A Premium on Customer Satisfaction

By Bob Nieman | May 13, 2009

Deep down, David Leighton has probably always known that he was a businessman.

Of course, like the rest of us, he had to grow into the “man” part of that equation over the years. The “business” part he was probably born with.

“I’ve always been self-employed,” noted Leighton, who was raised in his father’s thriving insurance business.

In fact, at only 15, the budding entrepreneur started his own car wash and wax service in his parents’ Middletown, Ohio, driveway.

“I made a few bucks,” he laughed. “Of course, they probably lost money on all of the water that I was using.”

But, by then, Leighton was already hooked. In 1979, he began working at the family’s insurance agency, which was founded in 1953. And he’s been there ever since.

“I started in property and casualty insurance, which is where I still am,” he said. “It’s a family business, and that’s my background. That’s my bread and butter.”

In fact, Leighton took over the reins when his father retired, even growing the business by merging with another agency in town. In addition, he has branched off into real estate investing over the years.

“Until last year, I owned residential property,” he explained. “Now, the only real estate I own is commercial – office condominiums and a small strip center.”

Residential real estate was a great learning experience for Leighton, he noted. Plus, his eventual exit from that particular business freed up some time and capital for his latest venture – Express Laundry, a 4,300-square-foot, card-operated laundromat.

“The bottom line factor was that I was looking for a business that would be somewhat recession-proof,” he said. “I literally traveled down to San Antonio and up to Michigan, looking at different types of businesses that might be a good fit.”

Obviously recalling his days as a successful teen entrepreneur, Leighton was actually leaning toward opening a car wash, rather than a self-service laundry. However, during his travels in search of the proper business model, he came across the owner of laundry/car wash combination business – who told him that a laundromat was the way to go.

“More money, less hassle” was the way this store owner characterized the laundry business, versus running a car wash operation.

“With my primary business being in insurance, that is where I’ve got to focus,” Leighton said. “I wanted something recession-proof. I don’t have a lot of time to devote, but I want to bring in some money. What would that be?

After about a year of researching different business options, a self-service laundry became the prime candidate.

“Just looking around my local geographical area, I saw a lot of opportunity here,” he said.

With the type of business selected, Leighton’s next decision was whether to purchase an existing store or to build his laundry from scratch.

This one was a no-brainer.

“When you buy something that’s existing you buy a lot of problems,” explained Leighton, who opened his store last September. “It’s like buying a used car. I didn’t want to modify an existing building. So I bought the land and built Express Laundry from the ground up.

“By doing so, I was able to get the best of the best,” he added. “I’ve got floor drains right outside of the washers. I’ve got heaters under the sidewalk. I’ve got 11-foot ceilings and 12-foot aisles.”

And he’s also got a prime location in Middletown, no doubt thanks in part to his years of working in residential and commercial real estate in the area.

“I did my geographical reports and, demographically, the site I found was strong,” Leighton said. “The location is probably lower middle class, but I’ve also got customers from the upper class, even from outside of our town, coming in from the surrounding communities for our wash-dry-fold service as well as to do their laundry – they’ve got machines at home, but they’re coming to my place because it’s quick and easy.”

Racially, the Express Laundry site is about 60 percent white and 40 percent African American, with few Hispanics. It is surrounded by smaller, single-family homes, industrial buildings and a bevy of thriving destination businesses – such as fast-food restaurants, banks, supermarkets and pizzerias. In fact, a few of the local businesses, such as a local massage therapist, have begun doing their own commercial-type laundry at the store on a regular basis.

“The traffic count in front of my building is unbelievable,” Leighton marveled. “There are a couple of short cuts to get from one side of town to the other, and I’m on one of those streets. It’s one way each way – 45,000 cars go up and down the street every day.”

Leighton closed on the land for his new laundry in October 2005 and digging began in February 2006.

“My philosophy in business have always been to bring into your business the strengths that you don’t have,” explained Leighton, who estimated that the cost of the construction project and land came to about $565,000, not including the price of the washers and dryers. “As a businessperson, I’ve got to realize my weaknesses. I did that during the building process and it went quite well. I didn’t try to do it all. I let the experts in their fields handle their parts of it, and I oversaw the project, which is what I’m good at in my other businesses.

“I don’t have the time or the energy to micromanage,” he added. “Working with Doug Grise at Teeters Products was fabulous. And the people in this industry has been so helpful and kind, just to take the time to help someone else in this business succeed.”

Actually, there have been a number of factors involved in the current success of Express Laundry, according to Leighton. One of the major ways in which the store has distinguished itself from the competition is through the fact that it is a card-operated laundry.

“There has been a learning curve,” Leighton admitted. “When I first opened, I had six employees working from the time we opened until the time we closed – just to educate the customers. Once the customers realized they wouldn’t have to lug in any quarters, they truly welcomed the card system.

“I think because it is a new store – the way it looks, the cleanliness, all of the glass, the wide aisles – card technology wasn’t a threat. It was almost expected in here. It fits.”

Of course, Leighton also uses his card system to create monthly and weekly specials on certain pieces of equipment, as well as to easily keep tabs on his laundry business from across town at his insurance office.

In addition to the automated management a card system offers, Express Laundry features a security system with all the bells and whistles. When the store opens at 6 a.m., the doors automatically unlock, the lights turn on and the ceiling fans begin to rotate. At closing time, it all happens in reverse, and the alarm is set until morning.

Another distinguishing characteristic of Express Laundry is its all-high-extract washer mix.

“When my customers take their clothes out of the machines, they comment that they are almost dry,” said Leighton, whose staff includes seven part-time attendants. “We educate our customers. We tell them that our machines spin at 200 Gs, so the dryers will take less time because they indeed come out of the washer almost dry.”

The store’s atmosphere is another area where Leighton was looking to distance himself from the other laundromats in his marketplace.

“I refuse to have music in here, and I refuse to have TVs,” he stated. “You won’t see Jerry Springer on in here. You don’t want the kids watching that.

“You can’t control what everybody wants to watch, and it’s the same with the music. Some people love rap. Some people may want to hear jazz. Some may want opera. I can’t please everybody, so I have eliminated all of that.”

As a result, people will come in with their kids and do homework, or they’ll work on their laptops or read a book, according to Leighton

“The atmosphere is conducive to that,” he said. “I also think that’s why I have the clientele that I do – the range of class that I have coming here.”

Another – certainly more controversial – way in which Leighton is attracting customers has been through his pricing.

“My prices are the lowest prices in town,” he said. “I’ve taken the philosophy of Wal-Mart to offer a great product and to be the lowest price in town, and I am that – the best and the lowest price.

“I definitely did my homework on this project. To me, that’s part of the fun of creating a business. When I buy a car, I do the same thing; I want to know everything about it.”

And the more he learns about the self-service laundry business, the more he seems to like it. In fact, he’s already eyeing a second store. If all goes according to plan, Express Laundry II should be approximately the same size as his current facility.

For sure, David Leighton has come a long way since the days of soaping up the neighbors’ cars in his mom and dad’s driveway.