National Clothesline

Wedding Gown Preservation Co. has acquired Allied Heirlooms of Picayune, MS.

Allied’s operations have been moved to a new production facility in Endicott. NY. Allied’s customers will continue with the current pricing structure.

Wedding Gown Preservation Co., privately owned by Michael and Sue Schapiro, has specialized in the preservation and restoration of wedding gowns since 1913 when Michael Schapiro’s grandparents, Joseph and Sara Schapiro, started the service. Wedding Gown Preservation Co. currently services the United States, Guam and Puerto Rico.

Wedding Gown Preservation designed a kit program that it retails to bridal shops, drycleaners and formal shops that allows authorized dealers to sell the preservation as a retail item. The company provides each dealer with marketing materials and a display rack to showcase the preservation kit. A bride who purchases the kit then sends her gown directly to the company for preservation. The gowns are shipped back to the bride within two to six weeks.

The company can be reached by phone at (800) 305-3108 or on the web at www.gownpreservation.com.

Sankosha Engineering Co., Ltd signed a purchase agreement on June 10 to acquire certain intellectual property, including the “Ajax” trademark and trade name, associated with the Ajax pressing and finishing equipment product line of Alliance Laundry Systems LLC, in Ripon WI.

Under terms of the agreement, no manufacturing facilities, employees or existing financial obligations were included in the transaction. As part of the purchase agreement, Alliance will continue to sell its existing inventories of Ajax products for a limited period of time. The company also will provide replacement parts and service its Ajax products for an undisclosed period of time.

Sankosha has aggressively developed sales in the international market outside of Japan since 1993, beginning with shirt finishing equipment, followed by its garment tensioning/finishing line and, most recently, its auto and semi-auto bagging systems.

Sankosha’s current group-wide goal has been to complete its product line for the North American market and to further develop the international laundry market.

In this purchase of the Ajax brand and product line from Alliance, Sankosha expects to strengthen its sales to the drycleaning sector with a wider spectrum of products while continuing to develop the laundry sector.

Sankosha Engineering Co., Ltd., Sankosha Co., Ltd., and Sankosha USA, Inc., make up the Sankosha Group. Sankosha Engineering Co., Ltd., the manufacturing arm of the group, is under the leadership of Mitsuyuki Uchikoshi, the founder and CEO of the Sankosha Group. Yusuke Uchikoshi, president of Sankosha Engineering Co., Ltd. and president of Sankosha Co., Ltd., spearheaded the acquisition of the Ajax brand.

Sankosha products are marketed worldwide under the Sankosha brand through a network of trained customer-service oriented distributors. The company’s products include single and double buck shirt units, form finishers, pant toppers, automated bagging systems, tensioning equipment and, more recently, laundry and drycleaning presses.

Alliance Laundry Systems LLC is a North American manufacturer of commercial laundry products, including washers and dryers for light commercial and consumer and large front-loading washers, heavy duty tumbler dryers, and finishing equipment for heavy commercial use. The company also provides services for laundromats, multi-housing laundries and on-premise laundries. The company’s products are sold under the well-known brand names Speed Queen, UniMac, and Huebsch.

Summitsoft Corp., publisher of wedding planner software, has awarded distributor status to the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists.

Summitsoft, a software firm based in Omaha, NE., designed its wedding planning software with help from leaders in the wedding industry, including AWGS. The company expects the software to be available in more than 8,000 retail outlets this summer.

The planner features the association’s logo, links to the association’s web site and includes a gift certificate for gown preservation that can be redeemed with participating association members.

AWGS will also be featured on www.PlanWeddingDay.com, a web site tied to the Wedding Planner software.

Association members viewed a demonstration of the planner at a group meeting earlier this year and have been featuring Wedding Planner as part of their displays at bridal markets, including the National Bridal Market in Chicago and the WeddingChannel Couture Show in New York.

“Our members have very close ties with bridal consultants, bridal salons and many other wedding professionals and wedding venues,” noted Marty E. Wade, president of the association. “This new relationship helps Summitsoft penetrate a very specific segment of the bridal market.”

Bruce Lowry, president and CEO of Summitsoft, said the Wedding Planner let engaged couples control every aspect of their wedding.

“Although magazines and web sites are an incredible resource for newly engaged couples, there is still nothing out there that successfully combines wedding resources with comprehensive planning tools,” he said.

For information about the Wedding Planner or the association, call (800) 501-5005.

Joel Dampier retired on May 31 after 22 years with Phenix Supply Co.

In 1990 he, Gary Akins, James Hartley, and Robbie Freeman formed a management team that along with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) purchased Phenix Supply in October of that year.

Dampier began his career in the laundry and drycleaning industry in 1948, working with his father in their drycleaning plant in Valdosta, GA. Later, he attended college at Georgia State University in Atlanta, while managing a drycleaning store at the same time.

After serving in the U.S. Army, he went to work with Signal Chemical, becoming regional manager, and stayed on with the company after it was sold to Wyandotte Chemical, then to BASF, and finally to Caled Chemical.

During his 22 years with Phenix Supply he started out as assistant to then general manager Frank Parker and ultimately became vice president in 1987.

After almost 60 years in the industry, he has decided to spend more time with his family and real estate ventures, as well as his love and passion of flying. He will remain on the board of directors for Phenix Supply.

Brian Kinney has been named software developer for the Certified Restoration Drycleaning Network and Kimberly Bingham has joined CRDN’s corporate office as legal administrator.

Kinney will handle the ongoing development and implementation of RestorNet, the organization’s proprietary Internet-based information system. Previously he spent seven years as a systems analyst specialist with Convergys Corporation where he specialized in software and database development for the firm’s General Motors OnStar Account and was responsible for call centers in Michigan, North Carolina, and Manila, Philippines.

Kinney earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where he graduated with concentration in econometrics, business cycles, and statistics.

Bingham will be responsible for generating and executing legal documentation related to franchisees and administering registration credentials for the United States and Canada. Prior to joining CRDN, she worked as a senior case manager at Behavioral Interventions, Inc., in Seattle, WA. She specialized in probation case management and staff management, while representing the probation office in court room appearances.

Prior to her move to Michigan, Bingham attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, and achieved a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, MI.

CRDN is an international organization of textile restoration specialists. The organization’s web site is www.CRDN.com.

CTS has purchased thegarment cover machinery of United Wire Hanger, which stopped making garment covers as of June 30.

CTS moved the equipment to its Covington, KY, facility, adding to its existing garment cover manufacturing equipment, and plans to have it up and running in August.

CTS also acquired all UWH’s garment cover printing plates as well. Customers can send their garment cover orders to CTS which will be able to pull the printing plates and schedule regular production.

CTS is located at 1730 Russell Street, Covington, KY 41011; phone (859) 291-5700 or (800) 292-5701, fax (859) 291-5786 or e-mail sales@ctspkg.com. The company’s web site is www.ctspkg.com.