When Gary McCracken was 18 years old, he found himself running a drycleaning
plant with absolutely no experience. He didn’t have a plan, but he did know that he was willing to work hard in order to keep
his company open for business.
Now, almost 30 years later, that same business never closes. It’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week — a new strategy he has employed to try to stay in the forefront of an industry
that has changed immensely in the past three decades.
Back in 1979, his father was involved in commercial real estate and decided to
invest in a mom-and-pop plant that was listed for sale.
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Gary would be the workhorse of the partnership for a two-year run to see how the
investment — Chief Latah Cleaners — would pan out. The plant had two-and-a-half employees (a tailor worked only
part-time) and a lot of room for improvement.
“I showed up my first day on the job about an hour and a half after the store had
opened, when I was told to be there,” Gary recalled. “The two ladies that were working at the cleaners were both sitting in the middle
of the cleaners, in the middle of clothes hanging all around, both smoking a
cigarette. Those ladies were my first trainers. Needless to say, I got off to
what could be considered a rocky start. I was on the whirlwind trip of running
a small business.”
Gary began enforcing plant rules and worked long days to try and learn
everything he could about cleaning.
“I’d start up on the spotting board, and I learned to press. Then, I’d run the delivery route during the middle of the day. I’d come back and mark in all the clothes that had come in over the counter and on
the delivery route, help finish assembly, then we’d begin cleaning and spotting for the next day. They next day, we’d pick up the ball and do it all over again,” he said. “I learned from every mistake. I only repeated a few of them.”
By the time the two-year run came to an end, Gary knew he had found his calling.
Around then, he changed the name of the company to Clothesline Cleaners and was determined to expand its scope.
In a few years, they moved their operations into a larger location at Orchard
and Franklin. The ideal corner location was too good to pass up.
“We were forced to take 2,400 sq. ft.,” Gary noted. “The intent was that we would sublet the back end out because we felt at that
time that 2,400 sq. ft. was more space than we really needed to run a small
plant.”
As it turned out, Gary had vastly underestimated the needs of his plant,
especially when a series of Forest Fires broke out in the summer of 1988 at
Yellowstone National Park.
Clothesline Cleaners was awarded a contract with the Interagency Fire Center to
care and clean for all the sleeping bags and clothing that people were
utilizing on the fire lines. The extra 1,200 sq. ft. back end of space on the
property was now a necessity.
“We ended up filling that back room with sleeping bags,” Gary recalled. “At one time, we had well over 1,000 bags in that room, and we were picking up
and delivering between 110-125 every day, and we ran 24 hours a day for a
36-day period.”
The demand was so great, that many bags were farmed out to competitors who were
willing to honor Clothesline’s prices.
“It was a huge contract, but it really sustained us in the beginning of opening
up that new store, and by the time that we finished with that fire season, we
had already ramped up our regular business,” Gary explained. “We never got close to letting that space.”
When it comes to remaining successful in the drycleaning industry, one of they
key components is adaptation.
Hard work was enough in the beginning for Gary to keep Clothesline Cleaners
afloat, but he needed to rethink some of his business strategies to stay on top
of his market.
The plant has come a long way since the days where employees smoked alongside
the very clothes they were cleaning.
These days, Clothesline boasts the only two Certified Professional Drycleaners
(CPD) in the state of Idaho (one belongs to Gary), and they were the ninth
company in the nation to be bestowed originally with DLI’s Award of Excellence back in 2006.
“Just the spotting test is a challenge,” Gary admitted. “but you have to be affiliated with different organizations in the industry, too.
You have to be an active drycleaner. You have to be a good drycleaner and a
good business person to qualify.”
About eight years ago, Gary had an eye-opening experience that made him realize
his company still had a lot of room for improvement. He credits joining two
management bureaus for helping him turn things around: Dry Cleaning Computer
Systems and Methods For Management.
“Eight years ago, you would have been talking to an owner/operator, a person who
was proud of his accomplishments, proud of his abilities on the spotting board
and the press and the delivery trucks,” Gary said. “But, you wouldn’t have been talking to a business owner. There’s a big difference.”
Gary learned to analyze his business, instead of spending time on the spotting
board. After all, he could hire somebody else to excel at cleaning, but nobody
would be more motivated than he to run his business.
When it comes to keeping loyal customers, Gary subscribes to a belief that
convenience is of utmost importance.
He has offered free pickup and delivery routes since his first day on the job,
and it has long accounted for 70 percent of his volume.
However, Clothesline recently has added some upgrades to make their services
even more compelling to consumers.
“We’re moving in a new direction now,” Gary noted. “We’re open 24-7. We never close, literally, with the opportunity for our customers
to use our automated conveyor system.”
The MetalProgetti unit has been nicknamed the “Red Box” by its owner, who claims it is only the second of its kind in use in the U.S.
“It allows customers to begin their original transaction at the box with a credit
card, and fully set up their own file — and never require them to come into the store. They can drop off dirty cleaning
as a stranger to our system.
When they come back and pick it up, of course, they are no longer a stranger.
Their card and file is recognized. Their clothes are on the line. And, they can
do all of this anytime.”
The new Red Box system is also equipped with around-the-clock live answering
service, so consumers intimated by the technology can call and speak to a
friendly voice.
In fact, Gary’s wife of 24 years, Keh, who is in charge of the company’s computer information, recently walked somebody through the process from her
home computer.
“We didn’t have to be right next to him. The computer has really changed the way we
operate,” Gary noted.
Another advantage is the new barcode system that allows Clothesline to keep tabs
on all of its work.
“The heat seal that is applied to each garment is very small. It is very
nondescript,” he added. “That barcode is scanned each and every time that garment comes in, and it
provides a wear and cleaning history over the life of that garment. Customers
are really impressed with that knowledge.”
Currently, the McCrackens are partnering with DCCS to create a Web interface
system to allow customers to go online and access some information about their
account history and each barcoded garment.
Gary believes such a feature will be popular among consumers who have become
more sophisticated and technology savvy in all industries, not just
drycleaning.
“The ATM machines at the bank were the first ones that allowed a customer to
start and complete a transaction without the help of a teller or an attendant,” Gary said. “Every industry is supplying an opportunity for customers to do it themselves.
The grocery stores and the home improvement stores — everybody has the self-service checkouts.”
Though the Red Box has only been operational fora few weeks, many customers have
been quick to embrace dropping off or picking up their cleaning without seeing
a friendly face.
“We’re having an average of six to ten people use it every day,” he explained. “They’re using it during business hours. They’re driving right past our front door. They’re basically telling us that it’s OK, that they would just as soon help themselves. It’s the same thing we tell the service station when we fill up with gas and then
drive out of their parking lot — thanks, but no thanks. We don’t need your help.”
If all continues to go well for Clothesline, Gary hopes to open a freestanding
24-7 Red Box. The idea is to have one major production facility that provides
cleaning for all the routes, as well 24-7 kiosks.
“We are on the cutting edge. I’ve heard the term ‘being on the leading edge of technology.’ Some have referred to it as possibly the bleeding edge of technology as we go
through the learning curve and figure out some things that other folks aren’t going to have to deal with,” he said.
“But, I think it’s the way of the future. There’s just no argument. It’s not our industry, it’s every industry that’s automated.”
