New Large Laundromat using swipe card [Archive] - Coin Laundry Forums

canyon

01-18-2005, 08:49 PM

I had this same thing happen to me a few years back at one of my locations. I fought the company with the new larger mat tooth and nail, but know matter what i did i just could not overcome the simple fact that the other mat was new, had twice as much equipment, longer hours, and better parking. I fought a losing battle for over a year and it never got any better. I just lost more money every month.

The thing that was worse than the new mat was my inablity to see that there was no way to overcome all of the advantages they had on me, short of building a new million dollar mat that was better than their's. It was not until I started looking at it from the customers point of view that I realized I would be washing my clothes at the other mat too.

I could have saved myself thousands by exiting this location as soon as the losses started to happen. I finally called the ceo of the other mat and suggest that his company buy me out. He was reluctant at first but I explained that while my mat was losing money if he bought it for the hard asset value and closed it that 95% of the bussiness would go to thier new mat and that this incremental revenue would be 70% profit for them. We closed the deal a few months later.

SPOTFREE

01-27-2005, 10:19 PM

Boy!!!I was reading thru a few topics and yours reminded me of what had to be the worst nightmare during my business ventures!!! I owned and operated 4 free standing, well lite, staffed 15 hours per day, 1800s/f-2900s/f each laundries for over 10 years in Ohio. Today, I own 1 and hopeful that within the next few months I will be out of the Laundry business altogether. About 2 years ago, a large card laundry was built within 1 mile from 2 of my stores. At first I wasn't worried because these were my two strongest stores and had a strong customer base (was I ever wrong). Between these two stores I was averaging 34K-35K per month. Now here comes the NIGHTMARE!!! About 5 months after the large card laundry opened my revenue dropped below 15K between the two stores. I did everything I knew, ran every promotion I could but it was not enough to overcome what they had. At first there prices were cheaper than mine, I truly felt that I could out manage and out promote them. They later raised there prices to match mine and even priced higher on his larger machines. I felt then that better days may be coming. They never did. After 10 months my stores revenue was still dropping and I could not see any light at the end of the tunnel. Thru a realtor I knew very well, we tried to offer my 2 stores to them. They rejected my offer twice with a discount of 50K on the second offer. At that point I felt sick!!! I knew then I was never going to overcome this nightmare. I sold most of my equipment and manged to sell one location off while renting out the other building to a tenant. I sold my 3rd store and soon will have my last store sold. This was an expensive lesson for me and never would I have known that a large card store could have pulled so many of my loyal customers away and in talking to other nearby laundry owners they to were hit hard!! In answering your question I don't think the weather nor the gas prices have anything to do with your revenue dropping significantly. If you go by and their parking lot is full and yours along with the nearby laundries is not, then I only hope you learn faster than I did. Things may stable off a little when they raise there prices to match yours, but not enough to matter in the long run. Do you have other laundries and have they been affected? Do you know how many Laundry mats they own & if they plan to build more? I had 10 great & profitable years but with the large card stores sweeping through America it is time for me to get out while I can. Hope things get better.

JamesWash

01-28-2005, 02:23 AM

Spotfree,
if you think swipe card is your competitor's selling point, then why didn't you just retrofit your machines to become card machines and fight back. I don't think that is the reason you failed.

My new store is a coin store and attracts a lot of card store's customers 2 miles away. They dumped their card in front of me and said they will never use that card store anymore.

keepitclean

01-28-2005, 08:27 AM

Sorry to hear about this happening. But I agree with James. I don't think it was the card system. There must have been some other issues as well.

Thanks for sharing your experience and I hope others learn from it. I think way to many people see this as an easy to run business. Well, it may be easy but it is more expensive than many think and at times profits can be rare.

