of the most obvious ones is understanding the competitive market, not that that is the end-all, be-all. I Arbuckle think it’s just good information to have.

Certainly we don’t want our customers to undercut their competitors. That doesn’t do anybody any good. Creating price wars benefits customers, utility companies and landlords but not necessarily store owners.

The other thing I talk about, especially with new stores, is understanding your pricing structure as it relates to your pro forma. That’s what we’re basing decisions on relative to opening a new store, and even down the road using that information to look at your price structure vs. your operating costs.

It’s always good to take a look back at that pro forma and make those adjustments relative to your operating costs, then see where that leaves you relative to your pricing structure.

Craig Dakauskas, president of CLEC Distribution LLC,

www.americancoinop.com

Q: How important is it for an owner to know and track their competitors’ pricing? How can a store owner respond if a competitor undercuts his/her prices for similar service?

Dakauskas: I think it’s important to know what the pricing in the marketplace is. It doesn’t mean you have to be the lowest guy or the highest guy, but I think it’s important for you to understand your competitors’ pricing in the marketplace.

How should they respond if a competitor undercuts? I think you have to look at: is your service better or worse? If it’s worse, how do you improve your services in order to justify maybe a higher price in the marketplace? … There are a lot of variables in that question because you don’t know the situation of the other owner.

We’ve seen, in certain marketplaces, where there are store owners who decide to lower their price to keep people from wanting to offer that service because they want to monopolize it, or they want to keep competitors from coming into the marketplace. There’s that strategy also.

Schulte: You do need to know what your competitor has out there, especially the overall condition of the store and pricing. But, if you’re the leader in the market, don’t be afraid to set your own pace as far as what you want to do in price structure.

What I tell people is other things to do in the laundry, such as if you have a coffee station there, vending machines, cleanliness of the store. It all goes into the experience the customer wants and will pay more for. … I would caution them against (having) a kneejerk reaction. What I would tell them is to offer some other pricing options that you can do that maybe the competitor can’t do, such as time-of-day pricing, a senior discount day or bonus washes if you use so many washers.

Arbuckle: You know, the gentleman who got me into this business a long time ago, 34 years to be exact, he said, “Understand your competitor but don’t worry about your competitor. The time 18

AMERICAN COIN-OP AUGUST 2021

you spend worrying about your competitor is less time you’re spending worrying about what you’re doing.” Understanding where your competitors are from a price standpoint is good knowledge to have, but I don’t use that as the end-all, be-all when it comes to my pricing structures.

We’re talking about getting into a price war that benefits no store owners ever. What I discuss with customers when they find themselves in that situation, what is your store like compared to them?

Are they a full-service store, fully attended, wash-dry-fold? Do they do drycleaning drop-off? Is your store newer, brighter, cleaner? Are your attendants better (at being) service-oriented? Those are the things we look at and say, “Look, don’t get into a price war with the guy down the street that doesn’t have your cost structure.”

Q: Is there a formula available based on load capacity, utilities cost, types of goods washed, etc., to easily calculate what a laundry should be charging? Or are there just too many variables at play?

Schulte: We try to make it simple. I suggest they base it on $1.25 to $1.50 per 10-pound load (in newly built stores). For example, if you have a 40-pound washer, $1.50 times four would be $6 to start that washer.

Arbuckle: Obviously, there are a ton of variables. We’re talking about (equipment) sizes and utility costs and even down to the material that we’re laundering. A terry load is going to take more water than a poly-cotton load. Certainly, some variables that you really just can’t get a good grip on. I go back to the pro forma. We use a very detailed one that uses real-world utility consumption relative to water usage, electrical, etc. To me, that’s the best way to figure out what my pricing needs to be at in order for this store to be profitable.

Dakauskas: I don’t think so because of the labor. That variable is the biggest part, depending on where you are and what market. …

And the type of goods washed. Depending on what you’re washing and how big a load it is.

Q: Is there a time of month or season of year when it’s best for a store owner to implement a price change?

