Dry Clean Living Pays Off RYTINA REPRESENTS A CONTINUATION OF A LONG-VALUABLE SERVICE
BY JESSICA LASKEY SHOPTALK
K
atie Brown describes the process at Rytina Fine Cleaners as “a little magic and a lot of advanced science,” and it’s a process that’s been keeping Sacramento garments feeling fresh since 1958. “We’re the third generation running the business,” says Brown, who married into the Rytina family when she wed her high school sweetheart, Toran, whom she met when they were both students at Sacramento Country Day School right down the street from Rytina’s outpost on Fulton Avenue. “I also come from a family business—Shasta Linen Supply—so I know what it’s like to be a part of a family business. It’s a coincidence that they both happen to be in cleaning!” Though the two Sacramento natives lived in Los Angeles for 10 years after college for Toran to pursue a career in commercial real estate, it wasn’t long before the siren song of Sacramento inspired them to return to their hometown to raise a family and run Rytina. “Sacramento is really the perfect place to have kids,” says Brown, who has two sons and a daughter. “It’s more nurturing, it has great proximity to the mountains—we love the mountains—and we wanted our kids to have the experience of growing up in Sacramento. It comes down to quality of life.” Life has been good for the Browns. During the 20 years Toran ran
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Katie Brown of Rytina Cleaners
Rytina, he engineered a software system that allowed the business to become the first dry cleaner to offer free region-wide deliveries to customers in Davis, Roseville, Granite Bay, El Dorado Hills, Natomas, Stockton and everywhere in between. When commercial real estate came calling again for her husband six years ago, Katie took over day-to-day operations and couldn’t be happier with the service she and her team are able to provide. “In this day and age of people being so terribly busy, home delivery makes picking up your dry cleaning one less
thing to think about,” Brown says. “The system is very efficient: We scan our orders using a barcode so you can track your order, from pickup to delivery, down to the minute with your mobile device. Everything is an app today, so Rytina is trying to make a mundane chore easier.” The Browns have managed to not only improve the dry cleaning process, but also their community. “You hear so much about farmto-fork and small businesses in Sacramento, and I consider Rytina to be a part of that,” Brown says. “We’re very careful about what we buy.
We thoroughly research the types of solvents and detergents we use because we want the best products for cleaning, but we also recognize how important the environment is. “We also think it’s very important to give back to the community and we’ve been doing so for over 57 years. We support local schools and charities that our customers recommend, we provide free dry cleaning services for the B Street Theatre, Sacramento Theatre Company, the CrockettDeane Ballet Studio and so many more. We also partner with WEAVE and Women’s Empowerment—that’s my passion—and collect professional, gently used garments, shoes and accessories. “When you handle clothes all day, you realize what wonderful wardrobes our customers have, and they occasionally purge those wardrobes. When they do, we’ll pick up the clothes and deliver them directly to those groups.” Between the company’s efficient and charitable practices, it’s not hard to see why Brown loves her job. “It’s fun to be affiliated with something that’s been around for so long,” she says. “We see the third or fourth generations of families who have been customers for decades. We’re part of the fabric of their lives.” I couldn’t have said it better. Do your clothes need cleaning?Contact Rytina Fine Cleaners at 485-4700 or rytina.com. You can also find helpful hints and special offers on Rytina’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. Rytina Fine Cleaners is at 630 Fulton Ave. n