Content about News

HANOVER, Mass. — Kevin Dubois, CEO of Lapels Dry Cleaning, received the Franchise Executive of the Year award from the New England Franchise Association (NEFA), during its April 9 Franchise Relations Summit in Norwood, Mass.

His role in Lapels Dry Cleaning’s growth, commitment to greener dry cleaning processes, and community outreach efforts were among the reasons NEFA honored him with the distinction.

Murray Vetstein, NEFA president, considers Dubois a “most worthy recipient” of the award.

“Under [Dubois’] leadership, Lapels has raised the bar when it comes to its business practices, and how much the company and its franchisees give back to the communities they serve,” he says.

In the past 10 years, Lapels has created eco-friendly dry cleaning solutions, making it one of the few dry cleaners in New England to have “no hazardous waste in their process,” NEFA says.

“Considering the high caliber of franchise executives in NEFA and the area which the association covers—the six New England states—this truly is an honor,” Dubois says.

NEW ORLEANS — Every morning during Clean ’13, plus for a couple of hours each afternoon, attendees will have the opportunity to sit in on educational sessions aimed at saving them money, boosting their productivity or generally improving their operations or businesses.

Access to all seminars at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is included in the show registration fee and isn’t dependent on association membership.

THURSDAY, JUNE 20

• 8-8:30 a.m. — Meritorious Service Awards, sponsored by the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute.
• 8-9 a.m. — Coin Laundry Trends for 2013, sponsored by the Coin Laundry Association (CLA).

Learn where the coin laundry industry is going and how that may affect your business so that you can plan for profits.

HARTFORD, Conn. — French Cleaners, a member of the Hartford business community for more than a century, recently offered its customers a chance to win a free year of dry cleaning. Customers were invited to enter the month-long contest by providing a current e-mail address, and the promotion garnered more than 2,200 entries.

A longtime French Cleaners customer was randomly chosen to draw the winning entries on April 10. Vanessa Barneschi of West Hartford won the grand prize, a year’s worth of dry cleaning valued at $100 a month. Runner-up was Jennifer Chase, also of West Hartford, who will receive a year’s worth of dry cleaning valued at $50 a month.

“It was a really fun contest and brought a lot of positive feedback from our clients,” says Phil Cote, French Cleaners president.

FAIRFAX, Va. — Reid Bechtle is the newly appointed chief executive officer for ZIPS Dry Cleaners, the Mid-Atlantic dry cleaning franchise chain has announced.

This comes on the heels of the company’s recent acquisition by JPB Capital Partners, a Maryland-based private equity firm that makes control investments in lower-middle market companies located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast United States.

“ZIPS is the perfect opportunity to work with a proven franchisor and enhance a franchise network that is poised for aggressive growth,” Bechtle says. “Together with JPB Capital Partners, I look forward to moving ZIPS Dry Cleaners through its next phase of growth, including improved execution of the existing system and further geographic expansion of the concept.”

COLUMBIA, Md. — Private equity firm JPB Capital Partners has invested in Value Drycleaners of America LLC, the parent company of ZIPS Franchising LLC (“ZIPS”), one of the largest franchisors of retail dry cleaners in the Mid-Atlantic region. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ZIPS began in 1996 with a group of eight dry cleaners in the Baltimore-Washington region and has grown to 36 franchise operations in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.

“We believe that ZIPS has created great brand awareness and a unique model within the dry cleaning industry,” says Jim Bolduc, senior managing director of JPB Capital Partners. “With this foundation in place, and the combination of our capital and our team’s knowledge and experience in both retail and franchise operations, we believe that we can move the concept through its next phase of growth including improved execution of the existing system and further geographic expansion of the concept.”

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.

CLIFTON, Va. — Crest Cleaners has become the first North American dry cleaner to install an ultra-low-water bead cleaning system marketed by Xeros Inc., a subsidiary of UK-based Xeros Ltd. Overall, it is Xeros’ third U.S. installation since first entering the market last September.

Historically, items that are not dry cleaned, such as men’s dress shirts, are laundered in traditional washing machines. Xeros’ proprietary system looks to replace those machines by producing “cleaner laundry with a significantly lower impact on the environment, using very little water and patented Xeros polymer beads,” the company says.

