Dry Cleaning and Laundry Facilities

Laundry and dry cleaning services in the US are provided by 30,000 companies with combined annual revenue of $20 billion. Large companies include Coinmach Service and Martin Franchises. The industry includes 20,000 companies that provide retail laundry and dry cleaning services, 9,000 that provide services through coin-operated laundromats, and about 1,000 that provide commercial/industrial laundry services. The industry is highly fragmented: the 50 largest firms hold only about 40 percent of the market.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is related to growth in consumer income. The profitability of individual companies depends on efficient operations and favorable store locations. Large companies have efficiencies of scale in centralized cleaning operations. Small companies can compete successfully by owning favorable locations or providing special services. The industry is labor-intensive: average annual revenue per employee is just $60,000.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Major products are consumer dry cleaning services, commercial laundry services, and coin-operated laundry services. Retail dry cleaning stores account for 40 percent of industry revenue, commercial launderers for 30 percent, and coin-operated laundromats for 15 percent. The additional remaining 15 percent of industry revenue consists of shoe and clothing repair services and washing machine "route" operators who service machines in apartments.

Retail dry cleaning operations consist of collecting and tagging clothing, operating the actual dry cleaning machinery either on the retail premises or at central facilities that serve a number of stores, and pressing, bagging, and returning clothing to customers. Average annual ...