CHICAGO — It was January 1962 when Tremont Cleaners, Upper Arlington, Ohio, received the Grand Prize in American Drycleaner’s 1st Plant Design Awards. The plant was situated in a small shopping center, and the judges were impressed by its overall workflow and layout.
When the 20-by-170-foot plant could no longer keep up with business, the owners leased another 7,000 square feet, converting the original space into a shirt laundry and housing a 40-pound drycleaning machine in the rear. The store front featured large plate-glass windows and a stone veneer, with an 8-foot canopy suspended over the sidewalk.
Flash forward to 2015 and the announcement of the 54th Grand Prize Winner, Wooven, Pompano Beach, Fla. It took owners Vladimir and Elena Samofalov a year to find the right location for their European-style vision, an 8,000-square-foot production plant that is almost entirely white from floor to ceiling (see photo) to evoke an environment of cleanliness.
Beginning today, American Drycleaner is accepting entries to find the next Grand Prize Winner in its annual Plant Design Awards competition.
“Have you recently built an entirely new drycleaning plant or renovated your existing plant to have a fresh look and improved efficiency?” asks Bruce Beggs, editorial director for American Drycleaner. “Enter your plant now for the chance to win one of our industry’s most prestigious honors.”
To nominate a plant for consideration, fill out and submit the online entry form HERE.
Beggs advises plant owners to fill out the form completely and upload a full layout (blueprint or sketch) and several high-quality photos (300 dpi digital files are preferred, but color prints will also suffice) showing off the features that make the entry plant an excellent place to do business.
“And include any information you believe is relevant to the way your plant’s design attracts customers and fulfills your production needs,” he says. “The more detailed your entry, the better!”
American Drycleaner will accept entries until Friday, Oct. 2. Winners will be announced in the magazine’s first issue of 2016 and on this website.
Plant owners entering the competition are instructed to contact Beggs ([email protected]) to confirm their Plant Design Awards entry has been received. He can also be reached at 312-361-1683.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].