Retail keeps the lights on, but commercial work can pay the bills that come due every month, no matter how many people walk through the front door.

For drycleaning operators trying to plan around the unpredictable rhythms of retail, a steady commercial client base can be the difference between flush months and lean ones. That calculation became more urgent after the pandemic cut into the professional wardrobe traffic that long sustained the industry.

“Commercial accounts are really great for two main things. The first is covering your fixed costs and big capital expenditures,” says Nick Gausling, chief operating and financial officer at Al Phillips Cleaners in Las Vegas. “I have an equipment loan. I’ve got to pay that note every month. The second thing is smoothing out the seasonality that we see in retail.”

But commercial work, from Gausling’s point of view, is not a replacement for retail.

“Retail is the moneymaker,” he says. “Commercial is about providing a solid cash foundation from which you can then invest back into growing your retail business, because that’s where the real profit is.”

Commercial accounts come from a mix of inbound interest and outbound effort, and the balance varies by operator.

For Will Waterstraat, CEO at Helena’s Dry Cleaning & Laundry in Seattle, most commercial business now comes through word of mouth, particularly from purchasing agents who bounce between jobs and bring their vendors with them. 

“A lot of our growth has been that we’ve met the expectation of the customer,” he says, “and when they leave, they go somewhere and they’re like, ‘Oh man, this cleaner we’re working with isn’t meeting the need.’ And then they call us.”

He also does LinkedIn outreach — though he believes it has lost its edge — and has a lead driver drop business cards at select locations. “Now, I think LinkedIn is just like any other social media platform. There’s so much going on, it’s too much noise.”

Ricky Salazar, vice president of client services at Al Phillips, leans toward going out to meet the client. 

“In Vegas, relationships are everything,” he says, “and I spend a lot of time in the field to meet decision-makers. Real estate, hospitality and those types of events.” 

Tom Fox, owner of Martini Dry Cleaners in Burien, Washington, relies mostly on his company’s online presence.

“They almost always find me coming off the website,” Fox says, pointing to a dedicated commercial drycleaning page that explains what his shop handles.

Once an inquiry comes in, the question is whether the work actually fits the dry cleaner’s processes.

For Fox, the answer starts with what’s already moving through his shop. For instance, Martini Dry Cleaners has developed commercial cleaning contracts with pilots and a local rental car business. This is the model he’s looking for.

“First of all, the garments or whatever they want to have processed have got to reasonably match what I’m currently doing,” he says. “So, shirts and uniforms for pilots are a straight match. The uniforms for the rental car company are a straight match.” 

His largest commercial client is a funeral home that brings in tablecloths for cleaning. Not a perfect fit, he says, but Fox makes it work at a price that covers his costs and keeps his staff busy.

Waterstraat looks at the type of work first, then at the construction of the garments. 

“If we’re talking wash-dry-fold, that’s just a no-brainer,” he says. “If you are going to press the clothes, that makes a big deal. We’ve had companies where everything is linen and cotton. That’s real work, versus working with a company that everything they have is polyester.”

For Gausling, the fit comes down to how the client treats the relationship.

“The client has to feel like working with us is an investment in their business, because we make them look good to their customers,” he says. “They need to understand that this is not just an expense line on their P&L.” 

He’s also direct about which clients he’d rather not take on. 

“We really want to avoid clients for whom price is the primary thing they’re chasing,” he says, “because you don’t want to be in a race to the bottom.”

Come back Thursday for Part 2 of this series, where we’ll explore how to set expectations and prepare the operational side of the business and examine pricing and payment terms.