Zoots adds routes with acquisition
Zoots continued its expansion into southeastern Pennsylvania with the purchase
last month of the routes of the venerable Wharton Cleaners, a staple of the
Mainline Philadelphia business area for decades.
With the acquisition, a three-generation family business that was started as a
tailoring shop by Harry Harootunian in 1921 comes to an end. While one of the
three Wharton
’s stores will continue under different ownership, the other two will be closed.
Zoots hopes to convert Wharton
’s in-store customers to route customers, adding to the existing route customers
acquired from Wharton
’s.
Wharton’s counted many long-time customers among its clientele. At an anniversary
celebration several years ago, the company held a reception to honor some of
those long-time customers. The record-holder was a physician who had been
bringing his clothes to Wharton
’s for over 50 years — since his days as a medical student.
The company itself had college-campus beginnings. The original location was on
the campus of the University of Pennsylvania; the name Wharton
’s was borrowed from the university’s Wharton School of Business.
Harry Harootunian’s son, Ed, grew up in that shop and eventually took over the business, moving it
to its suburban Mainline location in 1960 where it featured the then-novelty of
a drive-through for pick-up and drop-off. Ed retired in 1994, the same year he
completed a term on the International Fabricare Institute board of directors,
leaving the business in the hands of his son, Paul, and his brother, Karnig,
who ran the adjacent formal wear business.
Wharton’s began its route service in 1995, then added a second plant and store with an
acquisition of a West Chester, PA, cleaners in 1999, then added another store
in Malvern, PA. Routes have been operating from all three locations, spreading
through Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties in Pennsylvania.
“We chose Zoots because of their commitment to quality, customer service and the
environment,
” said Paul Harootunian. “We were also impressed with the fact that Zoots is the national leader in home
delivery, serving over 200 communities, and the recipient of more than 100 best
drycleaner awards.
“After seven consecutive years as recipients of the Main Line Life ‘Best of Life’ award for drycleaning, it was important to us that our customers’ high expectations continue to be met,” he said.
Paul says he now has no plans for the future, other than to take some time off.
Zoots, meanwhile, has big plans to extend its service throughout the
Philadelphia area. In 2005 the company entered the area with the acquisition of
Monarch Cleaners with its main plant in Camden, NJ, five retail stores and
seven home delivery routes. All Zoots cleaning in the Philadelphia area is
funneled through the Camden plant which, as of March 1, converted its cleaning
operations from DF2000 to GreenEarth solvent.
On its web site and in its advertising, Zoots touts itself as a “perc-free” cleaner. That status brought the company recognition from Inc. Magazine as one
of
“The Green 50,” defined as “entrepreneurial companies that are showing what it means to run good businesses,
attack the most pressing problems of our time
— and make serious cash along the way.”
Since it was founded in 1998 by Todd Krasnow and Tom Stemberg, creators of
Staples office supply stores, Zoots has expanded steadily up and down the East
Coast and into Ohio. The company now has 78 retails stores and more than 115
delivery routes. Services include carpet cleaning, water restoration, smoke and
fire restoration and garment cleaning for premium hotels, military bases and
sporting venues.
