I want to open a Launromat

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irishwashguy

irishwashguy

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 22, 2006
Messages
747
Location
Salem,Oregon.............A Capital City
I am taking steps to open a Laundromat. Is there anyone here that has done it that can give me some advce about it. I want to call it " Aunt Betty's Spin Cycle Laundomat & Eco Cleaners" . I found a busy corner where there once was a laundomat. In Sept it was busy, as well as up and running. The space after over 40 years in empty and waiting to be one again. What do you think?
 
Your Laundromat:

Hey! Richie, I'm curious to know which area that you live in, of Portland, Oregon and where the Laundromat would be located? The reason for my inquiry is because my Brother, Sister-In-Law and Families live in the South/East part of Portland, off of Woodstock at the 42nd Block, approx 2-Blocks from Woodstock, near the Safeway and Biz-Mart on Woodstock.

Thank you, it would be great to get to check out your Laundromat sometime later on, whenever I will be able to get up that way again, to visit my Brother and Families there.

Peace and Kind Regards, Steve
SactoTeddyBear0503...
 
Thank you:)

Well, I am taking this slowly. I already do a pick up and fold service out of the basement at the moment, so I already have some business going. I have a couple of places picked out, one in Vanouver, Washington, which is very close to here, 20 min by car,the other on Belmont, both of which would nake great choices. The location in Vancouver is alot smaller than the one in Portland, as well as the price difference in doing business in Washington vs Oregon. Water in Portland is going to double in the next three years, that is also a consideration. I am hoping to gain some wisdom from those people that have ran and or owned one. I am learning more everyday.
 
I want to open a Launromat

That has always been my dream too.

Think about it. You rarely see a Laundromat close down. They are almost always busy. If the economy is down, your business is up even more because when people's machines break they can't afford to fix them.

The only other "recession resistant" business I studied is a Liquor Store. I wouldn't to run one of those, to easy to be a stop and rob.
 
Speed Queen or Wascomat?

I would recomend that you get all front loading units in different sizes. The Speed Queens are my first choice and Wascomats my second. Speed Queens come with a full 3 year parts and labor warranty.They also have stainless steel inside as well as outside tubs.They are available in capacities up to 100 pounds dry weight.There was a big laundromat I went to in Texas that had one of the 100 pound units and allowed me to thoroughly wash a 9X12 area rug with ease.The reason I don't recomend top loaders is that 90% of the users overload them and use way too much detergent.They're water hogs and not as economical as the front loaders.Good luck!
 
Speed Queen offers some excellent information on it's commercial site for potential owners. And there are several videos on YouTube talking about the subject. I, too, would like to own one...a nice one like is near my house. I would imagine between $40,000 - $100,000 startup. Whew!

Has anyone out there owned, or owns one? Advice, suggestions, warnings? I've thought of asking this question on here many times, hope there are some owners out there. I have a full time job, but would love to have a small, side laundromat.
 
It is always better to buy an existing store than start from scratch. Just the city/county costs can prohibit you: impact fees, sewer tap, water lines and meter, gas lines and meter. Always start with your municipal utility providers to see what it will cost to start from scratch.

An existing store already has these paid -- it is a one time fee. An existing store, you are buying the income stream, usually a multiplier of the yearly net income.

If you are very lucky, you find a dead store and all the landlord wants is you to come in, open it up and pay the rent. Lots of downfalls there, though. Why did the store close? It may not be worth reopening.

You need lots of capital to start. There will be lots of renovations that need to happen besides utility deposits and new equipment.

I own 2 stores and am considering a third. Email me.
 
BTW

I am a Wasco guy; SQ is last on my list of equipment I would consider.

Let's keep this thread about the business. We can debate equipment separately.

Looks like we need to be bumped to the Super forum. Oh Webmaster...
 
Not trying to debate equipment, BUT. . .

You used to be able to lease/purchase equipment from SQ. I don't know if other makers have this program as well.

The program that a lady was telling me about. The machines are set for a minimal cost, but the coin slide has a meter on it which is reported to the company. The lease company gets a larger percentage at the beginning of the lease but it is based on usage. Much like a PPT (pay per transaction) program on video rentals.

As the equipment is depreciated the Mat gains more ownership until the end of the term at which time they own the equipment outright, or have the option to install updated equipment and restart the agreement.

There have been three LARGE laundromats open here recently, one of the owner/managers said this is a simular program they are using.
 
Alliance DOES have their own Lease /Finance Dept

ANd they are VERY nice to work with. And offer very good deals thru them. your can see the application and get a lot of answers on thier website. They also have a lot of brochures and videos they will send you.
 
And leasing commercial equipment is a horrible idea! At the end of the lease, what do you have? Nothing. And where has that money gone? To the company, not to you. If you have a good 'mat in the right location, you can pay off your equipment purchase financing well under the usual 5 year term. When I purchased 10 stack dryers and 5 50# dryers, I paid that off in 14 months. When I bought 5 new 30# washers, 2 40# washers and 2 55# washers, I paid it off interest free in 11 months. My second store had a 5 year term; paid it off in 3.5 years.
 