Arbuckle: I don’t know that there’s a particular time of the month or year or season to do that. In my case, and this is what I preach to my customers, if you’re building a new store or you’ve got a store that you built three or five years ago, we go back and we look at what our operating costs were at the same time last year— typically on the anniversary of the opening—then we’re going to plug our numbers in with what our operating costs are now. That’s when we need to be raising prices, if we’re seeing increased costs to operate. Now’s the time to raise those prices.

It’s always been the hardest thing to get across in this industry is you can’t keep charging the same thing year after year. Unfortunately, the fear of chasing customers away has sometimes taken over store owners’ thought process. The best thing you can do is do an annual review, and also if you’re doing any type of upgrades: we’re painting, putting in new lighting, maybe new equipment, maybe even an expansion or some new services. That’s the best time to do the price increase. The customers see you investing capital in your business and you’re just not going to get any pushback.

Dakauskas: I don’t know if there’s a particular month or season.

I think what justifies price increases is when your costs go up, whether it be the utilities, the rent, things that impact your cost ▼

Gulf Breeze, Fla.: I think it’s based on his costs. I think he’s going to look at what his costs are, then what type of margin they want to make and then adjust the vend prices at that point.

(Costs would be) labor, utilities, machine cost, what it cost them to get that wash-dryfold load in, how much it weighs; there’s Dakauskas going to be a certain amount of cost to that.

If they’re supplying the soap, there’s a cost there, too.

Dan Schulte, Sales Manager, Laundry Solutions Co., headquartered in Springfield, Mo.: What I feel is important is if you want to be the market leader. That depends on the condition of your store, the equipment mix, larger machines. I tend to stay away from going lower than the competitor’s prices.

With the new state-of-the-art laundry centers that we’re putting in, you can command a higher vend price. In this day and age, we’re almost conditioned to accept price increases in every facet of our lives.

Schulte But saying that, sometimes you need to react to competitors’ prices. And maybe if you don’t react to it price-wise, you react to it with other offerings that you have in your laundry. Let them know you have Wi-Fi, charging stations and all (those kinds of extras).

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of your business. How do you have to change your price in order to survive in the marketplace?

Schulte: If they’re just going to do a regular price change, I suggest they do it at the end of the summer before school starts so they can maximize (revenue) at that peak time.

Q: Today’s advanced equipment controls and payment systems have given store owners great flexibility in setting prices. How has this technology influenced wash and dry vend pricing?

Dakauskas: Because machines are more efficient and technology actually allows you to control your costs in penny increments vs. a quarter at a time, you can go up in price based on what the market is dictating.

You can run certain promotions with technology. Some of the machines out there can do modifiers, which means you can add a longer cycle and the customer is willing to pay for maybe a longer wash cycle.

Schulte: What I think is really exciting about the new equipment is that it allows the customer to actually shop and decide what they want to pay. You can offer a good/better/best kind of pricing strategy. Start out at the suggestion of $1.50 per 10-pound load and then they can build their own cycle with some of the new technology.

Let’s say a customer comes in with an extremely dirty load. He walks up to a machine, a 20-pound washer that’s defaulted at $3, then he can choose his (water) temperature, which is an additional price. He can also choose length of cycle that he wants and he can also choose different options on some of the chemicals going in.

It’s almost like a la carte shopping, even somewhat like a car wash.

Arbuckle: One of the biggest things, in my opinion, is the ability to charge more or less for different cycles. For years, the customer using hot water for a $3 washer, for sake of argument, it cost you more to provide that service to that customer than it did to the customer coming up next that’s using cold water. The ability to now charge more for something that costs us operators more is great.

The other thing that the technology allows us nowadays is to have extra options. We can give you an extended wash or an additional wash and rinse cycle (and) here’s what it’s going to cost, and let the customer make that decision. I can tell you, from my customers and our operations, our extra options are averaging 30%-plus. Thirty percent of our customers are spending an extra quarter or 50 cents, up to 75 cents on the larger machines, to get that extra rinse or extended wash time.

As for payment systems, when you’re not dealing with a hybrid system where you’re not accepting coins, now they have the ability to go up in penny increments. They could pump it up a few pennies at a time every couple of weeks and nobody’s really going to notice. Technology has been a big boon for operators that are willing to use it.

