CHICAGO — While the competition for Best Plant Design was stiff in spite of a recessionary building bust, American Drycleaner is pleased to announce that Hallak Cleaners in Hackensack, N.J., is the Grand Prize winner in its 50th annual Plant Design Awards.
Hallak’s New Jersey production plant got a comprehensive overhaul to expand capacity last year, earning the family-owned operation top honors. Incredibly, the operation’s only production facility—serving six routes in New York and New Jersey and a thriving storefront in Manhattan—never shut down during the four-month project.
“We never stopped working,” says vice president Joe Hallak. “Sometimes, we’d be here until 5:00 in the morning. I’m not saying it wasn’t painful to do, but the pain of not having the revenue would have been worse.”
Taking Special Honors in this year’s awards are Siena Cleaners in Giddings, Texas (Outstanding Reconstruction), and Down to Earth Dry Cleaners in Laramie, Wyo. (Outstanding New Build).
Six plants took Merit Awards this year: Dubin Cleaners & Laundry, Farmington Hills, Mich.; Encore Cleaners, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Image Cleaners, Plano, Texas; J. Carl Cleaners, Carrollton, Ga.; Sunset Cleaners, Lutz, Fla.; and Weldon Cleaners; Overland Park, Kan.
Congratulations to the winners! Watch for more details on each operation in the days to come and the January issue of American Drycleaner.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].