Around our general Sacramento, CA area:

They are building more and more Apartments, Condo's and Town Houses now For Rent, that include a Laundry facility, usually in a Closet with Doors to close off the Closet when not in use. This has also shown me in several areas here, of the Laundromat's closing, because they just aren't getting the Business like they used to get.

Peace and Kind Regards, Steve
SactoTeddyBear0503...
 
IMHO, wait until this new wave of domestic f/l owners, is on their 2nd or 3rd $1000.oo machine. I can hear the coins clanking now. Follow your dream Irishwashguy. alr2903
 
This sounds like

I need to plan really well.If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I could find one that is already in exsistance. The lady @ the bank was asking me if it already exsisted and what the income was. Since at this moment it is just an old laundomat space, there is no way to tell. When I was there, it was so busy that I had to wait for a washer and or a dryer. The guy that was the owner looked realy tired to me. He was also running a drycleaners as well. He was doing it all by himself. What about if you have an attended laundry? I want to be hands on for the few months it is open. How is the best way? Is there more self service?
 
At our local coin op there is always somebody there. I think the place has 4 employees. They offer a wash & fold service which is very popular. You always see employees washing and folding and hanging clothes. They are open 7am-9pm with no new loads after 8pm.
 
I would imagine that attended laundries do MUCH better. Interestingly it's one of the reason that I go to the nice Speed Queen laudromat...the lady is as nice as my mom, knows me by name (even though I only come once a month for the King comforter), and has a very home-like environment. Feels like laundromats that I would go to growing up with my aunts...nice people...and the smell of fresh laundry (not stagnant water like some). I'm VERY excited for you and am very interested in how things go. I hope you share your experiences in detail for those of us who are considering a Laundromat as well.

By the way, would you do this full time, or in addition to a full time job? By the way, the lady at the laundromat (with whom I spoke of my desire to open one) said that she received a $10,000 grant/bonus/refund for placing her new front loaders on pedestals to make them more ADA friendly. I have no idea of what the program is...but worth poking around about.

BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!
 
Do Your Homework!

Many a man has been driven to ruin thinking opening a laundromat was an easy "gold mine". It simply is no such thing.

You need to know what it costs to run this laundromat, verus what locals will pay. In particular what will be your fixed costs: water, sewer, electric, gas, etc.... Does your local require commercial laundries to pay for incoming water and outgoing (sewage), if so how is it caculated.

What and who is your potential customer base? Is there room for growth? Can you price to get where you need to make your monthly nut and a profit?

Who is your competition? It may not always be the obvious, and that can come back to bite you in the rear. What are you going to do differently to both keep the existing customer base happy, plus draw in new clients?

Remember if you attract a large drop off and or collect and deliver service, that may tie up your machines at the same time laundromat customers want the machines. This happens allot at our local, and nothing ticks persons off more than having to wait for endless machines tagged with drop off laundry.

Both the Coin-Op Laundry Association and Experian sell demographic information (at a price, IIRC) you need for marketing/research purposes. You tell them the parameters
and they pull the information.

In NYC, drop off service bets laundromat. The man who runs our local always tells me that the business is about 75% drop off. Then again this is NYC where persons are busy and lead hectic lives, so most would rather have someone else deal with the Wash. Being as this may collect and deliver laundry service is picking up as a service across the United States.

This is all off the top of my head, and you doubtless will receive much better information from others in the business. However one more thing: if at all possible either obtain a very long lease or better still, try to own the building. Countelss horror stories abound about laundromat owners being chucked out of their business when the lease is up, and having to leave all their equipment behind. Only to have the building owner open up a "new" laundromat with said owner's equipment (and customers). The thing has to do with clauses in a lease about anything attached to the building belonging to the landlord. Well dryers and commercial laundromat washers are bolted into the floors, well they are unless one chooses soft mount machines.
 
I apreciate hearing everyones input

I at this moment have a pick up and drop off service, I specifically do most of my work for Chiroprators/masage theropists/spa type of places. I have a lady that used one of her sheets acording to where the stain was. She called me one day and asked me if I gave her back the right sheet, it looked like hers, just missing the stain. Ooops! I am totally looking to expand that. I was thinking about going to diapers, an or white shirts. In this part of the country, they charge an average to .95 lbs to 3.00 a pound. The location people are calling back tomorrow with more information for me.I am calling the Clark Public Utilities and find out what the average electric bill is, as well as the other utilities so I can get a baseline as to what it will cost to run this place.
 
Launderess's suggestions are very interesting cause they apply also here.

In my town ten years ago there were 2 laundomats. They had as a target those immigrants that weren't expected to afford a washer. But immigrants prefer save 200 euro (or use revolving cards) to buy a budget washer rather than pay 8 - 10 euro to wash and dry a single load. So one has closed. the other has gone to 100% drop off service

The one close to my sister village is in a touristic place close to the border, so there are several foreign tourists and has also a lot of drop off traffic based on ski suits

Check also gas vs electric, which one is less expensive. Don't know how it works there. Here electric fixed charges increase as much as you increase your required KW of power, while gas is cheaper, no matter if from public pipeline or from your private LPG tank.

