When William and Angie Charnes first opened up their Westbank Dry Cleaning store in Austin on April Fool’s Day in 1993, it was anything but a joke.
Some people may have laughed at the timing; others may have even questioned the
move simply because neither William or Angie had any family or experience in
the drycleaning industry — unless you count William’s three-month crash course at a Comet Cleaners plant owned by good friend Chris
Ball.
The Charnes, on the other hand, knew they had a lot going for them in their
corner and that they had a smart business plan.
In fact, the husband and wife team both brought a different set of particular
skills to the venture.
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After a couple of years, he missed his home state of Texas, so he transferred
back to Dallas. Unfortunately, three years after that, the bottom of the real
estate market dropped out.
“I was the last one in, so I was the first one given notice,” he recalled. “I was shattered. I thought Prudential was for life. I didn’t realize that they had cyclical times.”
For Prudential, William had managed about three million square feet of office
and retail space, negotiating leases and checking up on management contracts.
After being let go, he switched from handling the landlord side of the real
estate equation to the client side. His past experience and inside knowledge
proved to be valuable assets.
However, William wanted to find a way to start a business back in his hometown
of Austin, so he attended graduate school at the University of Texas.
Angie was also a native of Austin, and a graduate of the University of Texas,
although she and William attended college at separate times. She earned a
degree in broadcast journalism.
After moving to Dallas in the late 1980s, she had trouble finding work in the
field of television. Instead, she took a job at Nieman Marcus and learned many
invaluable lessons for the future.
“I think that was some of the best retail-type of training anybody could have,” she said. “That was very beneficial as far as how we try to cultivate our counter people
now.”
Angie also had a repeat clothing customer: William.
“He kept coming in and shopping more and more,” she laughed.
The couple married in 1991. Around that time, Angie worked in the sales
department for KTVT-TV in Dallas and was quite happy. Then, suddenly, William
dropped a bombshell.
“William came home one day and said he decided he wanted to open up a drycleaners
and move home to Austin,” she recalled. “We had just been married a year. It took a little while to get used to the idea.”
Fortunately, friend Chris Ball was very convincing when asked about the prospect
of owning a cleaners.
“Chris said, ‘It’s a great business, but you work harder than you’ve ever worked in your life’,” William said. “When I was in New York, I used to work six days a week, 12 hours a day. I
thought, ‘No big deal. I can work hard.’ But, owning your own business is completely different.”
Early on, the Charnes realized they needed to build a solid brand to set them
apart from other cleaners.
“Back then, franchising and branding wasn’t what it is today,” Angie said.
In the beginning, Westbank processed the drycleaning in a 1,000-sq.-ft. plant
and outsourced its laundry.
Success did not happen overnight, but the Charnes churned ahead by ascribing to
a simple, but effective business philosophy.
“We try to treat people like we want to be treated ourselves, and that comes from
Angie with Nieman Marcus,” William explained. “You know, you need to walk the clothes out to the customer. Why would you not
want to? You don’t just leave them there. If they’ve spent $60 or $80, do you just leave them there and go to the next person?
There are just things you need to do.”
Recalling her stint with Nieman Marcus, Angie was well aware that upscale
customers were accustomed to higher standards.
“People who spend the amount of money on their clothes like our customers do — when they go to a Nordstrom’s or a Nieman’s they’re waited on and the surroundings look a certain way. Everything is nice and
well-kept. The salespeople are usually well-groomed and trained. We wanted our
customers to feel like they were dropping their clothes off to be cleaned in
the same kind of place that they bought them from.”
Sometimes the simplest gestures can make the biggest impacts when it comes to
creating customer service.
It’s the little details that often stick out in a consumer’s mind long after they’ve picked up their drycleaning.
“We offer cold bottle water because it’s obviously really hot in Texas,” Angie said. “We sent our best customers Godiva chocolate and wine at Christmas... just lots
of things like that. When we know somebody who has passed away in a family, we
send flowers, acknowledge graduations and birthdays. That’s more challenging to do as we’ve gotten bigger.”
These days, Westlake has expanded to include eight drop stores, 50 employees,
and a new 10,000-sq.-ft. production facility.
To mark the company’s 15th anniversary, the Charnes celebrated with a marketing blitz that touted
their motto: “Authentically Austin. Absolutely Clean.” Many local celebrities posed for pictures for the campaign, including Roxanne
Wilson from NBC’s The Apprentice; Ava Late of BMW of Austin; and Donnie Little, a former
University of Texas quarterback.
The homespun flavor of the ads have been a hit with customers.
“We really feel honored that we got the customers that we did in the campaign,” Angie said. “The feedback we’ve gotten in town has been wonderful. We’ve had new customers come into the store just based on the endorsements of the
high-profile people that we chose.”
Of all the ideas the Charnes have come up with over the years, one has stood out
the most.
Five years ago, the couple initiated its “Project School Bell,” which donates three percent of customers’ pre-tax purchases every quarter to the school district of their choice.
“It’s K-12, and it’s for private or public schools,” William noted. “Just write your school’s name on there and we’ll donate three percent.”
The project started off small, but its popularity could not be contained.
“When we first started, we thought we were just going to do our little school
district that had maybe six or seven schools,” Angie recalled.
“The response has been huge. It’s such a loyalty program. We have over 100 schools now that we donate to every
quarter. We’ve given $58,000 in five years.”
The program has even sparked a friendly competition between schools in the area.
The Charnes update their web site regularly with grand totals donated to each
school. Visitors can simply move their mouse over each school’s link to see how much has been donated in the program.
“That page gets more traffic than any other page on our web site,” Angie laughed.
Education is of utmost importance to the Charnes. Not only is William the only
triple certified cleaner (CED, CPD, CPW) in Austin, but he and Angie often
attend all of the major management conventions. They almost always walk away
with an invaluable idea, even if sometimes they aren’t easy to implement.
Such is the case of starting a web site. Four years ago, the Charnes spent a lot
of time and money to create one that would sell their brand effectively.
“I didn’t want to do it, either,” William laughed. “I was like, ‘Why do we need to spend so much to develop a web site?’ But, it’s the branding. It’s being proactive.”
The Charnes decided if they were going to take the virtual plunge, they’d do it right. They spent a lot of time finding the best web page design
company. Then, after that, it still took over half a year to make it all a
reality.
“I took workshops during that time to make sure everything was thoroughly done,” Angie said. “You can spend $5,000 to $7,000 to get a web site and still not get everything
that you need in order to have high search engine visibility. There’s just so much involved in it.”
Just as a master spotter learns how to utilize every chemical on his board
properly, the Charnes took it upon themselves to absorb all the tips and tricks
of the Internet.
As the Charnes see it, engaging in such efforts helps to create and perpetuate a
strong, recognizable brand.
Of course, sometimes going the extra mile takes an extra minute and costs an
extra penny, but, in the end, the benefits always seem to outweigh the costs.
“I think drycleaners, as a whole, have not embraced the technology,” Angie explained.
“They think, ‘Well, my customers already come in. What do I need a web site for?’ I think it really is key because it helps communicate your message to your
existing customers, to potential customers, to bloggers, to journalists. I
think it is very imperative to have your message out there in a professional
way.”
