American Drycleaner - July 2024

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® JULY 2024

Taking the

Dive into Diversification

trivin to eco e

in s ean to c sto ers NEW MINDS, FRESH IDEAS

KEEPING YOUR COMPANY SAFE FROM VIOLENCE

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drycleaner drycleaner A M E R I C A N

®

Vol. 91, No. 4

July 2024

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

Pre-Inspection Keeping Things Fresh

4

Talk of the Trade Keep Them Coming Back

6

© Copyright 2024 A

Around the Industry

28

(Photo: © markin/Depositphotos)

Classified Ads / Ad Index

30-31

Wrinkle in Time 32 Going Commercial, Companion Bills and Saving Energy

JULY 2024

8

Taking the Dive into Diversification

19

New Minds, Fresh Ideas

With shrinking piece counts and shifting demands from customers, more dry cleaners are reinventing their businesses to be “all things clean” for their clients. We highlight the choices some owners have made to navigate these waters.

Business owners entering into dry cleaning can bring with them experience from other fields and fresh ideas about how their new businesses can be improved. We examine the benefits of this cross-generational effect on the industry.

22

Staying Safe in a Violent World

Recent events have demonstrated the need to be aware of warning signs when it comes to potential hostile situations in the workplace. What are the red flags that dry cleaners should be aware of to keep themselves, their staff and their customers safe from those with ill intentions?

2

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HUNG UP ON THE HIDDEN HANGER?

Taking

If you need a little help finding this month’s hanger hidden on our cover, here’s a clue.

Good luck!

Dive Diversifi

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6/1 /24 10:41 AM

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PRE-INSPECTION

Keeping Things Fresh It would be a lot easier to operate a drycleaning company if nothing ever changed.

If economics, customer demands and the community as a whole stayed the same, many of the issues owners have in maintaining their business would evaporate.

That world does not exist. Our world is a dynamic place, and those who can innovate and adapt to conditions on the ground are the ones who will survive and thrive in the future.

Our first feature this month, “Taking the Dive into Diversification,” highlights some of the choices cleaners are making to ensure they aren’t putting all their eggs into one basket.

Spreading out the services offered to customers can allow a dry Dave Davis cleaner to operate a more robust business. If recent years have taught us anything, it’s that reliance on one source of income can be deadly to a company.

Our second feature, “New Minds, Fresh Ideas,” highlights the energy those new to the drycleaning industry can bring with them. Sometimes this involves new-butexperienced owners using the lessons learned in other fields to strengthen an existing cleaning business. Other times, younger people with drive can energize those around them. In both cases, new blood can bring fresh enthusiasm and concepts.

Rounding out our issue is a coverage of a webinar we wish wasn’t necessary, but a recent shooting in a textile cleaning facility in Philadelphia has sadly illustrated the need for it. During a webinar hosted by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Carol Dodgen presented “Staying Safe in a Violent World.” Dodgen, the owner of Dodgen Security Consulting, offered business owners warnings about the dangers of ignoring signs, described types of workplace violence and urged leaders to take control of their facilities when it comes to heading off potential issues.

Using “the way we’ve always done it” as an excuse to avoid change is no longer an option for many dry cleaners. American Drycleaner is here to help you navigate the turns and, perhaps, offer ideas that can transform your business.

American Drycleaner (ISSN 0002-8258) is published monthly except Nov/Dec combined. Subscription prices, payment in advance: U.S., 1 year $50.00; 2 years $100.00. Single copies $10.00 for U.S. Published by American Trade Magazines LLC, 650 West Lake Street, Suite 320, Chicago, IL 60661.

Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER, Send changes of address and form 3579 to American Drycleaner, Subscription Dept., 125 Schelter Rd., #350, Lincolnshire, IL 60069-3666. Volume 91, number 4. Editorial, executive and advertising offices are at 650 West Lake Street, Suite 320, Chicago, IL 60661. Charles Thompson, President and Publisher. American Drycleaner is distributed selectively to: qualified dry cleaning plants and distributors in the United States. The publisher reserves the right to reject any advertising for any reason. © Copyright AMERICAN TRADE MAGAZINES LLC, 2024. Printed in U.S.A. No part of this publication may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher or his representative. American Drycleaner does not endorse, recommend or guarantee any article, product, service or information found within. Opinions expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of American Drycleaner or its staff.

While precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the magazine’s contents at time of publication, neither the editors, publishers nor its agents can accept responsibility for damages or injury which may arise therefrom.

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Publisher Charles Thompson Editorial Director Bruce Beggs 312-361-1683

bbeggs@ATMags.com

Editor Dave Davis

312-361-1685 ddavis@ATMags.com

Digital Media Director Nathan Frerichs 312-361-1681

nfrerichs@ATMags.com

Production Manager Mathew Pawlak Advisory Board Jan Barlow Mike Bleier John-Claude Hallak Monika Manter Wesley Nelson Kyle Nesbit Fred Schwarzmann Vic Williams Wayne Wudyka National Sales Manager Linda Lee 218-310-6838 312-361-1682

Linda@ATMags.com

Office Information Main: 312-361-1700

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TALK OF T H E T R AD E

Keep Them Coming Back K

eeping existing customers is always more cost effective than finding new ones, but today’s consumers have more companies striving for their attention than ever before. To stand out from the crowd sometimes takes the personal touch.