The beads’ molecular structure, coupled with a proprietary detergent, attracts and absorbs dirt from soiled items, the company says. It claims the system uses up to 80% less water, 50% less energy and 50% less detergent than conventional washing.

CHICAGO — Martinizing Dry Cleaning franchise reports the opening of the first of five stores planned in the south and southwest Chicago suburbs.

New franchisee Vince Aversano was awarded the five-store exclusive development rights to the south-southwest suburbs of Chicago, which include the Illinois villages of Frankfort, Mokena, Orland Park, New Lenox, Tinley Park, Joliet, Palos Heights, Oak Forest, and Romeoville.

Aversano’s plant is a 2,000-square-feet (with another 500 square feet of “flex-space”) end cap located in the Mokena Towne Square shopping center. The dry cleaning/shirt laundry features a Union GreenEarth™ 60-pound dry cleaning machine, a full lineup of Unipress™ dry cleaning and shirt pressing equipment, and a Wascomat wetclean-capable washer and dryer. His point-of-sale device is powered by CleanSuite™.

Prior to becoming a Martinizing franchisee, Aversano was the head of communications at Rotary International. “Working for Rotary gave me the chance to meet a lot of business leaders who work tirelessly to make their communities better,” he says.

MILWAUKEE — American Drycleaner has learned of the recent death of James H. “Jim” Fitzgerald Sr., president of Herb Fitzgerald Co., a laundry and dry cleaning equipment distributor headquartered in Butler, Wis. He died Jan. 3 at the age of 85.

Fitzgerald is an inductee of the Wisconsin Fabricare Hall of Fame, among other industry honors he received over the years.

Surviving him are his children, Jim, Jeff, Dann and Janell; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Dolores.

Memorial contributions may be made to Lumen Christi Catholic Church, 138 W. Buntrock Ave., Thiensville, WI 53092.

NEW YORK — Beginning next February, New York City dry cleaners will be required to disclose to consumers the primary chemicals used in their dry cleaning process, says the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

About 1,400 dry cleaning businesses throughout the Big Apple will be required to list the chemicals and a link to information about their health effects, so that consumers can access their potential impact.

DEP will work with affected businesses over the next year to implement the new rule ahead of the enforcement date.

“The local dry cleaner is an essential part of life for most New Yorkers, and it is important that information about all the chemicals used by these businesses is available,” says DEP Commissioner Carter Strickland. “At virtually no cost to businesses, this rule will ensure that this important public health information is available to the public.”

KENNER, La. — Norvin L. Pellerin, the co-founder of laundry equipment manufacturer Pellerin Milnor Corp., died Feb. 11, the company reports.

“Norvin took pride in offering the very best to his customers, family, and friends throughout the world,” Milnor says. “He was a true visionary, who held 18 patents for various laundry machinery and pioneered top-transfer continuous batch washing. … Norvin’s design and engineering expertise, as well as his leadership, revolutionized the laundry industry.”

Pellerin won many awards, including Tulane University’s School of Engineering Alumnus of the Year in 1996, the National Association of Institutional Linen Management (now the Association for Linen Management) Hall of Fame in 1998, The Rudolph Maglin Lifetime Achievement Award for Associate Members from TRSA in 2004, and the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame Laureate in 2012.

Surviving Pellerin are his wife of 63 years, Sue; two sons, Jim Pellerin and Curtis Pellerin; two daughters, Julie Bukrey and Renee Gordon; 13 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

HANOVER, Mass. — Lapels Dry Cleaning has built its franchise upon environmentally friendly dry cleaning methods, “outrageous” customer service and marketing, the company says, and now it’s looking to bring those signature services abroad with a new international division.

“I believe there are markets outside the United States that will be as strong, if not stronger, because of the lack of quality competition and the importance of quality garments and the care of those garments,” says Michael Eisner, director of franchise development for Lapels. “Over the years, we have been inundated with requests for franchising from overseas.”

“Being able to have your garments cleaned in an affordable and timely fashion that doesn’t negatively impact the environment is something that’s appreciated everywhere, not just in the U.S.,” says Lapels CEO Kevin Dubois. “With this new division, we are currently speaking with Franchise Partners from across the world and anticipate opening our first store within 2013.”