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Evolutionary Changes in the Vended Laundry Industry
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Evolutional Changes in the Coin Laundry Industry
As someone who has been in the coin laundry industry as long as myself (over 30 years) you start to witness different changes and trends within the industry. I currently recognize a significant trend and witness its evolution within the coin laundry industry. We are fortunate to be seeing one of these evolutionary changes as I write this article. To set the evolutionary timeline, I have attached my top six picks for significant (or evolutionary) changes within the vended laundry industry.
- Front load washers – The advent of the front load washer has changed the scenery of the laundry environment. The front load washers were a change from the traditional top load washers that changed the primitive landscape by creating a better, cleaner wash and by using less water. The front load washer produces a cleaner product by vigorous tumble action along with 5 different water changes to really clean the clothes. Philco Bendex was one of the first front load washers which was quickly followed by the early Wascomat washers. The front load washers were the first real evolutionary change that caused the dead of the top load dinosaur.
- Multi Sized Commercial Washers - The creation of the front load washers allowed the Laundromat owner to have different sized washers for different sized loads. Amteck and Wascomat were a couple of the early manufacturers of the “large capacity”, multi-sized commercial washers. The large capacity washers allowed the customer to pick a coin operated washer by the size of the laundry to be washed. The large capacity washers help the Laundromat owner by providing commercial washers that were not available in the home and that increased the revenue of their Laundromat. The large capacity washers have a high vend price and would increase the revenue of the Laundromat. The trend still continues today with many Laundromat having 80lb., 100lb. and even 125lb. coin operated washers in their laundry facilities. The multi-sized commercial washers lead the coin laundry industry out of the dark ages and into the dawn of the modern Laundromat.
- Stack Dryers – The stack dryers have revolutionized the coin laundry industry by doubling the drying capacity and doubling the revenue of the stack dryer. American Dryer revolutionized the coin laundry industry by introducing the first 30lb. stack dryer. The 30lb. stack dryer gave the modern Laundromat the ability to match a pound of drying to a pound of washing. No longer were the Laundromat customers required to wait in line to dry their clothes. Now the modern Laundromat had enough drying capacity to get the customers in and out of the Laundromat as quickly as possible. The stack dryer was quickly embraced as a revolution in the coin laundry industry and currently every Laundromat we've equipped within the last 15 years has been employing 99% stack dryers.
- Laundry Card Systems – The laundry card system has had a long gestation period throughout its development. The laundry card system although not quickly embraced had the long lasting qualities that could not kill a terrific idea. The advantage of no more coins and the ability to have penny increment washers and dryers proved too great a concept to die. Over the course of decades the laundry card systems have evolved to become the standard of the “Mega Laundromat”. The multi-store operator could only handle 12-16 stores before just processing quarters became a 7 day a week job by itself. The accountability of the laundry card system forced the evolution from the mom & pop type cash operation to the corporate owned Mega Store Laundromat operator. Now Laundromats can be monitored and audited online and all you need is a trusted body to collect the “paper”. The scale-ability of laundry card systems is unlimited and the features and benefits of the card stores keep on continuing.
- Large Capacity Stack Dryers – The ability to have 45-50 lb. Stack Dryers again changed Laundromat landscape. With two different sized stack dryers in the same Laundromat has given birth to the Laundromat with more drying capacity than washing capacity. This is a minor technological jump first started by Huebsch and the 45 lb. stacked large capacity dryer, but significant evolutionary change none-the-less. Now Laundromats can eliminate the dryer bottleneck and whisk the customers through the drudgery of doing their laundry. No more fist fights in the Laundromat where dry only customers are verbally assaulted when they went to dry their clothes. No longer should any Laundromat have too few dryers.
- Energy Efficient Washers – Currently there is a change in the coin laundry industry where only the most energy efficient washers are being specified and installed in Laundromats. Energy costs and water & sewer rates keep rising to new highs every day and the modern suave Laundromat owner is recognizing this challenge and installing Microprocessor controlled washers and High Speed extract washers. The addition of the Microprocessor gives the Laundromat owner the control & flexibility to minimize the amount of water used per cycle. No longer is the 5 water change front load washer acceptable. The new energy efficiency standards are 1 wash and 2 rinses with a savings of up to 50% of the water and sewer costs. In some cases the energy savings can cover a huge portion of the loan cost for the new coin laundry equipment. In effect the utility savings can discount the cost of the machines by up to 50% (not too bad). In addition, the high speed extract washers (140 G-force and higher) will remove up to 15% of the water from the clothes. With 15% less water, the dryers will consume 15% less gas and the Laundromat owner saves on very expensive gas costs. Smart Laundromat owners recognize that they can either pay the utility companies or pay themselves with the utility cost savings. Utility costs will only increase over time. We witness constant increases in water & sewer rates. The smart coin laundry operator can buy themselves relief by investing in the most energy efficient washers and dryers and reduce their operational costs.
The coin laundry industry will continue to change and evolve as new ideas and inventions are embraced and adopted in the industry. I have tried to include all of the significant changes within the industry and give the reader a perspective of the evolutionary timeline. If anything is certain in the Laundry industry, there will always be change and evolution. The driving forces that have made significant and long lasting changes within the industry have been solutions that have maximized the store owner’s profits or have minimized the labor or expenses of the Laundromat. The future looks good for the nimble and visionary owners who will embrace change.