SPOTFREE

01-28-2005, 06:12 PM

Newbie, I don't know how long you been in business nor how many laundries you have , but I can assure you i know and was very succesful in the laundry business for 10 years!! I also own and develope alot of properties. Try to understand what I, Keepitclean, & Canyon are trying to say. What i should have done is beat him to the punch but i did not. But if you think I was going to upgrade my store with a complete cost of about 60K per store and then go toe -to-toe with them i think that would have been stupid. I have talked to many others that have had a large card store move in on them and they to were not able to overcome their loss of revenue. I don't think you have a large card store within 1 mile form yours like what happened to myself, TLR, and others . I also don't think that the card stores customers are knocking your doors down. The new large card stores have to much to offer and their methods of promoting are endless!!! I will be more the happy to sell or lease you the property i still have if you still feel lucky? do you !!?? The laundy industy is going high tech in most places and the coin store owners are going to be faced with a choice. Spend the money to retro or not?? I think i made the right one . I only wish i would have offered them my stores sooner. At a point they knew how much damage they did and knew i was hurting. good luck on yours but tell me what happens when a 5000 -6500 s/f card store moves within 1 mile from you!

Jefflange

01-28-2005, 07:39 PM

I doubt he lost customers because it was a card store. He lost customers because it was a brand new 5000sqft store.

petefritz

01-28-2005, 09:40 PM

spot free . ,et al
I had a new card store move in across the street from me 3 years ago. My revenue dropped about 30%, and within a coupe years, near 40%. I had remodeled my store just before he open, ie, new big washers, new dryers, etc,, 40k worth of stuff. At this time my store is doing well, partly becuse of my low overhead and cost. The "new big card store" has yet to make a dime, I expect them to shut down when thier lease is up in a couple years. You can fight back, discount , clean, modernize. I can't believe someone in business for 10 years was driven out by a new store, it sounds more like he milked the cow and was ready to leave.

nowornever

01-29-2005, 11:58 AM

Hi,
Does anyone know if these new large laundromats that everyone is referring to are a chain/franchise or just individuals?

neal

01-29-2005, 12:43 PM

Was the card or just a new larger store with new machines the reason for the loss. I am building a new store and went with coins. I hopeing its easy for the poeple to use coins and will like them better than cards

Duane

01-29-2005, 11:17 PM

Spot,

I am one of those who built a large 3250 sq foot card store.

I'll keep it short and sweet and say it isn't just the card system that brings customers to me. My competition has milked the cow for many years with old worn out equipment and dirty mats. People just got tired of the machine problems and poor customer service.

When I was looking to start another business I would have never built a mat if the competition kept up their mats and provided a good service. Once I opened my doors, a couple of other mats started to repaint and repair some of the equipment, but it was too late.

No smart owner will build a large new card store in an area with nice mats.

For those of you looking to the future, I would suggest a card system and new equipment. Be the first in your market.

The laundromat business is catching up with the real world, like it or not.

Duane.

www.LMARIES.com (http://www.LMARIES.com)

SPOTFREE

02-03-2005, 12:23 AM

Pete, please tell me what I missed. As you know i sold my stores for several reasons and Laundry was not my bread and butter. Owning and developing large retail sites is my thrill!! I made great money in the laundy and unlike you i knew when to get out!! You are truely the only business guy I know that admits losing 40 % of gross revenue and thinks you are winning. Please wake up,you are oviously still sleeping. And you indicated that your 40% lose came after you spent 40K to remodel. I have a bridge i want to sell you ??? Oh, you also think that your competitor 2 miles away (the large card store) is going to close his doors. You are wrong!!!!! If the new large card store took 40% of your businness and that was after you updated 40K, what amount do you think he has pulled from the other laundries?? Let me tell you "ALOT". I did speak to other laundy owners that was hit hard by the large card store and they told me they lost from 25% up to 55% and never recoverd. So lets do our math. They kicked our butts and are stilll doing it and the way you talk you and your other laundries are having the same NIGHTMARE I had. The only difference is that i got out!! Now think of what you also lost ! Think of the value your laundry was worth generating the high $$ before the large card store moved in?? Now tell me and all of AMERICA if your sell price to a potential customer would be the same?? Your right, the sell price has dropped ALOT!! If the truth be told maybe you nolonger have a marketable laundry!! You , me and everyone else would review your before and after records and not to mention a new large competitor and pass on your sell. Sorry , but thats business 101!! The truth hurts and not only have you lost 40% of you gross revenue, but you have lost much more than that on your business value, and again would anyone even buy it under what you have told us. I must tell you i would not!!! sorry. Has anyone heard from TLR??? He started this topic and has vanished!!! Has he closed his doors ?? Does anyone know him?? How is he doing??

