Is Dry Cleaning a Great Business Franchise Opportunity?

- History

Robert Devaney, head of a dry cleaning plant that processes more than 2,000 shirts every day has worked hard to produce the perfect shirt. This is why he recently spent $60,000 on new pressing machines that neatly press 200 shirts per hour, each ironed as if by hand. Devaney got his start in the dry cleaning industry more than 30 years ago. He was pursuing a degree in speech pathology at Northeastern University when his father convinced him to join the family business. The father and son team purchased the Weymouth-based Dry cleaning by Dorothy in 1976. Later, Devaney founded the Fresh n’ Clean and Lapels franchises and opened 42 stores in five states. Both franchises have been sold. Devaney's latest business endeavor, The Cleaner Spot has already established nine locations on the South Shore, and looks to extend franchise business opportunities. The Weymouth plant employs 35 people and processes items from the three corporate-owned Drycleaning by Dorothy drop-off stores and The Cleaner Spot franchises.

- How casual dress trends have affected dry cleaning

Casual dress has heavily affected the dry cleaning industry over the last decade. The volume of clothes needed to be dry cleaned has greatly reduced. The industry has created new methods and equipment to handle casual dress. When a pair of khakis are pressed, for instance, it’s different than pressing a pair of wool slacks. Often, khakis are needed to be wet cleaned instead of dry cleaned, which makes them harder to press and finish. There are actually machines that grab the bottom of the pants and pull them down, helping to give a better press. Undoubtedly making that press much more popular with casual clothing. Casual dress has become more popular over the years, but doesn’t mean you should sacrifice a professional look. Meaning if you want to dress in khakis and a polo, but still desire that professional image, it’s best to have those items professionally cleaned and pressed.

-Changes due to pollutant regulations

Environmental Protection Agency regulations have given us additional costs. Additional education and new equipment were also needed. Equipment manufacturers were needed to create more efficient equipment - equipment that didn’t harm the atmosphere. In our industry, they are referred to as closed-loop systems, so instead of releasing the odors into the atmosphere, pollutants are all self-contained. This process also made cleaning much more efficient, so that less of the chemicals could do the same volume of clothing. In addition, after the dry cleaning process is completed, a hazardous waste residue is left behind. Dry cleaners must then take that waste and put it into barrels, and then have it professionally removed. The newest thing in dry cleaning is environmentally friendly systems, but even plants that claim to have an environmentally-friendly process use chemicals that are considered pollutants. There’s actually no such thing as a completely environmentally-friendly dry cleaner, unless they personally wash everything.

- The Perfect Shirt

You won't see any difference in quality if you bring a sweater into 10 dry cleaners ...And you can't take a stain on a silk blouse to five dry cleaners, so this difference is very hard to see. But generally, what greatly sets dry cleaners apart Is the quality of their shirts, which is easily noticeable. You can very readily see any obstructions made to a shirt, therefore shirts are the competitive grounds between dry cleaners. 99-cent shirts are all over the place, leaving customers very attuned to the cost of shirts. For this reason, shirts are cleaned on mass production equipment. They are actually processed at about 100 or more shirts per hour, as opposed to a dry cleaning item that’s hand-ironed and pressed is only done at around 15 or 20 an hour. You could always make the perfect shirt if you had time to hand press every shirt, which doesn't happen anymore because of inefficiency and high price, until a new company (Japan’s Sankosha) developed a machine that can still turn out 150 to 200 shirts an hour - but as perfect shirts.

-What sets The Cleaner Spot apart

The whole dry cleaning and tailoring economy works on incentive, allowing Devaney to realize that no one cares about the business more than the owner, which is why every franchise of The Cleaner Spot is managed by the owner. The owner is always there, working 40 to 50 hours a week, so that you’re guaranteed the ultimate in service. The owner specifically inspects every piece that is processed through that store so you are ensured to get the best quality. Our drop stores are small, 1,000-square-foot stores that we are able to conveniently locate anywhere. Dry cleaning is a business based on convenience, typically drawing customers that live and work near by, enabling us to target specific communities. Large dry cleaning plants are typically not allowed anymore in heavily populated areas because of chemical and environmental problems.