That's why commercial gas dryers are common while electric dryers are rare. Washers have hot / cold fill and sometimes very hot fill too in addition of a less powerful possible internal heater.

Someone offers wetclean services, someone duvet care, many offer shirts care. No matter all of them have also a dry cleaning machine that' s the very core of their trade, however that may not be be same in Michigan ...

Good luck
 
Diaper Service

Yes, there are a few of them still out there, and you will be running withthe big dogs.

Diaper service is not as easy as one thinks, especially as unlike simple collect and deliver laundry, one has to supply the diapers as well. That means stocking all manner and sizes from newborn to adult.

Next, you will probably have to have your local health department involvement or at least consulted as you will be dealing with "bio hazard" contaminated laundry on a daily basis (read feces and urine soaked diapers). Such articles are going to require vastly different laundry proceedures than say washing sheets.
 
That is a very good point

With the business that I am doing now once took me into a laundomat when my washer and dryer were unhooked for a couple of months. I spoke with the woman who owned the laundomat and we had a costomer in common. She tried to steal him away from me, because he told me. She is very serious about her business as am I. I want to do a perfect job for everyone and still make some money. Quality is very important to me. The diaper thing, I would have to do more investigating. I am so thankful for everyones great thoughts. :)
 
When you get into Diaper Services you will be in osha and c

you will have to abide my strict hospital laundring guidelings and must use the EXACT amount of the proper chemicals. Alkali Detergent bleach softener and sour will all have to be added. and in EXACT amounts. You will also have to use antichlor in the 1st rinse after the bleach or your diapers will not last long at all. You will have to have a GOOD chemical rep and company .. Ecolab is one of the best for such. Have used them for years and the knowlege is always quite helpful. Dr offices and such can come under the same guidelines as you are dealing with contaminated linens.
 
Even Hospitals Today For The Most Part

Have moved to throw away "wash cloths", as opposed to my day when they were pure cotton terry. Why? All those wash cloths and such heavy with feces and such now require separate laundry bag labeling,and different proceedures than other laundry. One nurse told me that the laundry her hospital uses actually sends anything heavy with feces back, though find that hard to credit.

A person we know out here started a diaper service, but along European lines, using detergents and activated (TAED)oxygen bleach EU certified to sanitise if wash temps are at least 140F for twenty minutes, or 160F for ten, IIRC.

They were using stean heated washing machines, so don't know about their costs.

Mothers, hospitals and doctor's offices are very particular about their laundry. One mother's infat comes down with a bad reaction to the diapers, and you are on "Yelp.com" or the "Mommy Message Boards", and there goes your reputation.

Also consider with a diaper service, there is little to no room for missed deliveries/collections. Infants go through vast amounts of diapers per day, and a mother that has to either wash her own or do without because of a missed day (weather or employee related), is not likely to be happy.

Mother's in particular can tell how "clean" a diaper is by how it smells wet. Again, if they sense something isn't right, be prepared for some telephone calls.

Consider also one has to order vast amounts of diapers surplus to requirements for two other reasons:

Customers use diapers for all manner and sort of things besides baby, ranging from rags to cleaning up cloths.

Next the harsh laundering requirments (high wash temperatures and or routine use of chlorine bleach) will shorten textile life. Once a diaper starts to show wear such as holes or other damage, quality services will retire it from service. Some diaper services sell such diapers as "rags" to recoup part of their investment.

Also today a diaper service rarely has only diapers, but offers several types of covers, wraps, and so forth. Again all of which requires an outlay of investment.
 
Diaper and incontinent laundry

Don't know your local codes ... here barrier washer-extractors with separated load side and unload side are required to process this kind of laundry.

Usually they are side loaders with two separate outertub side lids
This one is not so common cause is side loaded (same design as residential euro toploaders) and front unloaded

http://www.laundrysystems.electrolux.com/node351.aspx?categoryid=27
favorit++3-21-2010-19-56-24.jpg
 
Barrier Washers

At one time were mandated in the UK for "hospital" laundry, but that has been withdrawn, IIRC.

Main reason commercial laundry opeators don't like the things is that aside from the normal costs of putting in a "commercial" type washing machine, hard or soft mount, barrier washers have to be installed into a wall. There is a "dirty" side and a "clean" side of the plant, with a wall between the two, and airflow designed to usually move from later to former to prevent any sort of draft from blowing "germs" into the clean room.

Think the washer shown above may be a way to get around the above, or simple a different variation from the long cylinder type H-axis washers that are usually used for barrier systems.

Barrier washers also limit laundry design as one can imagine once the system is installed it requires knocking down a wall and such to remove the machine. Well, guess one could remove the machine and seal up the opening.

By the way, in Germany, the health code standard is nearly boiling water (around 195F) for about twenty or so minutes. This explains the brilliant whites one finds in German healthcare centers. Uniforms, sheets, scrubs, etc all look like an advert for Persil.
 

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