Next in Line

By PlanetLaundry staff | Apr 05, 2010

Bill Gilbert didn’t have the most inviting introduction into the coin laundry business some three decades ago.

The longtime CLA board member brings the unique perspective of being both a distributor and storeowner (24 stores) in the coin laundry business. His family includes wife Susie, son Billy, 26, and daughter Cameron, 24. Gilbert took some time to share his experiences with the association and the industry.

What will it mean to you to become chairman of the CLA Board of Directors?

I finally earned my wings, so to speak. I’ve been there since 2000, gone through the circuit, you could say. It’s been very, very interesting. There are a lot of enjoyable experiences that I’ve had serving on the board.

When did you first get involved with the CLA?

The distributorship has been a member since 1972. The former owners were active in the CLA and spoke at functions. It was probably the mid-1990s when we became involved.

The Clean Show, which will be held in Las Vegas next June, is a great way for storeowners to educate and assess. How important is it for members to attend the show?

I’ve been to every show for the last 20 years. I always learn something new. If you’re able to go to the show and take one thing away that you didn’t know before, it’s well worth it. Whether that’s talking to an operator, a distributor or a manufacturer, if it’s something I can take, it makes it worthwhile to go to that show. Talk to the different people and learn about their products.

How did you get involved in the coin laundry industry?

I got involved back in 1982. I was a law enforcement officer in Columbia, S.C., and had been doing that for about seven years. My brother-in-law and his business partner had this distributorship. His partner was dying of cancer, and one of their salesmen also was dying of cancer. They wanted to know if I wanted to get into the business.

How was your law enforcement career going?

I loved law enforcement. I saw this as an opportunity to make a few more dollars than being a cop, but I enjoyed what I was doing.

What did your entry into the coin laundry business entail?

I started at the bottom of the ladder, doing installations. I wasn’t crazy about sales. But I said to myself, “If I’m going to sell, I want to know about machines.” It evolved from there. I did get into sales. I spent about 10 years in sales, then was named vice president and later president of the company.

Around 2000, I had the opportunity to buy Service Laundry Machinery. It was a great opportunity. I talked to several bankers and came up with the financing to purchase it. I started at the bottom of the ladder and worked my way up.

Did you ever get involved in any other businesses?

We’re at 24 stores now, along with the distributorship. We used to have car washes. I dabbled in that business but it dwindled down and I sold out and turned it over to someone else. I got out of that line of business and stuck with the coin laundries.

How has being a distributor helped grow your stores?

Most of the coin laundries that we built up early on – about four or five of them – were located near our local office. We mainly bought them from customers who wanted to get out of the business. They couldn’t find anybody to buy, so we made offers to them.

I assume you keep your distance from stores that are your customers, right?

We don’t open stores near our customers. We’re not out there to try to compete with them. We’d put in a store where they weren’t. And we’d price our machines higher only if we were two or three miles away from one of our customers.

How far and wide does your empire stretch?

From our office in Belton in the northwest corner of the state, the stores are anywhere from a half-mile away to 50 miles. We use either the local town name, or they’re called Sunshine Coin Laundry. When we purchase a store from a customer, we keep the same name.

What attracted you to this business?

From law enforcement to being a distributor – I was attracted to the opportunity to better my life. It’s not that law enforcement was not good for my life, but I was young with a young family that I needed to provide an education for. This gave me an opportunity to do that. The salary, of course, increased quite a bit, about four times as much as it would have been in law enforcement. That was the biggest thing.

What are the keys to a successful self-service laundry business?

The location of your business, keeping it clean and treating customers like you would want to be treated. A lot of people come in and don’t know the first thing about a coin laundry. If I would come in with a blank stare, I know I would want someone to come in and welcome me, show me around, let me know I can ask for help. Instead of opening the door and saying, “Hey, good luck,” you have to be involved. The majority of our customers have unattended stores, but a big portion of their success is spending time with the customers. Mingle, spend time with them, ask them what else they would like to see. Involvement is more than just opening the door.

What are some of the hot-button issues for laundry operators in your area?

Around here, it’s the utilities, especially on the coast. The water impact fee is extremely outrageous. I just left Charleston for a meeting, and they want to charge $3,200 per washer to put in a new coin laundry. Up and down the coast it’s like that, and it’s starting to spread into the midland. They say they’re going to use the money to expand the sewer systems or redo the current ones. Then you increase your vend prices and catch flak for doing that.

What major trends are you noticing in this industry, particularly in your marketplace?

We have a lot more people interested in card systems. However, the interest was higher two or three years ago; now people aren’t willing to spend the money to buy a card system. The new systems, which enable machines to accept credit cards as well as coins also is being talked about a lot.

What is the biggest concern you hear from the customers in your area?

In our coin laundries, the people going in are talking about the recession. Somebody wants to pay $5 for a large washing machine, but the large capacity machines are priced higher than the small machines. Since their belts are tightening, they’re cramming the small capacity machines a little fuller. People are trying to save a quarter or two by filling the machines. They’re always concerned about spending that extra quarter or two to clean their clothes.

How do you try to ease their concerns about that?