For this American Drycleaner Your Views survey, we asked owners about the ways they use to keep their customers coming back.

When asked what strategies they found most effective in encouraging first-time customers to become repeat customers, two-thirds (66%) said their solution was “providing personalized service,” while 20% offered a first-time customer discount. Sending follow-up communications thanking them for their business was the answer for 7%. “The fact that we offer same day service six days a week usually is enough for a new customer to be won over,” says another owner.

Our respondents also commented about the incentives they’ve found that work best to build repeat business.

• “Onboard them well. Show them you care and have the fine details covered. ‘Wow’ them before they give you a piece of clothing. Then do a great job on their clothes.”

• “Knowledge, Time, and Effort. Whatever it takes to differentiate us in the marketplace.”

Measuring customer satisfaction was a function valued by 60% of respondents, with 40% reporting that they didn’t have programs in place for assessing this metric.

Offering promotional deals for existing customers isn’t something the majority of our owners are interested in providing, with approximately 73% reporting that they “rarely or never” did that. Of the ones who do, 7% reported that they offered them monthly, with another 7% offering them annually. There were weekly offers made by the remaining 13%.

One of the strengths of a business that can retain its clients is how it handles an error or some other reason that causes the customer to become unhappy. We asked our respondents what they did when such an event occurs. Responses included: • “Make the customer happy. They are ‘right’ unless it’s blatantly obvious and it’s clear they are taking advantage of you. Stand behind your work. Pay for

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How often do you offer promotional deals to your existing customers?

How often do you offer promotional deals to your existing customers?

73%

7%

13%

7%

Rarely or never

Monthly

Weekly

Annually

73%

7%

13%

7%

Rarely or never

Monthly

Weekly

Annually

Do you measure customer satisfaction within your drycleaning business?

Do you measure customer satisfaction within your drycleaning business?

40% 60% Yes

60%

No

40% No

Yes

anything that they aren’t happy about, within reason.”

• “Take written notes in front of the complaining customer. Find common ground when possible. Follow up within 48 hours if necessary.”

We finished by asking our owners if they had additional thoughts about their customer retention strategies.

Their answers included: • “Be excellent. Don’t worry about ‘deals and incentives.’ Treat them well. Give them great quality and don’t budge on your prices.”

• “Never give them an excuse to try the competition.”

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

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6/4/24

:42 AM

Taking the Dive into

Diversification

Striving to become ‘All Things Clean’ to customers

By Dave Davis, Editor

F

or decades, dry cleaners filled a basic niche for their customers, and services often didn’t vary. Through evolving economic and social realities, along with changing customer needs and demands, most of today’s owners are realizing that working to become “all things clean” to their customers is a necessity to maintain market share.

The expansion of route and delivery services, cleaning items beyond garments, branching out into related fields, and more are becoming increasingly commonplace as dry cleaners search for paths to profitability in the modern marketplace.

THE EVOLUTION OF DRY CLEANING

▼

Much of this drive to diversification was already in motion, but the events and trends of the past few years have kicked the process into overdrive.

“Laundry services have expanded a lot over the past decade, and that

(Photo: © microgen/Depositphotos)

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EXPANDING BUSINESS AND SERVICES

For Steve Rettler, owner of Minneapolis-based All Seasons Garment Care and Tailoring, a major move toward broadening his customer base was purchasing another company.

“One of the big diversifications for us was starting our bridal brand,” he says. “I bought an existing location from a woman who had her own storefront for 10 years.

She had sold her drycleaning business and got into this specialty business. She was looking to sell, and I thought what a great bolt-on business that would be for us.”

The move to buy what would become Evermore Wedding Gown Care made sense to Rettler for a couple different reasons.

“It’s complementary to what we were already doing in 10

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the drycleaning space, but yet it was also standalone,” he says. “It offers a different experience for brides, and we can sell it as a more upscale service. We offer more of the spa experience focused around bridal. We don’t want to compete with other dry cleaners on price.”

In addition to the bridal brand, Rettler also recently bought another existing business to increase his offerings.

“In 2021, there was an iconic company in the Twin Cities that sold furs, but they also cleaned and stored furs, as well as performing alterations,” he says. “They were leaving the industry, and they approached me to take over the cleaning, alterations and storage business.”

The move felt right to Rettler.

“I bought the equipment from them, and I brought on their main guy who cleans and does the alterations,” he says. “So, we added those services to our portfolio, and it’s really helped. That gave us an entire list of customers who we could target for our drycleaning services, as well.”

Rettler has made other efforts to expand what he can offer to his customers to keep them coming into his stores.

“Alterations was another big diversification in our services,” he says. “We also got into specialty cleaning, where we decided to start cleaning more vintage items, along with high-end drapery, patio cushions, rugs, handbags, shoes and more. We wanted to increase our home service and have a spectrum of things that we can clean in somebody’s home.”

These decisions, Rettler says, were not made in haste, but have been part of his overall business strategy.

“I’ve been in the business for 30 years, so the diversification process has taken a long time — we didn’t just diversify overnight,” he says. “When I first got into the business in the mid ’90s, we already were seeing piece counts starting to drop. Casual dress was being introduced, so I started diversifying the business early on. I knew we had to try to even out the revenue on the sales curve, so it’s not so up and down, peaks and valleys.”

