National Clothesline

IFI members should have noticed a new look to Fabricare, the institute’s monthly magazine.

Looking to make Fabricare as useful to IFI’s membership as possible, IFI CEO and Fabricare publisher Bill Fisher sat down last winter with IFI’s Communications Department, including Jay Calleja, vice president of communications, Harry A. Kimmel III, senior editor, and Kevin J. Kohler, assistant editor, and with Bridget Brown, publications designer, to discuss giving the

magazine a fresh look and enhancing its content.

“Reading Fabricare has always been time well spent. Nonetheless, we’ve put our heads together to create changes in an attempt to make sure all our members open the magazine every month, read it, and become the best informed cleaners around,” said Fisher. “We think we’ve succeeded.”

Fabricare Resources: The Fabricare Journal of Technical Information, which is published in Fabricare every other month, is undergoing changes as well that should result in more bulletins and a shorter, easier-to-read format.

Early changes began to be incorporated into Fabricare in February. The new look officially debuted with April’s issue, which has the cover story “Getting on Top of the CASHual Wear Market,” and a free poster promoting the professional cleaning of casual wear.

Among the changes are four pages of practical tips, expanding the popular one-page “Ask the Expert” department to four pages of “Quick Tips” including: “Ask the Expert ” and a page each of chemicals and spotting tips, equipment and production tips, and computer and business office tips.

IFI approached some of the industry’s top experts, and for the first time, Fabricare will include guest columnists such as Darcy Moen and Dennis McCrory writing on marketing and branding issues and Henry and Jan Parker who will provide information on compliance efforts in the plant. Small business expert Steve Strauss will continue to address reader questions in his newly named “Talking Business” column.

In addition, IFI’s members can expect to see more plant profiles, particularly international operations, while “Local Happenings” will provide quick information on events and items of concern from regional associations.

The Wedding Gown Specialists Association held a three-day conference on technology and marketing for 2006 in Williamsburg, VA.

Jason Swathwood of The Perfect Wedding Guide was the featured speaker. He told the group that the best approach to marketing is a mix of venues that each tell the bride what is unique about gown preservations. Swathwood warned, “If you do not have a web site, you might as well unplug your telephone or start burning $20 bills. These days the internet can account for as much as 75 percent of your wedding gown business, and if you do not have a website, you miss out on 100 percent of it.”

Public relations expert Carol Beaugard told the group that an opinion aired on television or radio is perceived as fact by the listeners. The media, she said, is all about spin and she shared her secret: five percent creativity, five percent pitch and 90 percent follow-up.

“It is free,” she said. “So be the one who gets the coverage because you are the one who is willing to do the hard work.”

Martie Duncan, vice president of WeddingPoints.com, spoke on the value of changing customer buying habits with loyalty programs. The program is now available in the United States and soon will be in Canada.

Other speakers and topics included Ken Grippi of Dependable Cleaners in Boston, MA, on customer training; Linda Stokes-Barth of Barth’s Cleaning Centre in Orangeville, ON, on vendor networking; and Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D., of Orange Restoration Labs in Orange, CT, on cleaning strategies for vintage textiles.

Attendees included Mike Maloney and Kara McDonald of Nu Yale Cleaners and Laundry in Jeffersonville, IN; Darlene Robinson of Classic Cleaners in Temple, TX; Joe Lancaster of Coral Gables Dry Cleaning in Coral Gables, FL; and Greg Myers of Southside Cleaners in Lakeland, FL. Lancaster and Myers are new members of the association, which has members located across the United States and Canada and in Australia and South America. Each member honors the guarantee of other members, which includes taking the gown out of the container and pressing it at no charge when it is to be worn again.

For brides outside the market areas with local service, the association offers AWGS courier service which makes the association’s trademarked MuseumCare gown preservations available by telephone and the internet.

More than 70 specialty gown manufacturers now recommend MuseumCare preservations, which are also endorsed by the Association of Bridal Consultants and by National Bridal Service.

For more information on training and membership, call the AWGS office, (800) 501-5005, visit the web site www.weddinggownspecialists.com, or meet the group’s representatives at the Clean Show in booth 572.

The Southeastern Independent Distributors Association has changed its name to Cleaners Care Group.

The group is comprised of the following companies: Allyson Supply, Fuller Supply, Garland Supply, Mobile Solvent, Norton Supply, Nu-Way Products, Southern States, Sun State Supply and Tschopp Supply.

The name change reflects the expansion of the organization beyond its original geographical area. Distributor members assist and support each other through an exchange of information, ideas and technology to better serve the individual needs of customers.