Q: What types of pricing promotions do you think that customers favor most? What types are least popular or effective?

Schulte: If it’s an existing laundry that doesn’t have all the technology bells and whistles, a lot of people will have a punch card where if you buy five washes, the next one is free. What’s really nice about the new technology is, especially in stores where it’s becoming popular to use the store app to start the machines, you can incentivize them to download the app—“We’ll give you 5 bucks if you download the app”—and add money to their account if they add so much—”For 20 bucks, we’ll give you another 10%.”

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And a lot of people offer that once you spend so much using the app, you’ll get a free dry cycle.

I think offering free dry (as an ongoing promotion) is least effective. It’s like telling your customers, ‘Don’t you realize you’re paying more for this wash to get this free dry?’

Arbuckle: My lead response to that would be off-day pricing, to be able to shift some customers from busy days to off days. They enjoy that because they get to save a little bit of money and the store owner can see other customers on those busy weekends. And like many others in this industry, I hate free dry. I’ve talked to a lot of people over the years and what most people don’t understand or realize, you are not going to put the guy down the street out of business. … By you either dropping washer price or going free dry, you’re not going to impact your competitors that much.

One of the promotions that we do for grand openings, or we’ve even done them as a thank-you to our customers at Christmastime, is a free wash day. Everybody says, “Omigod, you’re giving away all that,” but when you look at the cost of water, electric, sewer, and some gas on the hot, it really isn’t that expensive. Certainly, that’s going to pull people into your store.

Dakauskas: I think they like discounted time-of-day pricing, things like that discount the actual cost, especially if they’re flexible (in their scheduling). Let’s say there’s a mother doing laundry and she’s not working. You can save a few dollars coming in on a Wednesday instead of a Saturday, and she’s going to do that. For her family, it may save her 10 bucks. Ten bucks a week, 40 bucks a month, 500 dollars a year, that’s real money.

Q: What’s the one mistake you see self-service laundry owners make most often when they’re establishing their vend prices?

Arbuckle: Trying to follow the leader relative to the market. I don’t understand that. I want our customers to be the price leaders in the market, especially if it’s a new store or a rehab. You need to be the guy at the front of the line relative to price levels. You’re not the discount, down-and-dirty store, merchandise laying all over the place. You have a modern, clean store that deserves to get paid a reasonable vend price.

The biggest mistake I see is when they’re afraid to be that price leader. They’ll say, “Well, the guy down the street is $4 for this particular size of machine and I’ve got to be the same or maybe even less.” No, no, no. First of all, that guy’s machines are 10 or 12 years old, whatever that number is. I’ve always felt that you need to be the guy up front. And if you provide the service, the atmosphere, the equipment that they want when they want it, you can be the price leader and it’s not going to be a problem.

Dakauskas: They’re too low for new equipment. I think it’s because of the cost of new equipment, technology and the new machines, I think they sometimes think they have to be with their competitor vs. they have a whole different product now. If you’ve done a retool or a brand-new store, you have something that’s shiny, bright, and you’ve obviously invested a lot of money in it. …

They undervalue their own investment, is what I would say.

Schulte: I don’t think they take advantage of being the market leader in price. I think they try to react too much to surrounding competition. … The whole key to it is (to understand your operation’s value and not base your value on anyone else’s).

You’re getting more savvy investors in the coin laundry industry right now. When they’re investing a million dollars, it’s kind of counterproductive to try to be the cheapest guy in town.

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From AmericanLaundryNews.com:

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POINTERS FROM PAULIE B

PREVENTING & HANDLING EMERGENCIES IN YOUR STORE J

Paul Russo

ust as you sit down for dinner, you get one of those dreaded emergency calls that require you to drop everything and run down to your laundromat.

One of a mat’s biggest perk—that you’re not always physically in the store—is also one of your biggest headaches when you need to handle an emergency.

Contrary to popular belief, laundromats do not run themselves! Regular maintenance is needed for a smooth and relatively problem-free business.

A typical mat will have hundreds of parts that will eventually fail. You just don’t want any critical parts to fail when you are on vacation or otherwise occupied. A good manager or family member can help, but depending on the level of the emergency, you may still need to step in.