NEW BUSINESSES, NEW OPPORTUNITIES

For Tim McCann, president of Best Companies in the Albany, New York, area, diversification meant forming different, yet complementary, companies. Best Companies consists of Best Cleaners, Best Restoration and Best Logistics and Transport.

“We’ve done a lot of the same things that other cleaners have done — we’re in the full textile care business,” McCann says of Best Cleaners. “Along the way, we went from that traditional shirts and pants drycleaning service to full-service cleaning. We do our own leathers, we

▼

seemed to be taking off prior to the pandemic,” says Dawn Avery, executive director of the National Cleaners Association (NCA). “But then, when the pandemic hit, it seemed to explode.”

Keeping business — any business — coming through the door became the driving force behind decisions that would reshape many drycleaning companies.

“We saw piece counts dropping even prior to the pandemic,” Avery says. “And if you’re going to stay in business, you have to offer more. Cleaners were asking themselves why wouldn’t they just be the clean answer for everything for their customers.”

This effort to be a one-stop destination for a customer’s every cleaning need led not only to the increased expansion of pickup and delivery — which became a necessity for many during the “social distancing” phase of the pandemic — but also in the scope of what could be cleaned.

“Shoe and handbag repair have become popular for some dry cleaners,” Avery says. “Also, more and more cleaners are taking on wedding gowns — ones who really didn’t want to do it before have realized they can do it now. Household items are also increasingly popular. If they have a big enough facility, they’re doing their own area rugs, curtains and outdoor furniture.”

Online shopping habits have also led to the increased need for age-old services.

“Tailoring and alterations have exploded due to the volume of online garments purchased,” Avery says. “You can’t try them on before you buy them. I watch the size charts when I’m ordering and tend to go a size up, because it’s easier to have something taken in than let out.”

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contents restoration.”

It was also during this time that the third element of Best Companies came into being.

“We started a logistics company, where we grabbed a contract with Amazon during COVID in the fall of 2020,” McCann says. “We provide ‘last-mile’ delivery services.

For us, we felt like that fit with our mission of taking care of people’s stuff. So now, we’re delivering their new stuff, and we’re taking care of their existing things.”

Having three businesses that are in related-but-separate spheres has given McCann needed flexibility.

“Each of the businesses has had ups and downs,” he says. “Two years ago, retail dry cleaning was challenged.

Now, profitwise, retail is performing the best of the three businesses. That’s allowed us to invest so much in restoration to be great at full contents. There’s a lot of capital expenditure related to growing restoration, and there’s a lot of investing in the team.”

This diversification strategy, McCann has found, offered options to keep the company as a whole healthy:

▼

do our own gowns, and we do our own carpet cleaning, both wall-to-wall and area rug service.”

The first expansion into areas besides dry cleaning happened for McCann when Best became a CRDN partner and began offering restoration services.

“In 2008, we had the financial downturn,” McCann says, “and that’s what prompted us to look at restoration.

At that time, we had an immediate 20% decline in piece counts, so we had a lot of extra capacity, both in terms of equipment and people. At that point, expanding into restoration was really about reducing risk and finding an opportunity to use the assets and infrastructure we had.”

This element became more of a focus during the pandemic.

“During COVID, we started to reimagine ourselves as a company that takes care of people’s stuff, beyond textiles,” McCann says. “Obviously, CRDN did have a significant hand in pushing us in that direction when we added electronics and art restoration, along with full-

(Photo: © markin/Depositphotos)

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“Each of these cycles has played off each other, and it’s been tremendous to have three different levers that we can pull on, so that we can invest where we want to invest.”

But operating this type of multifaceted company also adds a degree of difficulty in leadership and management.

“It’s become a very different business,” he says. “It’s no longer about only cleaning and restoring clothing and textiles. With the restoration of full contents, it’s a full moving company. That requires a different type of team member, and it’s a different type of relationship with the homeowner, the carriers and our business. It’s become much more complex. Our back offices have become much larger, and the overhead is more significant.”

their career and get to where they want to go within the company.”

This ability to “find your place” within the company has also worked well for Rettler.

“We are always in the search of finding quality people,” he says, “and I’ve been very fortunate that we have had good retention. We foster growth in positions, so if somebody wants to learn something, or if they want to transfer and do something different, we encourage that.

We also look for skill sets in the company. We believe in elevating our people, and we’re willing to train people.

“We’re fortunate to have a good foundation of people who have been in the business for a long time and who can mentor and provide training for those new to our business.”

THE COMPETITIVE EDGE

PARTING ADVICE

Both Rettler and McCann believe that this diversification strategy has helped them keep and gain market share in their areas of operation.

“I think it distinguishes us from our retail drycleaning competitors,” Rettler says.

“If a customer comes in, we don’t have to tell them, ‘Sorry, we can’t clean that for you.’ Instead, we can tell them, ‘We’re going to take care of it, whatever it is — pick any of the services that we do.’ It’s really helpful to not have to turn away things, something that other companies would have to do because they’re not focused on it, or it’s not part of their wheelhouse.”