petefritz

02-03-2005, 02:44 AM

Yikes, you spooked. Yes, I did admit to a 40% hit, that is 40% from my peak after the remodel and before the new mat opened, but only about 20% from pre remodels. Yes, I was still able to make profits, but luch less. I kept my prices very high, higher than any mat around for about 2 years, then decided to stop trying to hold up the market. I reduced price recently and have gained 35% business back. Kicking butt, making coin. I wonder how that big card store does with 3600 month rent. Poor SOB, listen to get rich semionars on laundry biz. BTW, the guy is ACROSS the street, I can throw a rock in his window. I am not selling out on a chase, I can sit and make cash. You got scared to quick. MY gross now is higher than before he built. Marketing 101, give people clean mat with newer machines at a good value.

dixieboy

02-03-2005, 07:18 AM

Well boys let me tell you i know excatly what this fella is going thru. you boys in the bigger cities have a thick population but in the south its different. i had one of the niciest 1700 square feet laundrys in south alabama every body told me so. i had good hours and ran a tight ship. well when a big store came in my pockets were not deep enough and i had to get while the getting was good. i coudn't wait for my lease to run out cause i own the building. so what i did was sold my equipment and leased my building to some folks who opened a chicken place. best thing i ever did. Thank God i never quit my day job! i like reading about what is happening in the laundry business you boys keep up the good work and good luck!

epic02

02-03-2005, 03:00 PM

I had a new card store open a about 2 miles from me it will be 2 years this March .
The first owner even put his fliers in my mat. When I went and had a talk with him he denied it. then he asked what laundry I owned he said he didin't know there was one there.
I told him bull#$@# your invested about 400-????k and dont check out the competition he had nothing to say after that. I told if he wanted to make enemys we can be enemys and that I own my bussiness and property clear. and would not have a problem having a price war with him or even go free dry if I wanted. Anyway the New Laundry has allready changed 3 owners since March-03 And my bussiness is better then ever before, and never had to worry about price wars. Him along with the new owners are not getting a good return on there investment. Maybe after the 5th owner I'll think about buying it at a good price.

SPOTFREE

02-04-2005, 12:20 AM

Pete, Let me try to show you another veiw about your statements. You know where my " bread & butter " comes from. Developeing REALESTATE !!! That's where the real money is . As i write you I am pleased to tell you I am on a 63' Sport Viking. It's not a freinds, nor do I rent it, I own it !! I work hard and play hard. I will tell you that i made copies of these debates and told my sec. to have my management teams ponder over the different views. Believe it or not, i too learn new things everyday and i stimulate my staff to do the same. I will let you know that everyone of my staff members indicated they would have fired you if you were running their company and showed such a high loss of revenue in their business. You tell us that you had a 40% hit after the remodel, but only about 20% from premodel. 20% or 40% they still sux!!!! Please, how can you be happy with that. If I may ask how many laundies do you own, and is this your " bread & butter " For you i truely hope not. There is no business person i know that will tell me they are doing good when their business has taken a hit such as yours. Do you own the property. The reason I ask is you never responded to what I said about your loss of business value. There is a price for a business no matter if you lease or own the property. But, if your #'s drop in any business the way you have stated the value of your business also goes down !! Have you even factored that in your over all , or what I call the "Total Loss ". Now, please try to understand this. You stated that " my gross is higher than before he built", and in the same paragraph you stated "I reduced my prices recently and have gained 35% back". Do you understand the differance between GROSS & NET ??? I don't think you do. You do not build empires on GROSS revenues, you build them on NET !!!! I have read your commits more than once trying to understand what i am missing. 40%, 20%, 35%, you are still grossing less revenue and by lowering your prices as you stated that will only conclude that your NET has also taking hit. That is basic business 101 !! You should not feel sorry for that SOB ( as you state it ) because i truely feel sorry for you. Let me be honest. you made me laugh when you stated " I got scared ". Please Pete, don't make business personal. Business 102!! I build projects that will range between 4 million as high as 28 million per project. I am out of the laundy because i made a wise decision and turned that money into much greater profits !!! Be kind in your comments or you may force me to locate your competitor and then you and I will be nieghbors. My motive then as you know will not be to profit, but to break rule 102 and get personal !!! Please trust me when i tell you that you will never overcome my NIGHTMARE !!!! and the only sight of scared will come from you. I do meant that Pete !! Don't push you luck, it may be running out. Good luck to you and do be careful, it's a mean world out there !!!

