With Clean 2025 coming to Orlando next month (Aug. 23-26), we sat down for a one-on-one interview with Greg Jira, group show director of Messe Frankfurt North America. He has been the director of the Clean Show since 2019, when he took over the duties from John Riddle.
It’s crunch time. The moment of truth. The point of no return. Clean Show 2025 will be here next month and time is quickly running out for those who still need to make plans.
This month, the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI) will be offering a pair of virtual courses, starting with its four-day course on Stain Removal.
Jan’s Professional Dry Cleaners & Laundromat will host a two-day seminar on “Advanced Spotting and Best Business Practices” at its plant in Clio, MI, on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 9 and 10.
It’s been many decades now, but ever since the airlines created the virtual currency that is frequent flyer miles, many businesses have felt compelled to have some sort of rewards program in place at their businesses as well. When it comes to these things, I don’t claim to be an expert at the programs themselves, nor at designing them, but it is a most opportune time to think like a customer and like a businessman, in tandem.
To elevate the presence of our individual businesses we typically rely on word-of-mouth, community giving, coupons, billboards, and, in some instances, TV commercials. No matter what your method is, its success is most likely because you make it happen.
In the rush to modernize, many cleaners are chasing automation with the hope it will fix their problems. Walk a trade show floor and you’ll see it everywhere: sorting conveyors, automatic baggers, and 24-hour kiosks. Vendors pitch technology as the solution to nearly everything.
For those who have gotten to know me, you know how strongly I believe in knowing your numbers.
We compete in a service industry where operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and financial performance are critical to success.
White fabrics produced in manufacture will usually have a gray or yellowish tint. To offset the discolored look, fabrics are bleached in manufacture to create a white fabric. Fluorescent dyes or optical brightness are then added to the fabric to increase the whiteness of the fabric.
Warmer weather places greater strain on the systems that cool your drycleaning machinery. Each year at this time, I publish an article about how to diagnose the causes of the failure of the water pump and how to prevent them. The water pump supplies coolant to the still and refrigeration condensers and, in many cases, the solvent cooler of the drycleaning machine.
Each year, there is an estimated 13,000 trade shows that take place in the U.S., but few of them are quite like the Clean Show. We have reasons to believe that this years show’s in August might be something special. For one thing, it has been almost three years since the previous installment — Clean 2022 in Atlanta.
The California Cleaners Association (CCA) will be presenting a seminar on “Revolutionizing Laundry: Embracing Automation and Cutting Edge Technology for Maximum Profits” on Wednesday, July 23, in Commerce, CA.
The Heartland Fabricare Association (HFA) will be heading to Indianapolis in October to host a two-day NextGen drycleaning education event. It will take place Oct. 10 to 12 at Classic Cleaners and will include everything you need to know to modernize your business, attract new clients and better serve your current and future customers.
The Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA) recently announced the recipients of its 2025 Educational Fund Scholarships, awarded annually to support the educational goals of employees and family members of TCATA member companies
American Trade Magazines LLC — publisher of American Coin-Op, American Drycleaner and American Laundry News — announced a change in ownership effective on June 1. Nathan Frerichs acquired majority ownership of the company and became its president/publisher. Meanwhile, Charles Thompson, who formed ATM in 2011 after purchasing the magazines from Crain Communications, is retiring after 36 years of service to the publication group.
Plans have been made for EXPO Detergo International 2026, the leading event in Europe dedicated to machines, technologies, products and services for textile cleaning.
Rusty Smith, president and partner of Forenta, recently announced that Rothrock Supplies & Distribution has been added to Forenta’s strong network of equipment distributors. Located in Broken Arrow, OK, Rothrock Distribution was formed in 2017 by brothers John and Jim Rothrock to fill a void in drycleaning supply distribution in the greater Tulsa area.
Twelve students graduated the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute’s School of Drycleaning Technology’s Introduction to Drycleaning Course, March 24 to 28 and eight graduated DLI’s Advanced Drycleaning Course, March 31 to April 11. DLI’s introduction course consists of five days of in-person, hands-on instruction and the advanced course runs for 10 days.
In late April, America’s Best Cleaners (ABC) held its Spring 2025 Accelerator Live meeting in Tulsa, OK, hosted by affiliate Fox Cleaners. The theme of the event, “Implementation,” emphasized the critical leap from strategy to execution — highlighting how leading cleaners are applying tools, systems, and leadership models to generate real, measurable business impact.
Last month featured the opening of North Carolina’s first ZIPS Cleaners at 4115 Monroe Rd. (State Road 1009). Arrival of the ZIPS Cleaners brand brings homes and businesses in Charlotte low-cost, quick-turnaround dry cleaning as well as equally economical Wash N Fold laundry, pressed laundry, alterations, cleaning of bedding and other household items and commercial cleaning services for uniforms, linens and other items.
Mulberrys Garment Care recently announced that its franchisee CBK Management LLC has secured space for a new location in McLean, VA. The 1,400-square-foot space is situated in McLean Square, an upscale shopping center featuring a Balducci’s gourmet supermarket, Bach to Rock Music School, Citibank, Yves Delorme bedding store and other distinctive retailers and service providers.
Fresh off the heels of its Cooper City opening, Tide Cleaners is set to open its newest full-service drycleaning store in Boynton Beach, marking its 20th location in South Florida. The store is operated by Consolidated Cleaners, Inc. (CCI), a local franchisee headquartered in Naples, which now manages 33 locations, 37 delivery routes and 199 locker sites across South Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Cincinnati, Ohio -- cleaning and pressing over 4 million garments a year.
R.R. Street & Co. Inc. (Street’s) is pleased to announce new trichloroethylene-free formulations of Picrin, Puro and Semi-Wet that are compliant with US EPA Final Risk Management Rules for Trichloroethylene. Picrin was introduced to the drycleaning industry over 80 years ago and has been an incredibly important product for the industry. It has gone through multiple iterations over the years as the regulatory environment changed.
The Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) recently announced the newly formed Heartland Fabricare Association (HFA) following the merger of the Illinois Professional Drycleaners Association (IPDA), the Mid-West Drycleaning & Laundry Association (MWDLA), and the Wisconsin Fabricare Association (WFI), along with cleaners from Minnesota, into a single, unified organization.
ZIPS Cleaners recently announced that Leda Peterson and Diego Osorio, a mother-in-law/son-in-law team each with ongoing ties to the chain, have signed a new franchise agreement to open in Lancaster, PA. Operating as KATLEX LLC, the franchisees expect to open later this year
Tide Services recently signed a 50-unit franchise agreement with CMG Companies, one of the nation’s top multi-unit franchise operators. As one of the largest franchise commitments in the out-of-home laundry sector — alongside another major Tide deal announced last year — this agreement significantly accelerates Tide Laundromat’s expansion in the Southwest U.S.
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