“It gives me space and time to be patient,” McCann says, “which isn’t necessarily the case for everyone. If I had just one of the companies, I would be under different pressures at different times. The diversification has allowed me time and space to be patient with each opportunity.”

Part of the success of such endeavors is having the right team in place who either knows how to perform different aspects of the services offered, or can learn.

“I have a director of HR who is phenomenal at both culture and training,” McCann says. “Each of our team members begins with a very straightforward onboarding process. We do hire and fire for culture fit.”

Because Best Companies has around 280 employees across the three businesses, McCann believes there is room for people to find the position that best suits their talents and where they have the most to offer.

“Every team member gets a ‘passport,’” he says, “which basically says what training modules they have completed successfully. That passport is how they grow 14

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So, what should dry cleaners consider if they want to expand their offerings to serve their customers and minimize the risk of dropping piece counts at their stores?

“We have to offer the consumer what they want,” Avery says. “We all live in different areas, and every area is different. So, figure out what your consumers want, and then offer that to them. You can get stale if you don’t diversify. You can get outdated. In order to stay up to date, you have to add new services, and let your people know that you can do more for them.”

McCann believes that the traditional drycleaning relationship is quite powerful.

“I think that households and clientele that use traditional retail dry cleaning have built a trust with their cleaner. They’re giving us the things that they spend time and money choosing and, in a lot of cases, clothing is a representation of the individual. I think that trust can turn into (performing) household services. I think it can turn into both interior and exterior services. I think lawn care might be a smart add-on — it’s very similar in terms of both the employee base and the type of effort that is necessary to give the customer proper care.”

“You have to look at opportunity and come at it from a positive mindset,” Rettler says. “I think people get bogged down into projecting all the problems and issues that might come with diversification. If you do that, you can get into a paralysis mode, because you get overwhelmed with the possibility of everything that could go wrong.

“A lot of being an entrepreneur is just taking on challenges that might have risks, but having the mindset of ‘I’m going to do everything I can to make this work.’” www.americandrycleaner.com

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New Minds, Fresh Ideas

W

hile there’s no substitute for experience, those who are just entering the drycleaning industry can bring with them new approaches to the business without being locked into “traditional” ways of thinking. If they avail themselves of the wisdom of those who have done the job before, however, this can be a mixture that brings success.

FIRST STEPS

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▼

By Dave Davis, Editor

Patrick Elverum is the CEO of Turns, a company that recently purchased a Tide franchise of drycleaning and laundromat locations in the Dallas area.

While Elverum is new to the drycleaning space, it’s not his first outing into the business world. The U.S. Naval Academy graduate served as a nuclear engineer aboard a submarine, built schools as an architect, ran a software company for more than a decade, and spent a year as a roofer American Drycleaner, July 2024

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and another as a banker.

These experiences, he says, make him appreciate the drycleaning industry.

“When I looked at the business, I liked the fact that it was a place where, as a leader, I get to work as close to the end product and customer as possible,” he says.

“With a background in nuclear power and technology, AI and then banking. I had a very keen appreciation for simplicity. And while I know that dry cleaning isn’t the simplest business out there, it offered a straightforwardness that was very attractive to me. You learn the playbook, perfect the playbook, and then execute the playbook with violence and vigor.”

David Nelson, with his father, Brian, recently bought their own Tide franchise and has opened two new stores in Boise, Idaho. For Nelson, who graduated from business school with triple majors in economics, marketing and business operations, the idea of franchising was attractive to him but he needed to find the right business type.

“We explored a couple of avenues on different franchises, and ultimately decided we didn’t want to go into a food franchise,” he says. “There are awesome benefits there, but some real downsides, as well.”

The answer for Nelson came from a friend who lived in Salt Lake City.

“He said, ‘Hey, I found the perfect franchise for you,’” Nelson recalls. “So, I went down to his house for the weekend and we picked up his business and church clothes from the dry cleaner on Saturday at about 2 a.m. from the kiosk they had. I thought, ‘This is really cool.’

We reached out to the owners of that particular franchise and chatted with him about it. I then reached out to Tide and pursued it.”

TIME AND TRAINING

When Nelson decided to venture into the drycleaning business, he knew that he should learn the ropes before going all in.

“I worked in that Utah store for about six months before we signed a franchise agreement,” he says. “After that, we took a bit of a hiatus while we were working to locate a site and get ourselves situated with the franchise.

Once we had that taken care of, I went back and worked for them as an assistant manager there for another nine months or so. All told, I had about a year and a half worth of training — working in the front, working in the back and on the management side of things — before I got my own location.”

While Elverum’s training wasn’t as extensive, he was 20

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glad to be able to witness the operation before taking control.

“The timing of this deal took a while to get done, so from May through October, I got to be an observer and a student,” he says. “I was able to go both in the back of the plant and in the front of the plant as somebody who wasn’t a leader — who wasn’t responsible for making any decisions — and got to ask any question I wanted. I was able to learn the basics of garment care and inventory flow. And then I was also able to identify some problems in the business before I owned those problems.”

It was here that Elverum learned to appreciate the expertise of the people working in what would eventually become his stores.

“We’re really blessed in that a lot of these folks are very proud of the work that they do, and they’ve done it for decades,” he says. “We had a GM who spent a lot of time with me, and Tide also sent down some trainers. I got to put hands on the equipment and do each position, but I’d be grossly lying if I said I became an expert. I was able to ask an obscene amount of basic and stupid questions and had a very patient and graceful staff willing to answer them.”