neal

02-04-2005, 09:02 AM

If your on a 63 ft Sports Viking why are you looking at this websight ?

keepitclean

02-04-2005, 09:25 AM

Good comment Neal.....I was thinking the same thing. If I had a boat load of cash I wouldn't waste my time with this lame forum. But, if that works for SPOTFEE.....it is none of my business.

SPOTFEE, I found your comments interesting though it was hard to understand all of the anger directed at Pete.

SPOTFREE

02-05-2005, 01:52 AM

Thanks for finding it interseting Keepitclean. Neal, if I have to tell you about the overabundance of electronics on a large vessel than it is obvious you never been on one. It is clear where my bread & butter comes from, and it is also clear that i have only one mat left and it too will be liquidated within the next months. An old freind got me into the business 10 years ago. Although the net profits was not what I was used too, it was a fun business. I challenged my management and our net earnings were good. I came across TLR topic and i atleast admitted that my mistake was that I let someone beat me to the punch and they built a large card store that devistated the surrounding mats. They built a better mouse trap. I sold mine and moved that money to much higher yeilding net profits. I have been very fortunate with what has come my way. I read alot, veiw the wall steet journal, local and national papers and yes lately even this "lame forum". Neal, alot of my time is on the internet and it is easy for me to communicate with my different managers. I e-mail then thing to stimulate them to think outside the box. I let them get creative and it gives them a spirit of team play. I expect a great deal from my employees and even much more from my top management teams. They produce alot for me. They know I expect it, but i do know they like to show me their very best. There are many different ways to handle your staff. What I try to do daily, is reading the wall street journal, local or national papers, or even this "lame forum".I learn from others and impliment the best into what I already know. I am constantly e-mailing my top management in order to stimulate their thinking. I will not profess I have a Harvard, Yale,or even an MIT degree. You will have to guess?? But, I will tell you I do know my business and have been very fortunate. As for Pete, I don't think he knows what he is talking about. At least not to the degree I understand business. I have never know anyone to profess they are still happy after losing net value!! It truely amazed me and my staff of the comments he was making. Keepitclean, I don't even know Pete, and I can assure you that my energy is spent much better than showing anger to someone I don't know. What I don't like about Pete is the adjective he used. "SCARED". If he knew one thread about me he would never have chosen that word. Anyone who developes proerties spending between 4 - 28 million is not scared of much, Pete. Pete doesn't like for people to challenge his veiw. Pete, how can you learn anything. Don't think your are being challenged by other's expereinces. I do think I made myself clear to you. If you are wishing for a NIGHTMARE then I will be happy too be your maker. If you wish for what is best for your company, then you will refame from useing such adjectives (at least with me). Sorry Pete, but those are my rules. Tell me your rules and let see what happens. Be careful of your wish, I know I am!! Guys you never know, maybe somewhere down the line we'll be fishing together. Hope you like Yellowfin. Their hot right now!!! Good luck and try to make it a fun business, but most of all a profitable business!!!!