For instance, if you don’t want your expensive VFDs (variable frequency drives) to burn out, then make sure they aren’t clogged up with lint, and make sure your electric service is set up properly, not spiking on you.

So, what’s the best overall solution to preventing equipment emergencies? Simply follow the maintenance schedules and install safeguards, such as a great surveillance system.

But maintenance could be just the tip of an iceberg when considering the types of events that could be deemed an “emergency”: flood, fire, utility interruption, customer violence, surprise inspection, a door jam on your 80-pound washer, no-show employees, electric shock hazard, health scare, armed robbery, nighttime break-in … wow!

It’s not a bad idea to have a policy in place to help your

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your mat, freaking out customers and causing both slip and shock hazards! Before I suggest some ways to minimize these water backups, make sure your insurance covers these perils to your satisfaction.

If you’ve experienced a drain (sewer line) backup every two years, then mark your calendar to have all your sewer lines snaked out every year and a half. I had my lines done every year, all the way out to the street. I went 17 years without an emergency backup when I followed that plan.

If you can, try to get your own dedicated water main, gas, and sewer line for your mat instead of tapping into the building’s systems. Why? Because the other stores in the shopping center sometimes cause havoc with things as simple as people clogging a toilet with paper towels. Install an electric hand dryer in your own bathroom to eliminate the need for paper towels, and you might try printing up signs for your co-tenants’ restrooms: Please do not throw paper towels or feminine products down the toilet.

I’ve also had other stores shut off my water line because it was as big as the main line to the building, so clearly mark all

▼

aggravate a bad back.

Apparently, even healthy people can hurt their backs if they don’t know how to lift heavy bags.

All people should bend their legs slightly and keep their backs straight as they lower themselves to pick up a heavy object.

Lint — Lint is the enemy of laundromats. It’s the single most common cause of “drop everything and run to the mat” emergencies.

Many problems come up if you don’t make sure that your equipment, exhaust ducts, and sewer lines are free of lint buildups. Lint (Graphic: © Yuriy Vlasenko/Depositphotos) buildup is one of the most common headaches you’ll encounter. employees understand what to do when It causes all kinds of problems such as dryers not operating to their full potential there is an emergency.

Let’s take a look at preventing emergen- (contributing to the common customer cies (if possible), or at least some ways to complaint, “My dryer is not hot enough”), as well as shutting down their heat circuits handle them.

Stay Healthy — While you can’t predict and, of course, dryer fires.

Water and Sewer Problems — Washers who will have a health issue or when, it’s good to know that your employees are not draining. Sewer line blockages. Imagine healthy enough to do the job. Drop-off your main sewer line blocking up and thouservice requires a lot of lifting, which can sands of gallons of water flowing all over

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AUGUST 2021

AMERICAN COIN-OP 25

your utility pipes in the meter room to minimize this.

Your Own Sprinkler System — Want to know how to stop an out-of-control dryer fire from burning down your mat? Mats have big water mains. Even just a 11/2-inch pipe can deliver a serious amount of water.

So every new mat in New York City is built with two rows of sprinkler heads over the dryers, spaced about 8 feet apart. One row is over the front of the dryer banks, about a foot out (if you’re standing in front of the right dryer, the spray head will be directly overhead). The other row is in the back, behind the overhead dryer “curtain.”

The rear of the dryers will have the heads more directly over the center of the dryer, also with heads 8 feet apart.

I think they call it a passive system because there is no siamese connection for the Fire Department to tap into. There is a shutoff at its main, and some drain cocks to flush the system if needed. If installed correctly, this could save the building. (An insurance discount might be available but you should consult your agent.)

Sounds — Know the normal sounds

that your mat makes. Pay attention to the sounds of your equipment. A little squeak will not go away on its own. It will only get worse, eventually causing a breakdown of some kind.

Smells — The smell of anything burning requires your immediate attention! It could just be a rubber belt from a jammed-up basket that can’t turn. Or, it could be something that ignited and is a full-blown emergency.

Obviously, gas smells and sewer gas should also be immediately addressed and fixed. Evacuate everyone from the store if you smell gas!

