Anyone here in the Laundromat Business?

[wannabemtnman]

Is anyone on here in the laundromat business? I'm in the midst of closing on my first few stores and have some questions for operators currently in the industry, primarily around digitalization, vending, machine preferences, etc. These stores are self serve and wash dry fold, no dry cleaning.
Thanks!

 

[wyogoat]

Very interesting question! I’ve thought about this in an area where I think it would be successful, so curious what the responses are.

 

[Howler65]

I own one...basically was part of a building we purchased and we got the laundromat business as well. Old, but serviceable equipment. I looked at digitizing, but it didn't pencil for us. What kind of machines are in your locations? Do you have a service guy? Or are you handy? They require lots of service, daily cleaning, etc.. Let me know your questions and I'll do my best to help...

 

[Billy Goat]

The juvenile in me wants to say, I have a lot of experience making dirty sheets.

 

[wapitibob]

Youtube, a guy goes thru the whole shebang.

 

[CorbLand]

The juvenile in me wants to say, I have a lot of experience making dirty sheets.

All that fiber from the beans in your chili kicking your ass?

 

[Burnsie]

Our local laundromat had become a run down dump, fortunately I only used it when I needed to wash our large comforters. The last time I went a few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised. It must have changed ownership and had been completely overhauled aesthetically as well as all new modern equipment. Everything was digital - no cash - no standing there putting in $10 worth of quarters.
Someone dropped a lot of cash into that place.

 

[Zak406]

I’ve always been interested but they are not cheap to buy here.

 

[wannabemtnman]

I own one...basically was part of a building we purchased and we got the laundromat business as well. Old, but serviceable equipment. I looked at digitizing, but it didn't pencil for us. What kind of machines are in your locations? Do you have a service guy? Or are you handy? They require lots of service, daily cleaning, etc.. Let me know your questions and I'll do my best to help...

They're very capital intensive, my in laws have owned these stores for some time now with a partner so I've been around the stores for a bit. They have the staff in place, have a part time guy on call for machine repair who's handy and they've known for a long time. We have all the staff and cleaners in place today. Have majority Dexter, god amount of speed queen and some Huebsch. They purchase a lot of new equipment in the last 4 years, some old dryers I'll replace in the next two years. some top loaders and then 20-80 lb machines. Everything is coin today and I'd like to get away from solely coin usage given where we're at in the 21st century. Debating on keycard system vs bolt on program to the machines to accept tap to pay, digital wallets, etc. Also curious on what vending systems people use and if they saw an increase in return going from an older coin soap vending dispenser to a more modern vending machine that has smaller detergent bottles in it but can cover multiple loads. The new vending machines are expensive, curious if anyone has seen the justification on the ROI. I've got a call out to the supplier but wanted some real world input.

 

[wannabemtnman]

Youtube, a guy goes thru the whole shebang.

I've plugged into a few YouTube channels and podcasts, there's some great info out there but not a solid laundry forum. Reddit is ok, but going to a place I like and trust for real world feedback.

 

[wannabemtnman]

Our local laundromat had become a run down dump, fortunately I only used it when I needed to wash our large comforters. The last time I went a few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised. It must have changed ownership and had been completely overhauled aesthetically as well as all new modern equipment. Everything was digital - no cash - no standing there putting in $10 worth of quarters.
Someone dropped a lot of cash into that place.

Sounds like someone ponied up! How was your digital experience? Was it intuitive? The $10 of quarters for an 80 lb machine takes forever, would like to improve this experience for our customers as well.

 

[TaperPin]

Unless you have sole ability to empty coins, coin op businesses are famous for managers skimming a little off the top. I’d think a digital setup would cut way down on that.

One thing I’ve always enjoyed is hearing inventive ways employees have used to rip off small businesses. lol

 

[Burnsie]

Sounds like someone ponied up! How was your digital experience? Was it intuitive? The $10 of quarters for an 80 lb machine takes forever, would like to improve this experience for our customers as well.

Digital was great with easy to follow on-screen instructions, and worked smoothly - no coins is definitely nice. They had all their new front loaders arranged in rows by capacity - the biggest ones could take a ton of laundry and were like $15 or $20.

 

[Mr. October]

It's funny this came up. Our 35 year old Maytag broke before Christmas. It's actually an easy fix. Just waiting for a part. In the meantime, we've been using the local laundromats. One is older and uses older, coin-based equipment. The other newer, and all digital. As a user, I can't really say one was better than the other. The digital one gets a nod on user-friendliness as the machines provided good instructions on the panel. But it was more expensive than the coin-based facility.

IMO, regardless of the equipment, the biggest thing is how clean and not rundown the facility is overall. Landromats are not a fun place to be regardless. When it is dumpy and dirty it is even worse. In this case, the digital facility is very new and was clean and well maintained. They even had a fun looking play area for kids.

 

[aMurderOfCrows]

The juvenile in me wants to say, I have a lot of experience making dirty sheets.

Thankfully you showed restraint.

 

[gbflyer]

My cousin had one for a couple years in a little CO town. They got out of it as fast as they could. Constant headaches from break downs and vandalism. Folks that go to the laundromat aren’t exactly top shelf. Just the way it is.

 

[insanelupus]

Our local one, last I was there, had signs up asking people not to put animal hides in the dryers. Made mr laugh because I knew why people would. But I never realized it was done at a volume requiring a sign!

 

[Mr. October]

Our local one, last I was there, had signs up asking people not to put animal hides in the dryers. Made mr laugh because I knew why people would. But I never realized it was done at a volume requiring a sign!

Well . . . let's face it. A lot of people are going to wash or dry things at a laundromat they wouldn't do at home for fear of hurting their machines.

 

[wannabemtnman]

It's funny this came up. Our 35 year old Maytag broke before Christmas. It's actually an easy fix. Just waiting for a part. In the meantime, we've been using the local laundromats. One is older and uses older, coin-based equipment. The other newer, and all digital. As a user, I can't really say one was better than the other. The digital one gets a nod on user-friendliness as the machines provided good instructions on the panel. But it was more expensive than the coin-based facility.

IMO, regardless of the equipment, the biggest thing is how clean and not rundown the facility is overall. Landromats are not a fun place to be regardless. When it is dumpy and dirty it is even worse. In this case, the digital facility is very new and was clean and well maintained. They even had a fun looking play area for kids.

Fully agree with you - they’re in good shape now, not completely redone but clean and great equipment. Your input helped solidify some hesitations my wife was having.

 

[Mr. October]

Fully agree with you - they’re in good shape now, not completely redone but clean and great equipment. Your input helped solidify some hesitations my wife was having.

BTW . . we were at the "good" laundromat yesterday. One other nice touch they have I didn't notice before is automatic doors. That is really nice when your arms are full of laundry stuff. Meanwhile 5 more days until our washer is fixed. But who's counting?