Among the many programs and benefits the Coin Laundry Association offers today’s laundry owners and potential industry investors, perhaps the most crucial is its network of state and regional affiliate groups, which carry out the association’s mission in the local markets at the grassroots level.
In all, the CLA supports 22 affiliate organizations. Here is a look at the goals, hurdles and key benefits of some of the most active affiliate groups around the country:
The Midwest
Illinois Coin Laundry Association
Goals: The ILCLA’s major goals for 2009 is to continue to offer substantive, meaningful and informative business-growing ideas at its regular meetings, as well as to continue to seek out member benefits, such as its current gas-purchasing program.
Major Issues: “One of the biggest challenges facing our members is adapting our businesses to changing demographics,” said President Karl Keefer. “In some markets, where the business model has been based on a strong ethnic representation, owners are finding significant population declines as these populations either move to smaller communities or back to their country of origin. This means having to adjust pricing and aggressively solicit other services such as drop-off laundry, to makeup for revenue shortfalls.
“In some markets, families are tightening their personal budgets and are eliminating the luxury of drop-off-laundry services,” he added. “Smaller stores – those less than 2,000 square feet – are finding it impossible to afford or justify attendants, especially with the state minimum wage to cap at $8.25. These smaller, unattended stores are often unable to compete with larger, attended stores within their markets.
“The one area where I have seen more store closures within the past 18 months has been with the smaller stores trying to compete on low prices and finding themselves unable to keep up with rising rents, utilities and real estate taxes.”
Key Program: A key member benefit Keefer is seeking to secure this year is to attach the ILCLA to the "Office Depot Chamber of Commerce" savings plan. With this plan, members are issued a card that takes off upwards of 15 percent from their Office Depot purchases and still allows them to take advantage of other discounting programs. Under this plan, not only can coin laundry operators buy their general office supplies from Office Depot, but may also buy snack foods like chips, soda, coffee and cleaning supplies.
Minnesota Coin Laundry Association
Goals: The MNCLA plans to continue developing its popular co-op marketing program in 2009, as well as to hold a weekend-long educational event, along with at least two additional local meetings and a meeting at Clean ’09 in June.
“We want to develop more members-only benefits,” explained President Jeff Gardner. “We also want to develop a co-op cable television ad for use by MNCLA members.”
Key Programs: Some of the group’s major programs and benefits for members include:
Also, Gardner is inviting all CLA members in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin who are offering, or considering, wash-dry-fold to contact him for the opportunity to spend a day at his store, learn about the drop-off laundry business – how to do the work, train your employees and market that segment of your business. Those interested can contact Jeff through the national CLA office at (630) 963-5547.
MO-KAN Coin Laundry Association
Goals: For the MO-KAN CLA, the biggest goals are to grow its membership across both Missouri and Kansas, with its three local chapters in St. Louis, Wichita and Kansas City that are now up and running, and also to grow the attendance at those meetings.
“The local affiliate will not be as effective as it can be if we cannot get people to the meetings and to take advantage of all that we offer,” said President Bob Meuschke.
Major Issues: “The consensus among our members is that in recent years overall revenue has reached a plateau,” Meuschke said. “We all agree the employment problems across the area, the higher food costs, low rents in surrounding apartments, utility costs and, until the last few months, gasoline prices really affect our customer base, which in turn affects our bottom line.”
Key Programs: The key program the MO-KAN group is working on is a one-day laundry trade show and seminar event. “I have been concerned for many years that nothing is done here in the heart of the Midwest for smaller laundries that may not have the ability to attend the Clean Show,” Meuschke explained.
“We are attempting to hold our event on non-Clean-Show years. We now are looking into 2010. I have all of the major tradespeople on board with it and am now working on the laundry owners to help in setting it up.
“Another key benefit is connecting laundry owners personally to the Coin Laundry Association, to help new laundry owners and potential owners be all they can be within this industry and connecting successful long-term owners with the newer ones so that they can both share views on the different aspects of the business.”
Ohio Coin Laundry Association
Goals: According to OHCLA President Duane King, he is looking to accomplish a number of things in 2009, including:
Major Issues: The big issues facing the majority of members in the Ohio group are the increasing costs to operate a self-service laundry, a reluctance to raise vend prices and tougher competition.