Fire Prevention Protocols — Preventing a dryer fire comes down largely to how you handle lint. Inspect your dryers regularly.

Keep them clean of lint from the air intakes, around the stoves, through the insides of the machine, and also the exhaust pipes.

Keep your lint screens clear. Uncared for, they will eventually clog up not just with lint but also with a waxy residue from fabric softener.

If they are fabric screens, I recommend buying new ones. If they are metal screens, you can clean this residue with a 4-to-1 hot

water to dishwasher detergent (most are designed to cut grease) solution and a brush.

Rinse with clean water when finished.

Active Fire Protocols — Keep a few fire extinguishers handy throughout your mat so you deal with an active fire. Make sure they are charged and inspected every year.

When I worked in a hospital many moons ago, they taught us an acronym: RACE. R: Rescue anyone in immediate danger.

A: Alarm, as in call the Fire Department to get help on the way.

C: Confine the fire with a fire extinguisher, if you can, while the fire truck is on the way.

E: Evacuate everyone from the immediate area, if not the store.

In the event of a dryer fire, first, shut off the electricity so the dryer stops fanning the flames inside. Then stand back and have someone slowly open the dryer door just enough so you can blast the fire with your extinguisher; spray at the base of the fire, not at the top of the flames.

Your entire crew should know your RACE steps, and how to properly use a fire extinguisher. And be sure to have reminder

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sessions from time to time. I had only shown my crew the steps just once when we had a dryer fire and the employee on duty froze like a deer in headlights. Luckily, a customer knew what to do.

After that, I held re-training sessions every six months, and I required a “return demonstration” so I could be sure they weren’t just “yes-sing me.”

Lighting and Cameras — A good surveillance system coupled with lots of lighting will not only help prevent crimes and other emergencies, but also help you handle them.

They intimidate the bad guys, and the videos can help catch them. Whenever I had a crime at my mats, the first thing the cops asked was if we had a video system.

Some unattended mats will have a public address system coupled with their surveillance to help communicate with customers and people who are loitering. You can tell loiterers that you are watching and will call the police if they don’t disperse.

Upset Customers — If you ever receive a phone call from a crew member and can hear a customer screaming in the background, you need to address the matter

immediately. The attendant will not be able to calm the customer down at that point, so don’t let them handle it alone.

Dealing with the public brings all kinds of people to your mat, so you won’t know just which ones will misbehave. Shrugging off or avoiding the difficult ones will only make the situation worse.

Here’s what worked for me: • Listen patiently, and let them vent to you, not your attendant; • Ask specifically what can be done to make them happy; and • Apologize to the customer.

If it’s missing or damaged laundry, tell the customer that you’re on it but will need a few days to trace the laundry to rectify the situation. This buys you some time to fix it, and to research the real value of the item because they’ll almost always demand more money than the item is worth. This also opens the door to the possibility the customer will find a missing item at home.

If it’s a broken self-service machine, refund their vend with apologies.

It all boils down to this: Sooth the savage beast. These days, you never know how a

customer will react. Escalating a situation could trigger violence.

There were times that I actually gave the customer my personal cell phone number.

It works like magic! Not once did anyone abuse it (I gave it out at least 25 times over the years), except to check the number to see if it was really mine. Then they actually became meek! (If someone does abuse your number, simply block them.)

Congratulations, you just turned an angry customer into an advocate for your mat!

If you take the approach that, once in a while, you will take a loss due to something your operation caused, you can be better prepared to respond correctly.

To summarize, the less routine maintenance you do, the more emergencies you will experience—and they always seem to happen at night or on the weekend. ACO Paul Russo owned and operated multiple Laundromats in New York City for more than 40 years before retiring in 2018.

You’re welcome to direct any questions or comments for Russo to Editor Bruce Beggs at bbeggs@atmags.com.

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NEWSMAKERS

(From left) Rick Kelly, vice president sales and marketing, and Gary Gauthier, regional sales manager, both of Pellerin Milnor Corp., present their company’s top dealer of 2020 award to Pellerin Laundry Machinery Sales Co. (PLMSCO), represented by Scott McClure, vice president of sales, and Jean-Marc Pellerin, general manager. (Photo: Milnor) MILNOR HONORS ITS TOP EQUIPMENT DEALERS OF 2020 Despite the hardships faced over the last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, laundry equipment manufacturer Pellerin Milnor Corp. says its dealer network successfully rose to the challenge of safely providing sales and service support to customers.