FACING CHALLENGES

Because Nelson and his father started their drycleaning business from scratch, there was one daunting challenge right out of the gate.

“It’s a pretty hefty investment in order to purchase all that equipment and get it situated,” he says. “You go into it with a lot of advice from other franchise owners and from Tide, but at the end of the day, it’s a leap of faith on your part — you hope you’re buying the right equipment and everything you need.”

The other main challenge Nelson faced was bringing in the right people.

“We had to train staff and have a crew, particularly a pressing crew, who could press effectively and efficiently and, essentially, learn a new skill set,” he says.

“There wasn’t a single presser we have now who had any experience before this.”

Nelson still has that staff in place, but now with more experience under their belt.

“At the end of the day, to be successful,” he says, “you have to have the right people doing the right job in the right way.”

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(Photo: © peshkova/Depositphotos)

“When I got there, I realized it wasn’t as simple as I thought it was,” he says. “It’s not just an incremental increase in complexity to bring in additional services — it’s a significant increase. Take maintaining a route business.

It’s not super difficult to grow a route business; it is super difficult to have a big route business that’s profitable.”

Installing lockers, getting into restoration and providing other services have added to the puzzle of balancing expenses with profitability.

“All of those layers of complexity make it necessary to be excellent in those areas,” Elverum says. “If you don’t, you might have higher revenue, but it’s not going to get to the bottom line. In fact, you may be hurting your bottom line. I’ve seen that it’s very easy to do that in this industry if you’re not careful.”

KEEPING AHEAD OF COMPETITION

Both Elverum and Nelson know that, in a competitive landscape, they need to use all the tools available to them to find and keep their customer base.

In Nelson’s case, he knew that his company would be competing against stores that have been in the area for almost 50 years.

“We separate ourselves in a couple of ways,” he says.

“We are considerably faster. Our turnaround time is much quicker than all of our competitors by a long shot.

We are next-day or even same-day. We also have two proprietary wetcleaning machines that nobody else in our market has, which allows us to be able to clean garments in more than one way and really take care of our guests and our customers.”

(Continued on page 29)

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Keeping Your

Company

Safe from Violence

(Photo: © dexteris/Depositphotos)

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Steps to take to protect your team members and yourself

By Dave Davis, Editor

T

he textile care industry witnessed tragedy in May when five employees of a suburban Philadelphia linen company were shot by an armed man that authorities described as a “disgruntled employee.” The attack left two people dead.

No drycleaning business wants to consider that their workplace could be the scene of violence — either from one-on-one confrontations or something much worse — but the simple act of denying it could happen can set the stage for calamity down the road.

This was the message of Carol Dodgen, owner of Dodgen Security Consulting, during a webinar titled “Staying Safe in a Violent World,” presented by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

Since 1998, Dodgen’s company has provided services including training, lighting inspections, and security assessments for business and government entities.

She highlighted signs business owners should look for that might indicate vulnerabilities that could lead to violence on company grounds.

“This is kind of a good news/bad news scenario,” she says. “There are so many challenges that we face, and as far as the bad news goes, we’re not going to stop crime. We’re not going to be able to legislate or cause people to obey the laws that we have in place. We can’t legislate people’s hearts and actions.

What we can do are things that will make ourselves safer.”

THE INGREDIENTS FOR CRIME

▼

Dodgen has researched hundreds if not thousands of cases of violence during her company’s 26 years.

“I’ve spoken to people who have been shot, stabbed, kidnapped, hijacked, and all types of situations,” she says. “My goal has been to try to learn from what they have been through. A lot of times, there are things that were missed. There are things that, when they look back, they say they should have paid attention to them. Sometimes, I’m learning how they survived it. What did it take to survive what they went through?”

She says there are three ingredients to a crime: • The desire or motivation to commit the crime • The skills and tools needed to commit the crime • The opportunity to commit the crime The first two are out of a business owner’s control, Dodgen says, but the third “is the one thing that we have some control over.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than seven people die a violent death in the United States per hour.

In 2019, more than 19,100 people were victims of homicide, and 47,500 died by suicide.

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“I know that this has gone up,” she says, “because we’ve seen increases in suicide and homicide over the last couple of years.”

In 2021, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported that the homicide rate in the U.S. rose 30% between 2019 and 2020. “It is the largest increase in 100 years,” reported Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at the NCHS, in the announcement.

THE DANGER OF IGNORING SIGNS

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One of the first reported cases of workplace violence — and the genesis for the term “going postal” — occurred in 1986. Patrick Sherrill, 44, entered the Edmond, Oklahoma, post office where he worked and, in less than 15 minutes, killed 14 employees and injured six before committing suicide. It is still considered the deadliest workplace shooting in our country’s history.

“He was called into his supervisor’s office, and was reprimanded for something he had done,” Dodgen says, noting that this reprimand was not done behind doors but in front of co-workers. “He was ashamed of this, and that’s something to keep in mind as we talk about handling dismissals and reprimands.”