“Those three are separate issues, but they go hand in hand with each other,” King pointed out.
Key Programs: “The OHCLA is currently just an extension of the CLA, and we really are just promoting the great benefits that the CLA currently offers,” King said. “However, as a local affiliate, we would like to be able to get more one-on-one with members and discuss local issues.”
The Northeast
Delaware Valley Coin Laundry Association
Goals: “We have a great core member group that attends our meetings,” noted President Bob Eisenberg. “We would like them to continue, as well as add new members and even non-members who can then be recruited as members.
“We also want to add value to our members’ businesses by enlisting timely and important speakers to our dinner meetings. In addition, we want to develop a fall trade show in Atlantic City over a weekend, where members and their families can enjoy Atlantic City and also gain valuable industry knowledge from their local peers and vendors.”
Major Issues: The top issue in the Delaware Valley includes, not surprising, the current economic conditions, which are making it difficult for many of the group’s members to secure the financing needed to renovate their facilities or to open new stores.
Other issues of concern in the region are heightened competition, low vend prices throughout the industry and the scarcity of quality attendants.
Key Programs: “Our dinner meetings are discounted for members,” Eisenberg said. “These educational events feature top speakers and discuss timely topics. And, for our members who attend the Clean Show, we pay their way to the CLA Dinner.
The group also is currently trying to set up a local utility group purchase.
“We also would like to get a recycling group – where a local recycler would pick up the recyclables for free or even pay the owner; after all, recycling is a profitable business for some, yet we have to pay for the local trash company to pick it up,” Eisenberg said.
New York Coin Laundry Association
Goals: As a brand new CLA affiliate, the group’s first major goal is to grow its membership, and the second is to create programs that “demonstrate economic value,” according to President Michael Viviano.
Major Issues: “Quite simply, survival,” Viviano said. “I believe that our industry will see a very difficult time as unemployment continues to rise.”
Key Program: In the very short time it has been active, the NYCLA was able to develop a money-saving energy procurement program for its members.
Western Pennsylvania Coin Laundry Association
Goals: Being a newer affiliate, the WPCLA is largely concerned with continued growth in terms of local interest. “We struggle to keep the ball rolling, and even the most involved of our core members are reticent to accept any sort of leadership position,” said President Evan Hirsh. “For now, we are a networking outlet, as is the wish of our group.”
Major Issues: “Often our group uses our events to vent,” Hirsh admitted. “Mostly, we hear of the pressures from utility costs, but more and more we hear of projects not pursued due to governmental regulations and associated fees. It appears as though, for most, ROI expectations for modest projects have decreased. Many local owners seem to be enjoying smaller margins and, thus, lower profits.”
Key Program: WPCLA members are rightfully proud of the group’s charitable effort, dubbed "Project Soap,” in which the organization’s members donate unvendable soap, softener and other boxed products that are slightly damaged to a local charity that distributes the products to needy families in the community.
The Southeast
Florida Coin Laundry Association
Goals: “We want to assist our members in navigating these difficult economic times, as well as grow, or at least maintain, the association’s current membership total,” said President Wallace Nelson, who felt the biggest issue FCLA members face today is the cost of utilities.
Key Programs: To offset the large percentage of its members’ budgets that utilities account for, the FCLA has secured guaranteed prices for both propane and natural gas as a popular member benefit.
“We also hold regular meetings throughout Florida, inviting key speakers to address topics of concern to our members,” Nelson added.
Tennessee Coin Laundry Association
Goals: “We need to talk about vend price strategy,” said President Kenneth Cherry. “That’s always a subject of interest. We also need to hold meetings in different parts of the state, which we haven’t done; we’re going to try to accomplish that in 2009. Tennessee is 700 or 800 miles in length, so, for a meeting in Nashville, members in Memphis have to travel 200 miles, and those in Mountain City have to come nearly 400 miles.”
Major Issues: Expenses and utility costs have long been big issues for TNCLA members, according to Cherry, who added that increasing rents have been added to the mix.
“As laundry owners, our goals should be to try to keep our utility costs within the 20 percent [of gross sales] range, if we can,” Cherry noted. “Another goal should be to try to get up toward 15 cents a pound for washing. We’re not there yet.
