NORTHBROOK, Ill. — The Round Table of Launderers and Dry Cleaners returned to the Western Hemisphere for its 85th Annual Meeting the first week of March 2026. The gathering was hosted by Round Table Chairman Christopher T. (Chris) Edwards, president of North Carolina’s A Cleaner World. The group convened at the Curacao Marriott Beach Resort in the Caribbean for an exchange of ideas, best practices and discussion on how to meet the challenges of today’s business environment.

The business agenda included a daily focus on issues impacting the cleaning industry. The first day was chaired by Dan LaCarte of Pennsylvania-based Model Cleaners and included a presentation by special invitee Jeff Alexander of Orlando Cleaners. The day also included a discussion of the best and worst ideas from 2025, led by Steve Arnold of Indiana-based Classic Cleaners. 

The second day, chaired by Dave Machesney of Pratt Abbott Garment Care of Maine, focused on business trends. Topics included a “How’s Business” session led by Brian Harrell of A Cleaner World, the role of analytics in the cleaning industry, led by Dave Troemel of California-based Kona Cleaners, as well as a discussion of what winning looks like in today’s environment, led by Heath Brolin of Sparkle Cleaners of Arizona.

Tom Zengeler of Zengeler Cleaners in Illinois chaired the third day, which focused on operations issues. Sessions included information on how to deploy AI, led by Casey Walker of Nebraska-based Max I Walker Cleaners, and Norman Way, from Puritan Cleaners in Virginia; increased penetration of home delivery/route business, led by Bobby Patel of Kona Cleaners and Ryan Brown from Dublin Cleaners in Ohio; and “Playing Offense,” led by Sparkle Cleaners’ Ross Adams.

The fourth day, chaired by Brian Butler of Dublin Cleaners, covered advertising, point-of-sale opportunities, diversification and other “nuts and bolts” topics, led by Jeff Sitz of Ohio-based City Cleaners and Janay D’Souza of Dependable Cleaners of Colorado. The day continued with “Scaling Yourself Out of the Day-to-Day,” by Emily Machesney of Pratt Abbott Garment Care, and a forecast of future demographics, “Who Is Your Customer in 2030?”  led by Steven Toltz, also of Dependable Cleaners. 

The conference concluded the following day, with Chair Stacy Godo of Texas-based Avon Cleaners; coordinating the board of directors meeting, led by Ryan Fish, Red Hanger Cleaners in Utah; a conference “rehash,” led by Wayne Edelman of New York-based Meurice Garment Care; and a general members meeting, led by conference host Chris Edwards.

Dependable Cleaners will host this fall’s “Fly-in” Conference in Colorado, as well as the 86th Annual Meeting next spring. Dates for the 2027 meeting are March 7-13, 2027, at the JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort & Spa, located in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, with more details available at the Fall Fly-In.