Pellerin Laundry Machinery Sales Company (PLMSCO), headquartered in Kenner, La. (Milnor is also headquartered there), was awarded first place for overall machinery sales in the worldwide distributor network in 2020.

“The strength of our network of local dealers provided the reassuring availability of parts, service and machinery sales needed for the commercial laundry industry during the difficult times brought on by the COVID outbreak. PLMSCO’s achievement for the highest machinery sales in 2020 is well-earned,” says Rick Kelly, vice president sales and marketing for Pellerin Milnor. “We are proud of PLMSCO’s outstanding results, and we express our gratitude and appreciation for their strong customer relationships in providing product solutions and support services of our industry-leading products.”

Rounding out the top five dealers, in order of finish, are: • Western State Design, Hayward, Calif.

• Steiner-Atlantic Corp., Miami • TLC Tri-State Laundry Companies, Valdosta, Ga. • Loomis Brothers Equipment Co., Fenton, Mo. SPYDERWASH, WASH-DRY-FOLD POS TEAM UP SpyderWash, a Setomatic Systems company based in Florida, has long enabled laundry customers and employees to start washers and dryers using a card system that supports contactless card acceptance while retaining coin functionality on individual machines.

Now, thanks to new cross-platform functionality, customers can use their SpyderWash cards to purchase retail soaps or fluffand-fold services on Wash-Dry-Fold POS point-of-sale systems, a convenience that SpyderWash says self-service customers have often requested.

A new Wash-Dry-Fold POS feature allows laundromat owners 28

AMERICAN COIN-OP AUGUST 2021

to track which washers and dryers are being used for which orders.

This creates time-stamped dollar amounts that can be compared directly to the amounts loaded on the attendant’s SpyderWash card, providing a powerful tool to prevent employee theft by comparing the card system balance to washer/dryer starts.

“Many top-performing laundromats around the country are mutual customers of SpyderWash and Wash-Dry-Fold POS,” says Gregg Schantz, vice president of SpyderWash/Setomatic. “They’ve been asking for this integration over the past year, and we felt it was critical to get this integration completed as soon as possible.

We feel this collaboration will help our mutual customers reach maximum efficiency.”

“My family’s chain of laundromats has always loved working with SpyderWash, and we’re proud to be the first point-of-sale system to announce integration!” exclaims Brian Henderson, founder of Wash-Dry-Fold POS, based in Broken Arrow, Okla.

“We’ve always had people asking to buy soap with their SpyderWash card,” adds John Henderson, owner of Liberty Laundry in Tulsa, Okla., and Brian’s father. “Now we have the option of accepting it.”

“Being able to correlate attendant machine starts with customer order details is game-changing,” says Ian Gollahon, Wash-DryFold POS co-founder. “I’ve talked to multiple laundromat owners who have caught theft using this one metric alone.”

DEAL SIGNED TO BRING MR JEFF FRANCHISES TO NEW YORK CITY, OHIO International laundry service franchise Mr Jeff has signed an agreement with Clean Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in growth-stage laundry companies, to “ignite the U.S. expansion” of the franchise, the organizations announced jointly.

Industry leaders who have collectively built hundreds of laundromats across the United States manage Clean Ventures. One of them is Peter Stern, senior vice president of Clean Rite Centers, a laundry service superstore with more than 200 locations across North America.

Through the mutually beneficial deal—which includes an investment by Clean Ventures and a partnership with Clean Rite stores— Mr Jeff can leverage Clean Rite’s established customer base by operating inside select Clean Rite laundromats. Clean Rite will benefit from Mr Jeff’s innovative business model and marketing expertise to expand its customer services and revenue streams.

A pilot test of Mr Jeff operating within three Clean Rite stores in New York (two in Brooklyn and one in Queens) and one in Columbus was set to kick off this summer.