“Also, eights cents a minute for drying on a 30-pound stack dryer should be the benchmark,” he added. “A lot of people here have older dryers, and quarter drying is something that’s been a problem. We need to be at least at 50 cents to start.”
Key Programs: Cherry pointed to the group’s insurance and legislative watchdog programs as two of the Tennessee CLA’s most popular benefits.
“Legislative issues are always a biggie,” he explained. “We fought sales tax issues for four or five years, and it finally came out in our favor. However, I see where the governor recently announced that we’ve got a major budget shortfall this year, which means they’ve got to look for money somewhere. Sales tax has been the biggest, but it’s not exclusive.”
The West
Golden State Coin Laundry Association
Goals: The GSCLA holds four local meetings per year, and the group’s major goal for 2009, according to President Aaron Thompkins, is to continue “to find the most meaningful and helpful educational presentations for those meetings.”
Major Issues: Like many of the affiliate groups, the GSCLA’s membership has been hit with rising utility costs. However, many of the group’s marketplaces also are battling the ongoing drought that California has experienced in recent years.
Key Programs: “Our key benefits include educating our affiliate members about the impact of the California drought, as well as petitioning the local utility districts for assistance in further educating the public as to the benefits of using self-service laundries,” Thompkins said.
Southern California Coin Laundry Association
Goals: The SCCLA’s main goal is to provide “innovative, meaningful programs,” according to President Beverly Blank. To that end, the group’s most recent meeting focused heavily on wash-dry-fold procedures and commercial accounts.
The association also is targeting December for a holiday program, which would feature dinner, networking and some sort of a charity fundraiser. What’s more, a new SCCLA Web site is currently in the works.
“I'd like to plan a three- or four-day educational cruise, perhaps in October, if there is interest,” Blank added. “Lastly, I'm trying to cultivate a relationship with the Korean laundry owners in the area so that we can call clearly understand and implement sound business practices in our markets.”
Major Issues: “There is a plethora of laundromats throughout Southern California, and there is only so much of the pie to be divided,” Blank explained. “As a result, many owners are afraid to raise prices for fear of losing customers to the competition.”
Texas Coin Laundry Association
Goals: “Our number-one goal is to hold the association together,” said President Kenny Wells. “It has always been a challenge in Texas due to our vast size. Laundry owners have their hands full just trying to survive. Unfortunately, many fail to see the benefits of the association. As always, the good operators with good balance sheets are doing OK.”
Major Issues: Although the cost of energy has fallen, water prices continue to increase for many TXCLA members. “As a city councilman, I have first-hand knowledge that cities help balance their budgets with water and sewer rate increases,” Wells noted. “High rent also is a major concern.”
Key Programs: The key benefit of the Texas association, according to Wells, is the ability to network with other members.
“I would like to develop a network of smaller groups around the state,” he said. “The fact is that issues in Dallas are not a concern to members in Houston. The state is so vast and diversified that smaller groups may be the solution to growing our membership.”
Local Heroes
In one sense, the self-service laundry industry in Texas can be viewed as a sort of microcosm of the industry nationwide. Those smaller groups that Wells refers to within his own affiliate would serve a similar role for the TXCLA that the Texas organization itself plays for the national Coin Laundry Association.
“All political issues are local, and most concerns of laundry operators are local issues,” Wells said. “The ability to network with a member in your trade area is a benefit of the local affiliates. Texas members just don't relate to the issues that are important in California, for instance.”
“Our challenges are handled according to local conditions, and are better understood and resolved by those who share the same situations,” Blank agreed. “For example, vend prices are much higher almost anywhere beyond Southern California, but drop-off service prices are much higher here than in many areas in the U.S., which is interesting considering that their utilities are higher.”
“Affiliate membership is obviously the grassroots to the coin laundry industry,” Keefer added. “What I have learned in my 15-plus years in the business is that there are no absolute means of operating a self-service laundry. Each market is unique unto itself, and there is no ‘cookie cutter’ business model that can be touted as ‘the only way.’ With this in mind, local membership and contributions from the same are critical in establishing a collective effort in understanding local challenges and thereby creating practical solutions that help all members to succeed in their business endeavors.”
Duane King put it this way…
“Sure, it’s great talking to someone three states away, but being able to have another owner in your store to give you ideas and suggestions on improvements or problems – sometimes it is that one-on-one benefit that is needed.”