superclean

02-05-2005, 05:08 PM

I could not help but read something viewed 722 times. What a debate !!!! Bravo to you all. I liked what I read and I must say that I agree with what spotfree is trying to tell us all. I had 3 mat stores and now I have 2. A 4900 s/f card store moved within 1.5 miles from me and within 12 months I was done. I was not the only mat he hurt. Two others mats closed and the others as far as 5 miles have told me they have dropped alot in revenue. I do hear what you say Pete and James. I ran a very clean mat , staffed, and ran promo's until i was tired. It is a combo of many things. Their size, parking, management, and the endless ways to run prom's. Pete, I do know how to run a mat, but the new large card stores are popping up and are here for a reason. Spotfree, I will listen to what you have to say and I also have to decide what to do with my other 2 mats. Sell them or pour money into them and that will still not save me. Spot, i do think you know a great deal about business, and to get where you are isn't luck !!! Do any of you reading know TLR?? Of all readers he should be most interested. Has he closed his door? If you do read this give us input ok, good or bad. We can all learn.

Kard

02-05-2005, 05:43 PM

Scared would not be the adjective Iwould use for SPOTFREE. More like insecure. You stated you new nothing about Pete yet you feel Pete should know you well enough to "know better" than to call you scared. I have been comming to this site for almost a year and I value Pete and Duane's oppinion above most (if you would read some past posts you would see why). You are getting out of the business that is good maybe a customer oriented business is not for you anyway.

JamesWash

02-06-2005, 01:14 AM

Whether it is a card store or coin store, it depends on the management to be successful. Of course, size, location, service and hours are things that are far more important than the factor of plastic cards. I have heard card stores failed from my soap distributor in the nearby city. I agree with Kard, you may be good at real estate business, but not in the laundry business. And I am also tired of people like you who has to show off their wealth, and threaten to become "somebody's neighbor".

JamesD

02-06-2005, 09:37 AM

$$$ obviously does not = class!!

petefritz

02-06-2005, 09:57 AM

I own a 30' sport fish boat also. Trust me when I say I know what Gross and NET are. Here are plain numbers. My little store # 3 (rented location) that had been there for about 20 years was NETTING 20k a year. It needed a face lift, and new machines. I redid the place, and a few weeks later at the same time the new guy opened a 3300 Sq Ft store. My NET dropped to 18k a year. This year it was 16k. Now, that is a big hit. It is 800 Sq ft, I spend about 6 hours a week on it. SO I LOWERED my prices and gain gross. What happens is my gross goes up by another 900 a month and my water/sewer/gas bills went up 250, so now I am NETTING $650 a month more than I was 3 months ago. I only lowered my price becuase of the 3 mats nearby I was higher than any of them. I should have been fired for trying to charge to much. I understand why you bailed out, if I was developing 4 million or 28 million dollar projects I would not fool around with the type of return the average mat makes. Mats are sort of my beard and butter, I do not have a job, but I do not depend on them for income. I like the flexibility and challanges of running the stores. Some days more than others. You have to excuse me now, I have to go snake out the main drain line on store # 2 as it was backing up last nite thu the flooor drain and had a small flood inside the store. Nice Sunday morning job.

Oh,. and the new guy is running thru about 80k gallons of water a month, not enough to sustain or even pay hard bills on a $400k plus "investment". Low overhead equals longevity for me.

TLR

02-07-2005, 09:50 AM

WOW - I must have started a hot topic for many owners. Thanks for all your emails and posts. I am still trying to figure this new laundry mat out. But one thing I did not figure was rude and stealing employees. All of that came to a screachng halt about mid January. My employees were running off customers and I caught 2 of them (roomates) stealing money.
Once they were fired - we began hearing from many cutomers about how many of their friends were going somewhere else to wash because the 2 employyes were so rude and unfriendly. Looking back at when my revenue began decreasing ( before the other laundry opened ) it all makes sense now!