Eloi Gomez, co-founder and CEO of Mr Jeff, says the U.S. market is “incredibly important” to the franchise.

“The agreement with Clean Ventures is not only one of capital investment but also a collaboration in helping Mr Jeff enter, grow and navigate through the U.S. market,” Gomez says. “They will be an invaluable asset to assist with real estate development and help us make the appropriate connections through their network of operators and premier vendor relationships.”

“The Mr Jeff brand and company as a whole is incredibly innovative and efficient,” says Stern, who is also managing director of Clean Ventures. “The fragmented laundry industry here in the United States lacks that innovation and the tech side of the business.” www.americancoinop.com

GIRBAU NORTH AMERICA PROMOTES TWO Laundry equipment manufacturer Girbau North America (GNA) recently promoted two men within its team: Tyler Willman was named regional business development manager – Canada and Northwestern U.S. and Brennan Pollnow was named North American business manager for the Girbau Industrial brand.

Tyler Willman “Brennan and Tyler are impressive young professionals who have proven their value with our company,” says Vice President of Sales Joel Jorgensen. “We are excited to offer them next steps toward building highquality careers representing the GNA family of brands and products.”

Willman, who joined GNA in 2020 as a regional sales manager in training, has greatly expanded responsibilities in his new Brennan Pollnow role as regional sales manager.

Responsible for sales and distribution within Canada and the Northwestern U.S., Willman is charged with developing lasting distributor and partner relationships, as well as assisting with new product development, competitive analyses, lead tracking and follow-up, and much more.

Willman holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

Pollnow, who got his start with GNA in 2016 as an inside sales and customer care associate, was quickly promoted in 2018 to regional sales manager for Central/Southern U.S. commercial distribution and to provide lead prospect qualification and management for the company’s industrial laundry brand, Girbau Industrial (GI).

In his newest role as GI North American business manager, Pollnow works to design and implement GI strategic sales plans; support new GI product introductions; develop lasting relationships with distributors, suppliers and partners; manage ongoing GI projects; and identify emerging markets and market shifts; among many others.

A 2016 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Pollnow holds a bachelor’s degree in economics.

WAVEMAX, OMNI PARTNER TO BOOST FRANCHISOR’S CLEANING POWER UV cleaning technology provider OMNI Solutions and laundromat franchisor WaveMAX Laundry report that they have partnered to bring consumers the “first hospital-grade cleaning and disinfection laundromat franchise in the country.”

Serving as an essential business throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, WaveMAX looked for ways to improve and guarantee (continued on page 32)

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Russ Arbuckle, president of distributor Wholesale Commercial Laundry Equipment S.E., talks pinpointing the factors that may signal when it’s time to raise a laundry’s vend prices.

Coming Back from a Crisis

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Getting into Laundry Pickup and Delivery

Starting a pickup and delivery service can be as simple as having a phone and vehicle, says Matt Simmons of Super Suds Laundromat, Long Beach, Calif., but it can also be much more. He talks resources, operational impact and keys to success.

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NEWSMAKERS (continued from page 29) laundry disinfection to support front-line workers and everyday families trying to stay safe. While researching conventional ozone systems, WaveMAX says it found that OMNI’s branded UV system exceeded conventional systems in cleaning, safety, disinfection, and eco-friendliness.

“The WaveMAX Advantage elevates the laundromat visit from an inconvenient chore to a positive experience in a clean, safe, ecofriendly environment,” says Michael Roberts, CEO of WaveMAX Laundry. “Now, with the addition of OMNI Solutions’ LUX UV system, it also provides the highest levels of clean and disinfection, including the ability to kill SARS-CoV-2.”

By adding UV light to existing laundry systems, OMNI says the LUX can supercharge the water in those systems with hospitalgrade disinfecting and cleaning power.

“OMNI is proud to partner with WaveMAX to further the WaveMAX Advantage by providing a patented, eco-friendly, hospital-grade laundry system in support of front-line workers and families,” says Andrew Rupnow, chairman and CEO of OMNI Solutions.

HAPPYNEST EXPANDS INTO OREGON Tech-enabled laundry pickup and delivery service HappyNest has expanded to Oregon and is now available in 25 states across the U.S., and Washington, D.C., the company says.

