National Clothesline

Davis Imperial Cleaners was named “Best Couture Dry Cleaner in Chicago” by Chicago magazine in its August 2007 issue.

One of only 132 companies named in the magazine’s annual listing of “the best of the best,” Davis Imperial Cleaners was recognized as “the drycleaner you can trust with your finest duds.”

“Chicagoans with couture dresses in distress have been known to take their soiled finery all the way to New York City to have stains removed at Madame Paulette, the legendary drycleaner on the Upper East Side, ” the magazine noted. “But those in the know entrust their best garments to Davis Imperial Cleaners, a 51-year-old family-owned business on the far Northwest Side that takes a serious, technical approach to restoring delicate fabrics, leather, and furs. ”

In addition to its recognition by Chicago magazine, Davis Imperial Cleaners is the only drycleaner in Chicago to be recognized by Vogue magazine, was listed in Esquire magazine ’s “Big Black Book Style Manual for Successful Men” and was noted as a “Top Notch Cleaner” on Fox News.

The company is also a five-star member of Leading Cleaners Internationale, an Award of Excellence cleaner in both 2006 and 2007 and an Illinois Gold Star cleaner.

Davis Imperial Cleaners was founded by Leona and Bernard Davis, parents of Lynda Wood who, with her husband Rick, owns and operates the company today.

“Our drycleaners are certified professionals,” Lynda Wood said. “This means that we understand that exceptional garments require exceptional care. That is why our highly trained professionals receive ongoing education. ”

“Being a Platinum Member of the National Cleaners Association affords us the opportunity to take part in all of the NCA ’s training sessions, including on-site consulting and all certification courses and training CD ROMs, ” she added.

Platinum members of NCA receive enrollment in select NCA classes and seminars, access to all NCA webinars, a wetcleaning training CD ROM, a technical training at the counter DVD and customized consumer and retailer PowerPoint presentations. They can also download NCA training manuals and handbooks, receive six free garment analyses per year and three hours of on-site consulting and VIP Status at all NCA events and secret shopping service via phone.

Marcos Teran has joined Pariser Industries as area manager for the New York City, Westchester and the southern Connecticut region.

Teran has more than 20 years of experience in institutional healthcare management including laundry and housekeeping supervision at Cabrini Medical Center of New York and contract management supervision at Crothall Services Group.

“Marcos brings with him a commitment to detail and customer satisfaction, a welcome and valuable addition to our sales and service team, ” said Scott Pariser, president of Pariser Industries.

The Certified Restoration Drycleaning Network (CRDN) has promoted Travis Bingham to director of operations and Nancy Grott to national operations manager.

Bingham will be responsible for expanding and managing CRDN’s team of National Operations Managers who work directly with the organization’s franchisees.

Bingham previously served as a national operations manager, where he assisted CRDN franchisees with growing their businesses. He joined CRDN’s operations team in 2002 and was promoted to regional field manager in 2003.

Grott will work directly with the organization’s franchisees, assisting them with the launch and ongoing growth of their business.

Grott previously served as director of training for CRDN, where she coordinated training programs for new CRDN business owners and sales representatives. She joined CRDN in 2004 after spending 12 years with a national retail franchise in a corporate training capacity.

CRDN is an international organization of textile restorers who specialize in insurance restoration laundry and drycleaning services for all types of loss. CRDN currently operates in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

Evans Garment Restoration, LLC has implemented an improvement in its inventory control system.

The company now attaches custom bar-coded tags to all the garments and textiles that it takes in for cleaning and deodorizing following smoke or water damage.

In the past, one of the most significant policyholder complaints concerning garment restoration was that clients didn ’t receive all their items back or received items that did not belong to them.

Evans had already had systems that bag and sort every job separately, a robotic bagging machine that seals drycleaning bags so that no items are lost during storage, and an advanced computerized tracking system that allows access to any job at any time.

“The new bar coded garment tags allow us to take inventory control to a whole new level ”, says Mike Rusciolelli, president of Evans Garment Restoration, LLC. “The tags are made of a special synthetic material and identify the job name, the item description and the claim number. Each item is scanned at each step in the restoration process to assure total control of every item on every claim. This way, if an item is misplaced, we know what type of item it is, where it was last scanned and can easily locate it. And, the system integrates perfectly with Assured Software ’s JPP software.”

Evans specializes 100 percent in garment restoration and does no retail drycleaning or laundry work of any kind. Every Evans plant has plenty of space, specialized equipment and systems dedicated to insuring that the policyholder has all their items returned once the job is completed.

For information, call Sandra Oates, (888) 653-8267, or visit DRDN’s web site at www.evansgarmentrestoration.com.

National Cleaners Association members who participate in NCA’s New York State Workers’ Compensation Safety Group received a 30 percent return on the manual premium earned for the policy year that ended June 1, 2006.

“This dividend is evidence of the success of the New York State Insurance Fund's safety group program in general, and the NCA Safety Group #442 in particular, ” said Nora Nealis, NCA executive director. “Credit for this dividend belongs to the group members and to their safety group manager, Lovell Safety Management. ”

The dividend, along with the 20 percent advanced discount that some members receive, represented a 50 percent return on members ’ premiums, Nealis noted.

The State Insurance Fund is a not-for-profit agency of the State of New York that was established in 1914 to provide a guaranteed source of workers' compensation insurance coverage at the lowest possible cost to New York employers. Despite its state agency status, SIF is a self-supporting insurance carrier that competes with private insurers.

The NCA Safety Group with the State Insurance Fund has been in existence for more than 55 years and has always paid dividends, ranging from 10 to 50 percent.

Last February, a contingent of NCA drycleaners and allied tradespeople visited Albany legislators in support of workers compensation reform as part of the association-sponsored Albany Day.

For more information on this group, call Barbara Richards at the NCA office, (800) 888-1622.

The Coin Laundry Association acknowledged contributions from its members during an industry award ceremony at the Clean Show in Las Vegas

The Founders Award, the top honor presented by CLA, went to Gary Gray and John Hooper.

Gray’s business acumen in the areas of accounting, finance and insurance had a powerful impact on the way CLA operates. His expertise as a multiple-store owner was often called upon to expand the association ’s knowledge of profitable laundry operations.

Hooper was recognized for creating the New England Coin Laundry Association, a group with which he has been involved for more than 40 years.

His effort and enthusiasm are directly responsible for NECLA’s emergence as a premier CLA affiliate.

As the creator of the first card payment system for self-service laundries and the operation of a chain of stores beginning in the 1950s, he and Salem Laundry Co. have made a lasting impression on the industry.

Ron Lane captured the 2007 Member of the Year award due to his efforts to recruit new members. He is also considered to be one of the association ’s top-ranked speakers.

The Richard H. Torp Memorial Excellence in Education Award went to Bill Gilbert, who has presented numerous seminars to share his insights with peers.

Other award recipients included the following:

Bob Eisenberg and Dan Naumann; Chairman’s Award.

Gary Gray, Bob Eisenberg, Jim McNutt and Pat Sullivan; Distinguished Service Award.

Dan Naumann and Kenny Wells; Outstanding Director.

Mike Floyd, Evan Hirsch, Bob Meuschke, Tom Rhodes and Jim Whitmore; Leadership Award.

Florida Coin Laundry Association; Outstanding Affiliate Award.









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