Sherrill had asked a co-worker whom he considered a friend if she was planning to come into work the next day — and then said that she probably shouldn’t. “This is an example of what’s called ‘leakage,’” Dodgen says. “It’s important to recognize these red flags. In so many of these cases, people either brush them aside, don’t report them, or don’t take them seriously.”

These warning signs can be indica-

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tors that something is wrong.

“You often hear something like, ‘This guy just snapped,’” Dodgen says. “Chances are they didn’t ‘just snap.’ They’ve been on that path for quite a while.”

In the case of Sherrill, his neighbors had reported that he walked around in camouflage at night, looked into windows, and had a history of taking and torturing neighborhood pets. He had also threatened revenge, according to reports, out of his anger at being disciplined at work.

“One of the biggest questions is, ‘What is the greatest indicator of future violence?’” Dodgen says. “How do you predict future violence? I would look at what they have done in the past. Have they shown this to be a pattern?”

She says that if you must deal with one of your employees and have found yourself saying, “I really hate to confront him or her about this because I know how they’ll react,” that can indicate a problem.

Here, according to Dodgen, are some observable warning signs that should not be ignored: • Violent and threatening behavior and hostility • “Strange” behavior, such as becoming reclusive or letting their personal appearance deteriorate • Emotional problems • Drug or alcohol abuse • Performance problems, including problems with attendance or tardiness • Interpersonal problems at work, such as conflicts with others or being hypersensitive • Someone “at the end of their rope,” which can include indicators of impending suicide, or an unspecified plan to “solve all problems” “In a lot of these cases that I have www.americandrycleaner.com

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lence can enter a workplace, Dodgen says, listing four types of incidents.

• Type 1 — Criminal: The perpetrator has no legitimate relationship with the employer or workplace, other than to enter and commit a crime such as robbery.

• Type 2 — Customer/Client: A

customer or client of the business directs violence at employees, possibly because of dissatisfaction with the service or product.

• Type 3 — Employee on Employee: An employee or former employee perpetrates violence against co-workers, supervi-

▼

studied and people I’ve interviewed,” says Dodgen, “I have seen this to be a commonality right before they do what they do. They will withdraw. They will become reclusive. It’s almost like they have reached this point of despair, and the things they cared about in the past are no longer important.”

ZERO TOLERANCE

So, what’s to be done if some of these red flags are noticed?

“We absolutely have to have something in place to deal with this,” Dodgen says. “We need zero tolerance if somebody makes a threat. We have to take that seriously.”

Depending on the situation, dealing with this person can take on many forms.

“If they are exhibiting disturbing behavior,” she says, “sometimes just the intervention — talking to this person, getting a read on them and handling it sensitively — can make a difference. If there’s something going on, maybe they’ve had some stressors in their life, a conversation or some kind of help can be rendered to this person, and they can return to being that productive employee.”

There is a spectrum to workplace violence, Dodgen says, starting at concerning behaviors, escalating to threatening behaviors, and then causing physical injury and, ultimately, death.

“What we want to do with awareness and training, which I believe is critical for all employees, is to recognize these things and stop them before they get to that point,” she says.

“In interviewing people, I’ve heard, ‘We knew this was going to happen’ a number of times. So, we have to do a better job of addressing these concerns. We absolutely have to.”

1918-2024

TYPES OF WORKPLACE VIOLENCE There are a number of ways vio-

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sors or managers.

• Type 4 — Domestic: Violence is committed in the workplace by someone who doesn’t work there, but has a personal relationship with an employee, such as an abusive spouse or domestic partner.

“Most of us probably think about employee-on-employee violence, because that’s usually what we hear most about,” Dodgen says. “But actually the first type, the criminal type, is responsible for most murders. So, you’re going to be vulnerable to this type if you handle money.

This is somebody coming in to commit a crime, such as robbery. So, as we assess our risk, what are we most likely to deal with? We have to put our resources toward that.”

When it comes to angry customers, the most important thing the

owner or employee can do is remain calm. “It can be challenging,” Dodgen says, “but it’s important.”

Most angry customers want to feel heard, she says: “Don’t tell them to calm down. That never works. Try to show empathy to this person, and if they think you’re trying to genuinely help them, a lot of times that will calm them down. Identify their needs or wants, and then seek a solution or work through alternatives.”

If the employee or owner finds themselves getting upset, practices like the “combat” or “four square” breathing method — taking a breath for four counts, holding it for four counts, letting it go for four counts and waiting for four counts, and then repeat — can help counter this.

“What happens when our heart rate goes up and we get scared or upset

is that we lose some of our cognitive thinking skills,” Dodgen says. “This breathing helps to slow things down, gets oxygen to the brain and allows you to think better.”

As for the case of domestic violence, she says, it can spill over into the workplace because an abusive partner knows the victim’s schedule.

“If I’ve moved into a shelter, or I moved in with friends or family,” she says, “he knows that I still come to work, and he knows that schedule. It’s easier to target me there.”

Leaders should be aware of domestic situations like this, she says, and handle these events sensitively.

Leaders who have clear, open lines of communication with their staff are better able to determine when there might be a problem and how they can help.

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UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATIONS

One situation where violence can become an issue is during employee disciplinary or dismissal sessions, when emotions can run high.

“It’s really important to put some forethought into that,” Dodgen says, “and we need to handle it with as much grace as possible. You’re not trying to humiliate the person.”