Its newest laundromat partner, Wash World, is serving the Oregon region through its East Portland location with “affordable, eco-friendly, and next-day pickup and delivery laundry services for laundry-heavy businesses and residents who do not have time for the labor-intensive chore.”

“Due to demand, HappyNest is aggressively expanding now into the Northwest region of the U.S., launching in Battle Ground and Vancouver, Wash.,” says John MacKrell, CEO and founder of HappyNest. “Wash World in East Portland has already been serving the area with pickup and delivery laundry services, so their experience coupled with continuous support from HappyNest will undoubtably allow them to boost sales.”

Sustainability is paramount to Wash World with its highefficiency machines and overall operational practices, HappyNest says. The East Portland laundromat owned by Josh Ridinger covers 5,000 square feet and has 42 washers and 28 dryers, allowing the business to offer a full range of services.

HappyNest says laundromat owners are able to increase sales with its pickup and delivery laundry services by utilizing equipment during low-demand times.

TIDE TAKING STAIN REMOVAL TO THE STARS In 2022, Tide® will see its stain removal products tested among the stars.

The detergent brand from Procter & Gamble (P&G) has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to help in the development of laundry detergent solutions and technology in space. Under the agreement, NASA may test and study Tide cleaning solutions there.

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) wear clothing several times before replacing with a new set. Clothing is 32

AMERICAN COIN-OP AUGUST 2021

delivered through resupply shipment opportunities. Limited cargo capacity makes replenishing the clothing supply challenging for deep space missions, such as Artemis Moon missions and a crewed roundtrip Mars mission.

Without a laundry solution, 160 pounds of clothing per crew member per year are launched to ISS. Human roundtrip missions to Mars could be two to three years in length.

Major challenges for off-Earth laundering include ingredient safety and compatibility with NASA life support systems, and the limited amount of water available per load and the requirement that the wash water be purified back to drinking-quality water.

Tide says it has developed a fully degradable detergent, specially designed for use in space to solve malodor, cleanliness and stain removal problems.

Onboard a 2022 cargo launch, Mission PGTide (P&G Telescience Investigation of Detergent Experiments), teams will test the stability of cleaning ingredients under microgravity conditions and exposure to the radiation levels experienced in space, in partnership with the ISS U.S. National Laboratory and SEOPS. Additionally, stain removal ingredients and performance will be tested onboard the ISS through experiments with Tide’s branded wipes and pens.

In addition to testing onboard the ISS National Lab, NASA and Tide researchers may study how a combined washing and drying unit utilizing the specially formulated detergent could potentially be integrated into planetary habitats that may be used for the Artemis Moon and Mars missions under low-gravity surface conditions.

SMALL-BUSINESS OWNERS HOPEFUL AS RECOVERY ACCELERATES: POLL As more Americans receive the COVID-19 vaccine, states lift restrictions, and businesses continue to reopen, a majority (65%) of small-business owners are more optimistic that the worst of the pandemic is over. That percentage is up 21 percentage points from Q4 2020, according to a poll taken April 21-May 6 and released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife.

A large share of small-business owners (44%) are feeling “hopeful” about their current operating or reopening strategy. Thirty-one percent say they are “comfortable” and 24% say they are “concerned,” rounding out the top three emotions.

“Small businesses are seeing real reasons for optimism this quarter and we’re seeing that reflected in the data,” says Tom Sullivan, vice president of small-business policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “The easing of capacity restrictions due to increased vaccinations means more small businesses are welcoming more customers. Increased foot traffic equates to economic growth and that is moving our country’s recovery forward.”

Small businesses are clear on what will help their businesses thrive: easing COVID-19 restrictions (29%) and ramping up vaccinations in their area (28%) are the two biggest keys to their success in the remainder of 2021, poll results show.

When it comes to views of the economy, positive outlooks are growing and negative ones are declining. Currently, 27% of small businesses rate the overall U.S. economy as good, up from 21% who said the same in Q1.

Around eight in 10 small businesses report they either opened fully as soon as their state allowed it, or plan to do so as soon as it is allowed.

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