Seeing The Light: Debate

[dmen921]

Originally Posted by Howard

You story would be much more interesting that to here about another mega mat built on spec that will probably fail in a year or two. I would really love to see planet laundry go back in one year and in three years and re-profile these stores so people can see they are on there second and third owner. In my mind most of these stories are geared to help the advertiser sell more equipment - that is all.

How I couldn't agree more. How bout a little follow up on these stories. I know of some MEGA Mats that KILL it, but I think they are the exception, rather than the norm. It seems like there are alot more of them, that putt along...

[dmen921]

Originally Posted by Adamski

Nick,

The CLA is after me to write another article for Planet Laundry magazine. I wonder how many here might find it interesting to read about my particular laundromat experiences spread out over the past 43 years. Any feedback on this idea is much appreciated. Thanks.

Larry,

I would personally love for you to write an article like this. The only question is would PL publish it. I agree with other posts, New Mega Mats are sexy and sell equipment, therefore it seems like we get alot of these types of articles. An Article from someone with your experience would be invaluable to the average owner.

[MrMachine]

Originally Posted by Howard

Two people that have no experience building a $1,000,000 store on a hope and a prayer is just stupid in my mind. Yea it might work out, but it might not. Its sort of like someone that has never invested any money plunking down $1 million on one stock, without doing research on it at all. Owning the building does not reduce risk, and this is a bug I have with anyone that owns a building and does not require the laundromat to pay a fair market value rent. This store could do well, but it is a high risk venture anyway you cut it. Would sure love to hear about it in a year or two and find out if it is one its third owner or what.

This kind of dumb sh** happens in NYC all the time. Someone who knows nothing about laundromats will build a huge mat. Now, it's SO competitive here that they don't do nearly enough to pay the bills in a mat like that. They quickly sell to someone else and a substantial loss, but the mat is still standing (the greater fool theory is very much at play here).

And the rents for a 4,500 sq ft Mat? Try more like $15-18,000.00 a month. I myself now pay $8,000/month for a 2,000sq ft location.
I don't think San Francisco would be too much different.

PLUS, the going vend price for a double loader here is $1.75. Try paying those kind of rents with that.

[Adamski]

Guys,

I'm working on an article tentatively titled: THE DEATH OF A LAUNDROMAT. It's a first person rendition about a new laundromat as it dies a slow and painful death. Think of this article as the opposite of the usual article about the building and opening of a shiny, new laundromat.

I'll save my personal experiences for a later article.

[rbh]

I am familiar with the market where this mat is....I looked at two for sale in the past, both in the same city, and my brother lives right nearby this new mat. Its a very well served market. The 'rent' involved for such a mat would be reasonable, I'd say $3500 to $4500 a month in this particular market. But even without that, $1 million is going to be tough to cover in such a well served market.

[MrMachine]

Originally Posted by Howard

You story would be much more interesting that to here about another mega mat built on spec that will probably fail in a year or two. I would really love to see planet laundry go back in one year and in three years and re-profile these stores so people can see they are on there second and third owner. In my mind most of these stories are geared to help the advertiser sell more equipment - that is all.

Exactly! I've always believed the magazines are beholden to their advertisers. How can they not be?

They can't talk about what's REALLY been happening...that most people who come into this industry don't last. Over the years I've seen many many people come and go. They start out thinking this must be an easy business, but quickly realize that things go wrong, and they go wrong quite often.

After they get the 3am phone calls, the mechanical and electronic equipment headaches 7 days a week, customer issues, disappointment about how much less they are making than they thought it would be, and all the other risks associated with running a business, they quickly bail out, grateful that they no longer have this "major headache" to deal with.
And THAT'S assuming they are even making a profit, which many do not.

[Xiong]

a very interesting story, but i think larry's will be better

i suppose the advise of putting all your eggs in one basket does not apply here
i mean why not more laundromats with that money, but one?

my other thought at the moment is NYC ...is a town that don't ever sleep and there must be tons of other more exciting things to do than doing laundry, so perhaps a WDF would help the busy partying people