DSPS, Inc., a subsidiary company of Amalind SpA, Italy, and Biotech Inc., will market and sell drycleaning machines together in the United States under their respective brand names of BioClean, Lindus, AMA Universal, Fluormatic Blue Tiger and PureDry.

In working together, BioClean and AMALIND distributors will benefit from a range of professional drycleaning machines including perc, hydrocarbon, PureDry, two- and three-tank hard-mount and high-speed extract, soft-mount to meet the needs of all sizes of drycleaning establishments.

The companies will remain independent of each other except for sales and marketing, which will be handled by DSPS, Inc. Biotech Inc. will continue to support BioClean distributors with product information, sales and service assistance.

Biotech Inc. will introduce a new drycleaning machine at Clean ’05 in June.

Expo 2005, sponsored by Steiner-Atlantic, drew more than 800 drycleaning and laundry operators and other attendees from the southeastern United States, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Manufacturers from around the world were on hand to demonstrate products and answer questions during the two-day event at Steiner-Atlantic’s 55,000-sq.-ft. headquarters.

Seminars were held on a variety of topics concerning the drycleaning and laundry industry, with something of interest to the range of attendees which included retail drycleaners, coin laundry operators and institutional, hospital and hotel managers.

“We wanted to do something different,” explained Bill Steiner, host of the exposition. “We decided to keep it down to earth and deal with real problems faced every day. to keep it exciting and moving fast, we asked manufacturers and vendors To provide lots of show specials.”

Drycleaners from all over the United States attended a “Build Your Buzz… Building Your Brand” conference hosted by Methods for Management Inc. in Las Vegas.

Members from six MFM Management Bureaus spent three days discussing ideas to build their businesses and strengthen their brands. The conference focused on strategies to build a comprehensive marketing plan, maximize the effectiveness of routes and calculate the increased value of a business as brand recognition grows.

Deborah Rechnitz, MFM’s managing director, said “We believe that creating unique points of differences between yourself and your competitors is critical to ongoing success. Our entire program was designed to show our clients how to create distinctive advantages through marketing and financial performance.”

One speaker focused on “Sharpening Your Vision” and explained how good design is good customer service. He provided a perspective from previous customers including the Coca Cola Co., L.L. Bean, Petco and the Vans Shoe Co. Emphasis was placed on building an image to create the best retail experience for the customer.

MFM members also participated in a workshop on creating a comprehensive marketing plan. “A comprehensive marketing plan is an important step in your efforts to create a passion for your brand in the hearts and minds of your customers,” said Diana Vollmer, Methods for Management consultant.

Other sessions included “Strengthening Your Brand Through Acquisition and Divestitures” and “Route Development — Best Practices.”

The Dexter Company has announce several organizational changes within its laundry operation.

Jim Freeze has been appointed senior vice president, Laundry Operations, reporting to Patrick D. Albregts, president and CEO of The Dexter Company. Freeze will have full responsibility for all aspects of the laundry operation including sales, marketing, manufacturing, purchasing, engineering and quality.

He joined Dexter in 2000 when the company acquired Partners Leasing Inc. and the R.J. Kool Co. (now known as Dexter Financial Services and Century Laundry Distributing). In his new role, Freeze will focus on team-building, strengthening distribution, and product and technological innovation.

Andy Kretz has been appointed vice president of sales, marketing and customer service, Laundry Operations, and will report to Freeze. Kretz will continue to have full responsibility for all aspects of laundry sales, marketing and customer service as well as responsibility for Century Laundry Distributing in Cedar Rapids, IA.

He joined Dexter in 2002 after many years in the laundry industry.

Jim Billingsley has been appointed vice president of engineering and quality, Laundry Operations and will also report to Freeze. He will continue to have full responsibility for all aspects of laundry engineering and quality and will lead the company’s efforts to deliver new products to market.

He is a 32-year veteran of The Dexter Company and a member of its Board of Directors.

Tony Praza has been appointed vice president of manufacturing and purchasing, Laundry Operations, and will report to Freeze. Praza will continue to have full responsibility for all aspects of laundry manufacturing and purchasing and will lead efforts to increase efficiency into the laundry production operation through implementation of lean manufacturing techniques. He has been with Dexter since 2003.

Frank Fritz has been appointed vice president of finance, secretary and treasurer, and will report to Patrick D. Albregts, president and CEO. He will continue to have responsibility for leading the corporate financial organization at Dexter. Since joining Dexter in 1994, he has held various positions of increasing responsibility in the finance department.

Commented Albregts, “Under the direction of Jim Freeze, our laundry organization is in a strong position to continue to gain market share and strengthen its position in the industry. These five senior managers have and will continue to play an important role in our success.”