SAVAGE, Md. — ZIPS Cleaners franchisees Mike Kaplan and Jason Stelter, operating as KapStel LLC, have signed a 10-year lease to bring the drycleaning brand to Urbana, Maryland, ZIPS reports.

Expected to open in spring 2026, the 1,600-square-foot location will be part of a new phase of the retail area in Village Square, to serve Urbana residents as well as get a daytime population boost from nearby companies that include Fannie Mae, Kite Pharmaceutical, and Legal & General America.

The new location will be a ZIPS drop location, the franchise says, which is a designation given to ZIPS Cleaners stores where customers can drop off and retrieve items closer to home. Drop stores allow ZIPS Cleaners franchisees to cover more territory, ZIPS says, without the larger investment required to equip and house a full-service processing plant.

Such scaled-down locations require smaller spaces and no major equipment investment for on-site cleaning. Instead, they receive and tag items as they’re dropped off, send them to a nearby ZIPS Cleaners plant to be cleaned, and then retrieve them for customers to return and collect. Most of these locations also typically provide on-site alterations, as will Urbana.

Kaplan owns and operates a full-service ZIPS Cleaners plant in Germantown, about 15 miles away. He is partnering with Stelter, that store’s general manager, in the new Urbana store.

“This new store’s debut will be momentous on multiple levels,” says Michael Waintraub, national director of franchise and business development for ZIPS Cleaners. “In addition to expanding our national footprint, it will bring our brand to another flourishing area of Maryland. It also represents … the growth opportunities our franchise program offers. We look forward to celebrating with them and to bringing our brand to Urbana next year.”

“I’m excited to be expanding with ZIPS,” says Kaplan. “The drop store model offers a cost-effective way for us to grow in the market and to more fully leverage our investment in equipment and labor in Germantown. Partnering with Jason makes this undertaking even more fulfilling. He’s been consistently committed to our growth and success in Germantown, and I know his expertise and efforts as co-owner in Urbana will be a true asset.”