Some of the factors that leaders should be aware of in cases of discipline or dismissal: • Setting — Where are you going to have this discussion?

• Position of Exit — If things go badly, would you be trapped in the room, with the aggressor between you and the door?

• Environment — Are there items in the surroundings that could be used as weapons?

• Second Person Present — Should there be a witness or, in extreme cases, someone there to help defend?

• Alarm Button or Alert System — Is there a way to call for help should it be necessary?

Leaders should also be proactive when it comes to disciplinary or termination discussions.

“When you drag something out, it makes it worse,” Dodgen says. “I spoke to a labor and employment attorney about this, because people say, ‘Well, we’re afraid of lawsuits.’

He basically said, ‘You have a rule.

Everybody is made aware of the rule.

They violated the rule. You document it. You do an investigation.

And then, you treat everybody the same.’ And then he also added, ‘The threat of violence is always far greater than the threat of a lawsuit.’”

workplace violence, but the key is to have a plan, and take as much control over what you can control as possible.

“It’s not paranoia — it’s just having that forethought,” she says. “We know that trained people react much differently from those who are not

trained. I like this quote: ‘A person without a plan and a ship without a rudder have a lot in common.

They’re both at the mercy of events and conditions beyond their control.’

You don’t want to be the one who is controlled by the storm. Have a plan and take control.”

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AROUND THE INDUSTRY

Xplor Technologies Unveils Financing Solution for Dry Cleaners Product aims to counter traditional lending by funding small businesses more efficiently

ATLANTA — Xplor Technologies, a global platform combining SaaS solutions, embedded payments, and Commerce Accelerating Technologies for businesses such as dry cleaners, reports it has launched Xplor Capital, a streamlined FinTech product designed to increase access to capital for small businesses.

“Over the past two years, businesses have battled rising inflation and increased operating costs that have stifled growth,” says Michelle Van Horn, head of partnerships at Xplor Technologies. “With Xplor Capital, we’re looking to break down these barriers with a seamless lending experience that gives business owners access to the funding they need to accelerate their goals.”

The company says that dry cleaners using Xplor Spot’s embedded payments capabilities will experience increased funding eligibility with underwriting based on sales volume, instead of credit. Offers are also pre-approved, so applicants will see their funding proposal immediately, allowing for quick and easy access to capital.

Xplor Capital is powered by Parafin, a venture capitalbased “capital as a service” platform designed to eliminate the challenges of lengthy submission forms and extended waiting periods. The offers range from $500 to $10 million, Xplor Technologies says, with repayment based on a fixed capital fee with no late fees or interest.

The announcement comes as a recent Goldman Sachs study revealed 71% of small-business owners reported inflationary pressures increasing over the past three months, and 77% saying they are concerned about their ability to access business capital.

“Small businesses are used to seeing traditional, tiresome lending practices,” says Van Horn. “Lenders are typically focused on credit and the interest rates are very high. We aim to empower businesses by providing access to growth capital efficiently and transparently.”

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the company says that funds are available in as little as one business day following approval (all loans are issued

by Celtic Bank and are subject to credit approval). During the process, business owners would review their preapproved offer, complete an identity verification, link their bank details, and then accept the offer if approved.

AWGS Partners with Arbor Day Foundation

Organization will support a tree planting for each gown preservation ORANGE, Conn. — The Association of Wedding Gown Specialists (AWGS), a not-for-profit trade association of cleaners in nine countries who focus on caring for specialty gowns and luxury garments, recently announced that it has established a RestorationFundTM and will help provide support to the Arbor Day Foundation in planting a tree in a forest that needs it for each gown its members preserve.

Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation is the world’s largest member nonprofit dedicated to planting trees. Together with their members, partners and programs, they have helped plant more than 500 million trees in neighborhoods, communities, cities, and forests throughout the world.

In its announcement, AWGS says it has a long tradition of eco-friendly commitment.

“Our Association was the first to try to calculate the carbon footprint of cleaning and preserving the wedding gown from travel to and from one of our members to the cleaning of the gown and the manufacture of the wedding chest to preserve the gown,” says AWGS President Kyle Matthews of Janet Davis Cleaners in Berkley, Michigan.

“In 2009 we began funding reforestation projects worldwide, and our MuseumCareTM preservations are unique with regard to our concern for our environment.”

Established in 1987, the Association, a not-for-profit trade association with members in nine countries, is a network of cleaners who specialize in the care of wedding gowns, specialty garments, and other fine fabrics.

The Association’s mission is to empower members with the knowledge, resources and support needed to excel in this specialized field. www.americandrycleaner.com

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(Continued from page 21)

Increasing customer service has also been a focus for Nelson.

“We absolutely have the white-glove service here in our market,” he says. “We constantly receive reviews and comments about how they wish that all businesses treated their customers in this way. We really have topnotch people who work up front and their customer care is unmatched.”

“We’ve been able to use some creative ways to leverage technology,” Elverum says of his own company, “along with some proven sales tactics and processes to help the business scale.”

He’s proud of the victories his company has scored in the past year.

“One massive success we’ve had is taking our online reviews from a problem to best-in-class nationwide,” Elverum says. “We are 4.7 or better at all our locations and have hundreds of reviews in the last five months since we’ve started this initiative. The other major success we’ve had is our point-of-sale system — managing aged inventory and accounts receivable. That was a massive problem when I arrived, and we’ve wrangled that down in five months.”

