A Christmas Eve Awakening

[Adamski]

Twas the night before Christmas as I drove through Muskegon,
When I noticed an old building under rehabilitation.

The contractors were busy about their task;
As I pulled into the lot, "What ya building?" I asked.

"A laundromat" the man replied as he resumed his work;
I looked in the window and turned away with a jerk.

New washers ... new dryers mounted here and over there;
New plumbing, venting and wiring being installed with care.

"When will it open?" I inquired of the foreman;
He said: "January ... if all goes according to plan".

What vend prices will be set to capture market share?
Will it have Charity pricing and open with great fanfare?

Whatever the case, it'll be a very long fight,
Existing laundromats have the advantage when money is tight.

[pressandclean]

Sorry to hear that Larry. Nothing is ever easy.

[bodman]

in today,s times charity is the way to go,

[STOUT]

Larry;

Your a poet,
And some of us know it;

But your feet show it,
Because they're...

"Longfellow's"!
:D

[BCW]

in today,s times charity is the way to go,

I sure hope that's not the case, Bodman. Last month I implemented a sorely neede increase on my Neptunes. They now vend at $2.75, which is still under $3.00. A .25 increase. Never heard a word from anyone.

I'll be painting in Jan. and after the facelift, I plan to increase vend prices again. My T-600's will return to tier pricing. From $5.00 all temps to $5.00 C, $5.50 W, $6.00H. and .50 extra wash. This should encourage C water use and an even greater savings on my utility bills. All other prices will remain unchanged for now.

An improvement, such as this, is the only one that the customers see. Over the past year I have replaced the old furnace and w/h, Insulated the ceiling, and the dryer room walls. I added a couple of more roof vents for adequate makeup air, and closed off my mechanical room to outside air. I had my roof recoated and it will be partially replaced in the spring. The south wall, outside/inside, was repaired and painted to match the stucco front side of the bldg. This increase should occur around the first of Feb. I will be watching the economy very closely as a slight delay in my plan is always a possibility.

Tom

[Adamski]

in today,s times charity is the way to go,

Dale,

It appears that Charity is not the way to go in my neck of the woods. Here, every Charity laundromat is For Sale and every full price laundromat is not. Hmmmm. I wonder if there is a connection there.

[bodman]

Well around me the full service are closing 4 in the past few months and I am doing good. I might even breakdown and buy a cash counter taking too much time to count all the cash.

[Adamski]

Dale,

So you've had 4 laundromats close within your market and they were all higher-priced stores. Correct? What happened to the equipment? Was it repossessed or auctioned off or what?

[epic02]

Larry sorry to hear the bad news. I know exactly how it feels. In the last 8 years I had four new laundries come in and two complete remodels all within two miles from me, and IM still holding my own, and I know you will do the same. It helps when you ave advantages over your competitors. One of those new laundries was sold for $425,000 about six years ago then the next owner sold it for $280,000 about two years ago and now I just heard it was for sale again for $55,000 I wonder when it's going to close.

[Adamski]

Kenny,

Maybe you should consider making an offer on that $55,000 laundromat. Perhaps you could use some of the 6 year old equipment in your place, sell what you can't use and close the place down.

[epic02]

Larry, I would like to but I dont think I'll be able to with the lease involved. Actually the machines are 8 years old half of them are out of order and in real bad shape. The place was really neglected. I sent you an e mail with the listing did you see it? I might just have to wait to see if they put the equipment up for auction.

[Adamski]

... One of those new laundries was sold for $425,000 about six years ago then the next owner sold it for $280,000 about two years ago and now I just heard it was for sale again for $55,000 ...

Kenny,

Any new information about the above 8 year old laundromat? Did it sell ... close ... get repossessed?

The new laundromat in my market opened without fanfare about 2 weeks ago. There's still some minor work being done on the exterior but the inside is finished. The layout is a little tight and inconvenient but I guess they wanted to get as much equipment in the 2500 sf (estimated) as they could. It has 28 washers and 28 dryer pockets with 0 top loaders. Everything operates on quarters. Washer capacity is 950 lbs per turn.

[mmurra]

Larry - thanks for sharing this with us. It is every owner's nightmare. I believe that you will triumph in the end because that is the type of operator you are. It stinks that this would happen in such a rotten economy in Michigan, with all our troubles. Mark

PS) Nice comments in the CLA article!

[epic02]

Larry, I just looked the other day It's still up for sale. I guess it's on life support.. Along with some other Mats around me.