It usually doesn’t last long. A couple of years ago, we implemented a 50-cent increase on every single machine across the board. Even with those changes, we didn’t receive very many complaints. Everyone knows that gas prices are going up, a McDonald’s hamburger is going up, a carton of milk. They understand, but they’re still disgruntled.

I told someone I raised prices at the laundromat and didn’t get any complaints. And he said, “If you raised your prices and didn’t have any complaints, your prices are still too low.”

What’s the greatest technological advancement you’ve seen since you’ve been in business?

When I came into the business, computers were new. Things have changed so much. I’ve done presentations at CLA conferences on camera security systems, and I’ve stressed them. Back then I remember talking about a black-and-white camera with a VCR tape. They’ve got systems now where you can pick up the video on your Blackberry.

Also, the card systems are a great advancement, to be able to sit at home and change vend prices. All of that has occurred within a couple of years. It seems the technology changes on a daily basis.

Do you have a business philosophy that guides your decisions?

I go on the golden rule to treat customers how you want to be treated. If a guy or girl comes into the store, or if it’s a person I’m selling to, I’m a trusting type of person. I treat somebody like I want to be treated. It’s been successful for us. That integrity goes a long way.

Specific to your market and region of the country, what are your thoughts on vend pricing?

I try to get around and encourage our distributorship’s customers to increase their prices. If it’s a good-looking store, there’s no reason to vend at low prices. Pricing is something that most people can bear with the market, something that can be justified. I had a customer of the distributorship the other day say he’s not making any money. He’s had $1.50 pricing on his topload washers for five or six years. Utilities have gone up 40 percent to 50 percent, and he didn’t raise his prices. Usually after a little schooling, they understand why they’re not making as much money as they did five or six years ago. If he had raised his prices 25 percent, he’d be back to making the same amount of money.

What type of advertising and marketing do storeowners do in our area?

It’s embarrassingly low. People have asked me to advertise in newspapers or on radio, but the biggest thing we do is distribute flyers. Most of it is word of mouth. The biggest marketing most owners around here do is an ad in the Yellow Pages. Very few of the laundries have a Web site. It’s something we can change, but it seems like everyone is satisfied. It’s always been like this. They get by with word of mouth.

In your experience, when a coin laundry fails, what is the most common reason?

It’s probably due to a lack of interest by the owner. I’m proud that in almost 30 years I’ve been around the business I haven’t had a laundry fail. I think out of our 350 customers over the years, I don’t think we’ve had four that failed. One of the stores was doing tremendous business, but the guy was selling half-pint bottles of liquor illegally, so that one got shut down.

Also, if the equipment is run down, a store can fail. Or, if new competition comes into town, they’ll close the door.

Personally, what’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in this business?

The biggest mistake I made occurred when one of the customers we had for probably five or six years had his laundry burn down in Charleston. I worked with this customer and the insurance company. He wanted to rebuild, so I helped him find the architects and drew up a brand new laundry in a brand new building, with nice condos overhead. I went on for a year and a half, helping him get the store built. I wrote letters to the planning commission, did the whole thing. Then, as he was getting ready to order the equipment, he sold the laundry to the competition down the street.

I trusted him, so I didn’t get a down payment or a signed contract. I trusted that he was going to put in my equipment. However, somebody offered him enough money, and he took it upon himself to sell. I did all of this work for another distributor, from the planning to the layout to the contractors to the plumber. It was a little frustrating. I look back at is as a learning experience. Other than time and a little bit of pride, I didn’t lose anything. But next time I’ll be a little more wary.

From a business standpoint, what goals are you looking to accomplish in 2010?

It looks pretty good this year. We’re in the planning stages of building the largest laundry we’ve ever had for a customer, at 8,000 square feet. It’s taken a lot of legwork. The owner wants to put in five of these stores, and my goal is to make him happy and get locations he’ll be happy with. He wants to open the first one on May 1. It’ll be extremely beneficial for him and us. It’ll be a great accomplishment. We’ve always had laundries in the range of 2,000 to 4,000 square feet. But he’s got faith in us, and we’ve got faith in him.

How did you arrange that deal?

I think my honesty won him over. I told him, with the kind of money he was looking to spend, it’s tough to get a return on your investment. I told him it’s going to be tough. He said, “You and my wife said the same thing.”

What advice would you give a new storeowner just getting into this business?

Do your homework. Go to the seminars that the Coin Laundry Association puts on. Talk to successful storeowners and take some one-day classes. I’m more impressed with a successful storeowner who says he’s done this and this and this, than the guy who was in a laundromat the other day, saw them collecting quarters and said, “I want to get into this business.”

You want the ones who know about utility costs and are members of the CLA. You want the ones who have been to the seminars and tell you that they’ve spoken to various owners. I’ve talked to owners about certain things 10 years ago, and they still come up to me to shake my hand, thanking me for what I told them. The CLA is such a great educational tool for storeowners, especially now with new member offerings like advertising programs and Web pages.

So, in short, do your homework, and find a great distributor that’s going to help you out, not one that’s only interested in your money. And don’t be afraid to say no.

In your market, is the coin laundry business still a good business to get into?

I do. Even in the recession and how it’s affecting people, it’s still one of the better businesses to get into. It’s about finding the right location and not jumping at the first location you see. Yes, I would recommend it.