National Clothesline

For the Bodin family, starting a cleaning business in Yonkers, NY, was an opportunity for a clean slate. Before that, 12-year-old Paul Bodin and his father, David, had been forced to flee their native country during the Russian Revolution (during which the family business in Kiev was confiscated). An old article from the Herald Statesman noted that the young man “came to the city in 1923 with $1 in his pocket.” With no capital,

As cleaners prepare to close the door on 2021 (and perhaps throw away the key), the last 11 months have proven to be another arduous challenge, harshly punctuated by shortages of every imaginable kind: hangers, plastic, computer chips, steel and other metals, lumber, packaging materials, zippers and

Even though interest for FallFest EXPO remains high, many cleaners are too short-staffed and overburdened to spend three days devoted to it in early December. As a result, the North East Fabricare Association, the South Eastern Fabricare Association and the Pennsylvania and Delaware Cleaners Association have pushed the event back until Jan. 19-21.

It has been a long, interesting and challenging 18 months, to say the least. I know I have never worked harder or more hours than I have during the past year and a half. I also know I am not alone, and almost everyone reading this article can probably say the same. Over the past several weeks I have heard from business owners and managers who are working hard in the trenches — more than I have heard about at any point in my 35 years in the industry. The pressures of the pandemic have given birth to a host of new challenges we will all need to answer, and a plethora of opportunities that you can capitalize on. I talk to people up and down

BH appy December! It is that time once again for my annual Christmas Wishlist. Every year, I send a plea to the great St. Nick for products that do not exist yet, but I believe they should. These are products of my imagination that, in my view, would help plant operators run more efficiently. These are products that would fill a real need.

As we round out 2021, let’s recognize an achievement of a familiar personalitiy in our industry... James Peuster. JP (as many know him) begins his 20th year consulting teams across America (and internationally) and is in his 14th year as a National Clothesline columnist. Under the guidance of Al Robson of Biz Builders, James found his niche early on. So many drycleaners have leaned on him for guidance, not just in route development, but also staff development. Early during his travels, JP earned another nickname: The Knockfather. He’s worked with thousands of route drivers, and many of them will tell you how fond they are of his face-to-face sales and retention training. In time, James took his Route

This month’s article is the first in the Drycleaner’s Toolbox series, which will cover the qualities and use of commonly available repair items every drycleaner should have on hand and learn to use. It may save you big money by making small repairs — instead of paying for them.

We have discussed recurring and subscription revenue in the past as many operators have started subscriptions for WDF, drycleaning, household items, etc. One could argue route sales fall into recurring revenue, but our focus is on subscription revenue. Creating that automatic customer is a principal factor of developing value in your business. Could you offer a subscription plan to your customers?

P resident Biden has said he is the most pro-union president in U.S. history. While efforts to make it easier for employees to unionize have stalled in Congress — for now — it might be a good time to see if your business is vulnerable to unionization. Before I begin, let me

Bleaching is removing stains by camouflaging. The stain is made invisible by adding or removing oxygen. Bleaches can be accelerated by heat and concentration. Chemical acceleration is used when the normal bleaching process does not work. Chemical acceleration is very

Sometimes, it’s tempting when it comes time to close the book on a particularly bad year (like, say, the one about to end), to do so as quickly as possible and then place it upon the highest, darkest corner of the furthest shelf where it can collect dust and be forgotten. The Retail Apocalypse — a flashy phrase coined in the media in the wake of numerous brick-and-mortar retail stores closing down at an alarming rate during the past decade — started as a result of the rise in popularity of online shopping. However, the pandemic has sped up the trend. According to Business Insider earlier this year, that trend picked up speed, reaching a pace where there could be more than 10,000 retail store closures in 2021, which is higher than they tabulated for the two previous years: 8,300 U.S. stores closed in 2020, and 9,300 in 2019.