Content about America

SAN FRANCISCO — America’s Best Cleaners (ABC) Affiliates from across the United States gathered in Scottsdale, Ariz., last month for three days of networking and presentations around industry and general business best practices.

The March 13-15 meeting included presentations by consultants from various industries and businesses that support dry cleaning, as well as a tour of local Affiliate Z Cleaners’ new production facility and a dinner hosted by Frank Dubasik of Metalprogetti.

Speakers included Nicholas Regine, technical design and application specialist from Swarovski Crystals, who discussed the latest trends in fashion embellishments and application techniques. He also talked about how Swarovski supports ABC Affiliates across the country and applied a custom ABC’s crystal transfer to a shirt owned by ABC’s executive director, Christopher White.

COMMERCE, Calif. — The SoCal Cleaners Association (SCCA) will host Improving Your Customers’ Experience and Your Bottom Line, a presentation by Christopher White, executive director of America’s Best Cleaners, during the association’s upcoming March 20 meeting.

White has more than 25 years of experience working in the dry cleaning industry and has risen “to the very highest level in the profession,” SCCA says. He has extensive knowledge of textile cleaning and finishing techniques and is recognized as an industry leader in operational systems, database management, staff development and team building.

He will discuss developing an exceptional client experience by catering to specific needs of clients through individual services provided by the front-end team, and how to develop these needs into specific “nudges” that increase the client’s overall experience while also increasing the bottom line.

SCCA says takeaways will include:

America's Best Cleaners will host its semi-annual Affiliate Meeting on June 7-9 in Louisville, Ky. Affiliates from across the country will gather for three days of presentations and discussions around industry and general business best practices.

Local affiliate NuYale Cleaners is hosting the meeting. Attendees and guests will tour NuYale's 40,000-square-foot production facility.

Confirmed speakers include Terri Weber, opportunity manager for the Greater Louisville Inc. — The Metro Chamber of Commerce, and Kathleen Hoye, director of the Family Business Center at the University of Louisville.

For more information about the ABC program, visit www.americasbestcleaners.com.

CHICAGO — DECEMBER FOUND THE U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT rate dropping to a nearly three-year low of 8.5%, with non-farm payrolls increasing by 200,000 in the month alone, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Economists had expected a 150,000 increase, and the number was the largest hike in three months. The forecasted unemployment rate was 8.7%.

EVANSTON, Ill. — As we predicted here several months ago (Could The Unions Still Clean Up?), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is continuing its pro-union agenda with the same thunder as a battleship blasting a broadside.

On June 21, the NLRB published the proposed changes it wants in rules governing union representation elections. When adopted, these rules will make the jobs of union organizers easier by handcuffing management and fast-tracking representation elections in which a company’s employees vote whether or not they wish to unionize.

Following the defeat in Congress of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have allowed “card check unionization” and eliminated nearly all representation elections, union leaders are trying a different way to reach their easy organizing goals. They know “if you can’t legislate, regulate.” And the NLRB regulates labor relations in America.

SAN FRANCISCO — America’s Best Cleaners (ABC) announced last week that some affiliates have completed conversions to Kreussler’s SystemK4, and will now begin to process consumer clothing using the new solvent system.

The system centers around SolvonK4, a solvent new to the drycleaning industry. Kreussler has been testing SolvonK4 with ABC affiliates throughout the country for the past year.

WASHINGTON — The United States Chamber of Commerce honored Knoxville, Tenn.-based Prestige Cleaners with the Community Excellence Award at America’s Small Business Summit 2010. Prestige won the prize by gaining over 1,500 online votes in recognition of its exemplary business practices in employee development, community involvement, customer service and strategy.

WASHINGTON — Companies hiring unemployed workers will be able to take a credit on payroll taxes under the jobs bill signed into law Thursday by President Obama. The bill passed the Senate the day before in a 68-29 vote.

"It is the first of what I hope will be a series of jobs packages that help to continue to put people back to work," Obama said. "I also want to say to the Republicans who voted for this bill that I appreciate their willingness to work with Democrats in a bipartisan fashion to get America moving again."

LAUREL, Md. — Bill Fisher, CEO of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI), recently appeared on the Voice of America (VOA), the official radio and television broadcasting service of the federal government, to talk about the economic state of the drycleaning industry.

In an interview with reporter Ye Yuan, Fisher explained that the drycleaning industry hit hard times long before the rest of economy went into recession, and that the decline is now approximately 30% to 40%.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced a new loan program designed for small businesses struggling in today’s difficult economy.

The America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan Program can provide up to $35,000 in short-term relief for viable small businesses facing immediate financial hardship, helping these businesses ride out the current uncertain economic times and return to profitability, SBA says.

I was in college and needed money to finish when I agreed to work for a year as the manager of a drycleaning plant. I fell in love with the idea of owning my own business, and especially with owning a drycleaning business. I got the education of a lifetime!

I became friends with two of the greatest consultants in the industry, Stan Golomb and Stan Caplan. Stan Golomb taught me more than I could imagine about marketing, and Stan Caplan taught me everything I ever needed to know about cleaning and production.
 

1950s

The postwar economic boom spreads into drycleaning, ushering in its most prosperous era in history. More plants race to handle the shirts, suits and millinery of America’s growing middle class, and suburban wives embrace new styles of dress and décor that call for new services. A can-do spirit pervades the nation and the industry.