Now - to the other laundry. My business is showing signs of coming back. The other laundry has been open for 6 months - and I have spent a a lot of time talking to my customers that have come back to us. They list many reasons (which I will not quote in case the owner reads this post board) - but basically they call him a "crook".
I am encouraged by these customer somments and feel we are on right track - attracting our customers back. Time will tell - but I am in it for the long haul.

Thanks and keep posting.

TLR

02-07-2005, 10:10 AM

The one I am dealing with is an individual owner. See my latest post 2/07/04

dixieboy

02-08-2005, 04:19 PM

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gifpete, just like spotfree i have a lot of time on my hands to sit and read these post. the only difference is i'm old and broke. son,let me give you some advice don't be so bold that you don't learn from other people. some of my best learning has been from others mistakes. now,that being said i love and old fashion bar room brawl so you boys keep it up. hey,spotfree maybe you should take your boat over to florida and visit pete and pick out a site of your own. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

SPOTFREE

02-08-2005, 06:33 PM

Kard, why don't you and me prove to all the readers what "INSECURE" mean. I am very well educated and managing laundies, large Retail Outlets or basket weaving is all the same. I can assure you that between me and my staff we are very good at what we do!!! Now if you are not "INSECURE" and feeling lucky, will you please tell me where your mats are located. My staff and I can handle the rest from that point. Now don't be "INSECURE" ok.. ?? I'm not one bit eager to have another mat, but I would like to prove a point to you, whom have not learnd one thing from my experience and the others that have become victims to the large card store. Tell me this. Have you ever known of a small coin mat building on top or within 1 mile of a large card mat???? But, we have all seen or heard of the large card stores moving on top of us or shall I say coin operated mats. You may call this experiment stupid or crazy. I don't because I have learnd for my mistakes and will admit them to you and other readers and try to better myself from them. The worst that will come from our experience or shall I say "bet" is that the readers will be involved and updated on the impact my card store and management team has on your mat. You let me know if the game is on?? When I prove my point to you, I will sell my mat to anyone reading for only the cost I have in it.It may take a year maybe two, but Kard i promise you will not proveal. Learn people learn from the good and the bad.>>??

azkid

02-08-2005, 08:01 PM

This topic has been beat to death, but I think it illustrates that business situations can be complex and people can have different opinions. In the Phoenix market, there are a number of stores beating themselves to death over prices (card and non card). I honestly don't think it's a card situation there, it's just price matching. It is also my strong opinion that a card store would fail in my area where it's primarily snowbirds who don't like technology much, but Spotty if you want to come out and play, you're welcome to it. There's plenty of card stores for sale here too...maybe you just want to buy one of those.
P.S., what is "proveal" by the way?

nowornever

02-09-2005, 01:44 AM

"P.S., what is "proveal" by the way?"

You're right AZKID...I hate to add fuel to the fire but SPOTFREE claims to be so well educated (in his own words) but can't get through a post without all kinds of grammatical and spelling errors. (there are lots more where that came from...just try reading all his posts-very distracting to try to read).
Anyway, when people blow smoke like this, it really is a sign of insecurity more than anything else. Did you ever notice that the ones that feel the need to "talk" about all their stuff really have nothing to show for it? The ones that don't talk about it really do have the bank account to back it up but don't feel the need to have to prove it to everyone else. Don't pay any attention to him. There are so many others on this board that actually are worth listening to and learning from.
Jen

dixieboy

02-09-2005, 07:07 AM

well,spotfree i guess in order to reply to any of these subjects you going to have to make the time to check all words and stuff. i guess that means i can't respond to any more. but it seams these boys might be a little threaten by you, maybe they are living paycheck to paycheck. let them live and learn from there own mistakes. it is going to be funny to talk to these guys a year from now as the big card stores continue to grow. heck spotfree i have always wanted to live in fenix. you know when my granddaughter gave me this computor i never new i would have so much fun. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

keepitclean

02-09-2005, 09:21 AM

See SPOT run
See SPOT get a gun
See SPOT hop a plane to Fenix.....and have some fun!!