While new ideas have brought success, Elverum believes it wouldn’t have been possible without input from his experienced staff.

“We’ve gotten a huge lift from combining their institutional knowledge and experience with some of the tactics that I brought from past experience from outside the industry,” he says. “It’s because of the combination of that cross-generational approach that those successes were born.”

CROSS-GENERATIONAL COLLABORATION

Nelson believes that both those new to the field and industry veterans have a lot to offer each other when it comes to building stronger businesses.

“I think the younger generation brings speed and technology that really just didn’t exist in earlier days,” he says, “such as our ability to heat-seal garments so that we don’t lose them. We’ve been open for over a year now, and we have yet to lose a single item. I don’t know how dry cleaners in the past with individual itemized paper tickets could have possibly kept track of any amount of clothing like we do today.”

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“The older generation comes in with significantly more experience,” he says. “They have the industry knowledge on the best way to clean garments. How does this solvent compare to that solvent, versus wet cleaning versus laundering? How does all this come together so that you can get the best performance from your crew and from your equipment?”

Elverum’s experience in other fields has allowed him to appreciate the depth of knowledge that exists in the drycleaning industry.

“I’ve been really taken aback, because that depth didn’t exist in the software or banking space. The level of expertise that exists, not just in our drycleaning plants but really any successful drycleaning plant, is extraordinary. Some of these folks have done this for decades and are very proud of their experience.”

ADVICE FOR NEW CLEANERS

Both Nelson and Elverum believe that, for those people thinking about entering the drycleaning field, it’s important to educate themselves and gain experience in what can be a rewarding but demanding vocation.

“I would say work in a location,” Nelson says. “Get as much time on the inside of a dry cleaner, working and learning from them as much as you can. There are a lot of mistakes that we did not make, or made less of, by going in and working in the industry for a significant amount of time.”

Nelson says it’s also important for cleaners to stay passionate about what they’re doing.

“If you have a genuine interest in the industry and a desire to provide great service,” he says, “that will come through in your work and help you succeed.”

Elverum suggests spending extra time listening to vets in the business and making sure you understand what they’re saying.

“I didn’t do that right out of the gate,” he admits. “I came in a little too aggressive and a little too prideful, quite frankly, to fully leverage their experience. Had I listened to them, I would have made the same changes in working on our accounts receivable issue, for instance, but I would have done it a bit slower, and I would have prevented a lot of pain.”

Dry cleaners as a group are willing to answer the questions of those who want to learn, says Elverum.

“There’s an incredible combination of entrepreneurial spirit and togetherness in the industry,” he says. “They are open, and the degree of helpfulness I’ve found from experienced operators is unparalleled. It’s really awesome.”

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WRINKLE IN TIME

Going Commercial, Companion Bills and Saving Energy 10 YEARS AGO. Going Commercial — More and more dry cleaners were deciding to process commercial accounts, according to the American Drycleaners Your View survey, with the majority of operators (77.1%) saying they handle hotel/motel guest dry cleaning at their plant.

Other commercial work done at plants included uniform/workwear services (37.1%), catering service linens (17.1%), healthcare linens (17.1%) and hotel/motel linens and napery (14.3%). When asked if they planned to add commercial services or expand their offerings in that area, 15.2% said “yes,” while 13.6% were “not sure.” The desire of this type of customer for fast turnaround was a challenge reported by many. “[Customers] want very fast turnaround, meaning they only have so much inventory to work with, and haven’t bought any more stock.”

25 YEARS AGO. Barton Companion Bill — Barney Deden, industry point man on efforts behind the Small Business Remediation Act, or Barton Bill, reported that he had won a commitment from high-ranking Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) to introduce a companion bill on the Senate floor — once a retooled version was available. In discussions with dry cleaners and association representatives, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) agreed that certain parts of the original bill could be modified to make a new version more 32

American Drycleaner, July 2024

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marketable to potential co-sponsors in Congress. Barton, however, was adamant that the bill shouldn’t be watered down to the point where its passage would offer dry cleaners little protection.

suggested any plants using steam vacuum should convert to air vacuum to conserve fuel (and shut them down when not in use), and to make sure all pipes, boilers and hot water heaters were properly insulated.

50 YEARS AGO. Saving Valuable Energy — With the ongoing energy crisis on everyone’s minds, the Laundry & Cleaners Allied Trades Association (LACATA) offered several suggestions on how cleaners could alleviate their energy problems. Some of these included consolidating loads when dry cleaning and eliminating or reducing the number of “special” loads, allowing more time for deliveries, stopping all solvent leaks and waste, staying with current distributors and performing regular preventative maintenance. The organization also

75 YEARS AGO. The Heat Was On — Detroit was the setting for a rather unusual lawsuit in the drycleaning field. A cleaner in the city was being sued because his routeman opened the door of a house and let the dog out. The dog was pedigreed and was, the lawsuit stated, being especially guarded at that time. When the dog escaped, she became intimate, as the report stated, with a wandering mongrel. The lawsuit stated the dog was then going to have some unpedigreed puppies.

— Compiled by Dave Davis, Editor www.americandrycleaner.com

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