National Clothesline

Anton’s Cleaners is hoping to help some high school girls become the “Belle of the Ball” at their high school proms by opening a free boutique of dresses on Saturday, April 30.

The program seeks to collect gently-worn prom gowns of all shapes, styles and sizes in an effort to make local students feel beautiful in a perfect dress on prom night.

In order to qualify for the program, girls must receive an invitation to participate from a coach, teacher, school counselor or other leader than can verify they need the service. Juniors and seniors who are recommended — and have a valid school I.D. — will be invited to receive a free dress and fashion consultation.

The boutique will be held from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Holmes Sports Center at Simmons College in Boston. There will be plenty of dresses to go around since Anton’s has collected gowns at all 43 of its locations in Eastern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire through mid-April.

To make sure that all donated garments are trendy, Anton’s only accepted dresses that were four years old or newer.

In all, well over 700 dresses were collected and cleaned by Anton’s.

Volunteers sorted the dresses and many will serve as personal shoppers for the students with the help from May Lou Andre of Needham, author of “Ready to Wear,” a book about the art of do-it-yourself fashion makeovers. She is also the owner of the fashion consulting firm Organization By Design.

Andre told a reporter for the Patriot Ledger: “We will help them understand about their unique body, what styles to choose to help them show off their assets. We will be helping the women pick gowns that give them the look they want.”

The “Belle of the Ball” program will also provide hair consultants and makeup experts to give the girls tips on how to create a perfect look for prom.

Participating students will additionally have chances to win gift certificates for shoe stores, restaurants, hair salons, limo rides, and other related prom-night accessories.

Anton’s received help in promoting the program from several sponsors, including Fox 25, who annually helps them with their Coats For Kids drive. Other sponsors included Graham Communications, Delta Dental, Curves, Dellaria Salons and Wow Salons.

For more information on the event, visit www.antons.com.

As drycleaners continue to face a tough, competitive market, the North East Fabricare Association wants to look for new ways to help its members.

“The number one answer when we ask members how we can help them is to send them more customers,” said Peter Blake, the association’s executive director. “While we can’t do that, we certainly can give them the tools and information they need to be more successful.”

NEFA sought to provide some of those tools with a seminar on “Unlocking the Secrets to a Successful Business” in Providence in March.

Overall, the standing room-only crowd had representatives from over 15 businesses.

Previously, NEFA had offered the same educational offering a month before in Maine.

Peter Blake, who hosted the seminar, explored how cleaners can take an in-depth look at their business — as if they are seeing it for the first time — and constantly evaluate it.

Those who attended learned how to identify their target customers and explore methods in attracting new consumers into their plants, as well as retaining their current ones.

As Blake pointed out, that’s often difficult to do when businesses believe that cutting back on marketing and advertising is the direction to go when the market slows down.

However, he emphasized the need for cleaners to look for low cost/high return marketing opportunities within their own target areas — something which NEFA can help its members accomplish by telling them how to market on a limited budget and prioritize their marketing efforts to direct their resources in the right area.

The seminar is part of an ongoing Talking Shop Seminar Series that NEFA is developing, which will offer local seminars throughout the year for its members.

As part of that program, NEFA recently presented a seminar in Haverhill, MA, on “Hazardous Communications Training: Your Employees Right-To-Know.” The well-attended event included one member in the audience who brought 16 of his employees along with him.

The cleaner felt their presence was necessary since OSHA requires that all employees be trained in the use and safety for all chemicals. NEFA suggests that new member employees attend its training program on the subject, as well as older employers who could benefit from a refresher course annually.

According to Blake, who presented the seminar, such training is something that cleaners can forget about far too easily.

“Many cleaners neglect the need for continued training,” he said, “and if OSHA knocks on their door, they will pay a heavy price. Cleaners, for the most part, try hard to comply. Most of them have a HazCom program in place, and have collected the required forms, but then it sits on the shelf as the owner moves onto his next crisis. The programs rarely get updated and adapted as things change. This is a trap that many cleaners historically fall into.”

Those who attended the training learned about written programs, labeling, chemical hazards, first aid, and exploration of the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). Additionally, NEFA explored the topics of exposure monitoring and guides on reducing exposure.

In order to assist other members with a low-cost, effective way to comply with the OSHA mandate, NEFA will soon be securing dates for the program in Portland, Maine.

Also during the coming months, NEFA hopes to offer entries in its Talking Shop series on the topic of counter training.

For more information, contact Mary White at the NEFA office at (800) 442-6848.

The Northeast Laundry Association has announced its plans for 2005, including the association’s 11th Annual Golf Outing & Spring Seminar.

The seminar will be held on Wednesday, May 11, at the Holiday Inn in Worcester, Massachusetts. Ron Evans of R.J. Evans & Associates will discuss “Customer Management Retention, Renewals, Trends and Issues.” For reservations at the hotel, call (508) 852-4000.

The following day will be reserved for relaxing on the golf course. For more information, or to register, contact the NELA office at (781) 397-8870.

Later in the year, NELA will also host its 93rd Annual Meeting & Fall Conference from Sept. 16-18 in Newport, RI. More details will be made available soon.