azkid

02-09-2005, 12:00 PM

I'll type slower so you can understand me better. There are already dozens of card stores in the Phoenix market (one chain alone has 25 stores I'm told), including about six in my suburb. Funny thing is that I'm still in business. But hey, don't believe me - the weather's great this time of year. Bring all your friends and come on out!

petefritz

02-10-2005, 09:18 AM

I have a 3300 Sq Ft card store built NEW 2 years ago across the street from my little mat. I already gave numbers. The point WAS the poster wanted to know potential outcomes of having a big mat open nearby. I have stated and continue to say you can expect a 25% drop in revenue, but also you can fight back. Your own stores you sold could have gone unattended to cut overhead, in fact you may have lost revenue because of the attendants. An upgrade of equipment, remodel, painting, etc. There are ways to overcome a big store. Of course you can always sell and quit.

Kard

02-10-2005, 04:40 PM

Spot,
Ok we are beating a dead horse here (I now have a bucket of Elmers glue to prove it!!) But I do want to comment one last time.
I do not own a mat. I am looking for one to purchase. I come to this site for the sole purpose of learning from others. Your opinion, however seems to be the law. Thats ok if it works for you (and your staff). If you did happen to retain anything anyone else has said here you would have learned that smaller mats can (and have time and again) over come these big card stores. You would have also learned of the many reasons why and how they have overcome these obsticals. THis is knowledge I will take with me if I ever encounter a similar situation.
Your empty threats and endless rantings about how much you have really makes you a less credible role model for us newbies- I get about 1/3 thru your posts and get bored and move on. I don't know your "staff" but they must be more like endentured servents to put up with the likes of you.

petefritz

02-11-2005, 09:02 PM

KARD I offer for free consulting when you find a mat to buy, I will give you pros, cons, and what I might do. This is not a business for everyone.

shimmyj1

02-18-2005, 04:59 PM

It's hard to compete with new technology. I've seen a few mats open in the past several months. One in particular, located in Macon, Georgia was really nice. It was all card based, clean and sleek. I don't know how you beat it. It's a pretty sinking feeling when you look outside and see 2 cars on your lot and 25 in the card wash's lot. It kind of makes you feel like a mom and pop grocery going up against Kroger -- and we all know who wins that battle. Good luck!

superclean

02-18-2005, 09:39 PM

Shimmyj1 , is Macon in the south Ga. area? Is this the large card store TLR is talking about. I have 2 mats, lost 1 a few months ago to a large card store. I fought like a pit-bull but I was forced to throw in the towel. I live about 4 hrs north of Atlanta. Give me the info. like to see what TLR is talking about. Do you know TLR or the owner of the large card store. Tell us what you and the other mat owners in that area have heard. TLR if your reading is Macon your home? If so let us know. Would like to visit if you have the time.

TLR

02-21-2005, 09:38 AM

Superclean - please post your email address for me - let me know when it is on the board - thanks TLR

Kard

02-22-2005, 01:17 PM

Pete,
Can I take you up on your offer? Please contact me and I will send info:
kdefelice@cox.net

shimmyj1

02-23-2005, 10:56 AM

Well Superclean, Macon is actually mid georgia. I don't know if TLR is talking about this one, but it is amazing. One of my buds told me about the laundry and I saw it. It has televisions everywhere, a kid's room and unlike most shops, it even had clean bathrooms. Even the landscape was awesome -- looked better than my house.

We went by on a Tuesday right after lunch (a traditional low time for laundry) and the parking lot was packed.

Hey Laundry man whoever you are, if you are out there, can I buy some stock. I heard that this guy might be building some more laundries in Macon. Count me in, let me know how much.