CHICAGO — For many years, dry cleaners could depend on piece counts and “business as usual” strategies to maintain their profitably. As society changes and customers’ needs evolve, cleaners find themselves looking for new ways to get people through the door, on the routes or otherwise engaged with their businesses.
In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the evolution of dry cleaning and diversification’s place in it, along with how Steve Rettler, owner of Minneapolis-based All Seasons Garment Care and Tailoring, has added more services in the past few years. In Part 2, we examined the choices of Tim McCann, president of Best Companies in the Albany, New York, area, who put his equipment to use outside of the cleaning industry. Today, we’ll conclude by exploring ways that diversification can offer critical advantages for dry cleaners.
The Competitive Edge
Both Rettler and McCann believe that this diversification strategy has helped them keep and gain market share in their areas of operation.
“I think it distinguishes us from our retail drycleaning competitors,” Rettler says.
“If a customer comes in, we don’t have to tell them, ‘Sorry, we can’t clean that for you.’ Instead, we can tell them, ‘We’re going to take care of it, whatever it is — pick any of the services that we do.’ It’s really helpful to not have to turn away things, something that other companies would have to because they’re not focused on it, or it’s not part of their wheelhouse.”
“It gives me space and time to be patient,” McCann says, “which isn’t necessarily the case for everyone. If I had just one of the companies, I would be under different pressures at different times. The diversification has allowed me time and space to be patient with each opportunity.”
Part of the success of such endeavors is having the right team in place who either know how to perform different aspects of the services offered, or can learn.
“I have a director of HR who is phenomenal at both culture and training,” McCann says. “Each of our team members begins with a very straightforward onboarding process. We do hire and fire for culture fit.”
Because Best Companies has around 280 employees across the three businesses, McCann believes there is room for people to find the position that best suits their talents and where they have the most to offer.
“Every team member gets a ‘passport,’” he says, “which basically says what training modules they have completed successfully. That passport is how they grow their career and get to where they want to go within the company.”
This ability to “find your place” within the company has also worked well for Rettler.
“We are always in the search of finding quality people,” he says, “and I’ve been very fortunate that we have had good retention. We foster growth in positions, so if somebody wants to learn something, or if they want to transfer and do something different, we encourage that. We also look for skill sets in the company. We believe in elevating our people, and we’re willing to train people.
“We’re fortunate to have a good foundation of people who have been in the business for a long time and who can mentor and provide training for those new to our business.”
Parting Advice
So, what should dry cleaners consider if they want to expand their offerings to serve their customers and minimize the risk of dropping piece counts at their stores?
“We have to offer the consumer what they want,” says Dawn Avery, executive director of the National Cleaners Association (NCA). “We all live in different areas, and every area is different. So, figure out what your consumers want, and then offer that to them. You can get stale if you don’t diversify. You can get outdated. In order to stay up to date, you have to add new services, and let your people know that you can do more for them.”
McCann believes that the traditional drycleaning relationship is quite powerful.
“I think that households and clientele that use traditional retail dry cleaning have built a trust with their cleaner. They’re giving us the things that they spend time and money choosing and, in a lot of cases, clothing is a representation of the individual. I think that trust can turn into (performing) household services. I think it can turn into both interior and exterior services. I think lawn care might be a smart add-on — it’s very similar in terms of both the employee base and the type of effort that is necessary to give the customer proper care.”
“You have to look at opportunity and come at it from a positive mindset,” Rettler says. “I think people get bogged down into projecting all the problems and issues that might come with diversification. If you do that, you can get into a paralysis mode, because you get overwhelmed with the possibility of everything that could go wrong.
“A lot of being an entrepreneur is just taking on challenges that might have risks, but having the mindset of ‘I’m going to do everything I can to make this work.’”
For Part 1, click HERE. For Part 2, click HERE.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].
