Acme Cleaners of Orlando marks its 80th anniversary
A lot can change in eight decades. The highest grossing domestic film of 1928
was The Singing Fool which starred Al Jolson and brought in $4 million at the
box office.
This year, The Dark Knight looks to be the U.S.’s biggest earning film, having brought in $400 million in just its first 18 days
of release.
The economic numbers may have changed astonishingly, but some things have
managed to remain the same, as is the case with Acme Cleaners of Orlando.
The Floridian company recently celebrated its 80th anniversary, and it’s safe to say that the company hasn’t strayed far from its original roots.
“When you come to work here, you work harder than your normally would work
anywhere else,” noted third generation owner Jim Parham in a profile interview with
Clothesline. “It’s not a pushover place to work.”
Hard work has been a staple of the company since it was started in 1928 in
Winter Park by Parham’s great uncle, Dick.
At that time, however, the company’s production methods were different than they are today.
“He started with what we call wet wash — picking up laundry that was already in laundry nets, washing it, extracting it
and delivering it back,” Parham added. “There was no pressing. That was all done in one day.”
In 1946, Parham’s uncle Ernest purchased the business along with associate J.D. Peck. Fourteen
years later, Jim started working in the home delivery aspect of Acme at the age
of 20.
As he got older, his education expanded and he was taught to work on each
garment properly, performing extra steps such as taking the collars off of Navy
outfits, hand cleaning them and then sewing them back on.
“You never charged more, either,” he said. “If it needed to be done, you just did it. You could take pride in your work.”
Throughout its 80-year history, Acme has always taken pride in its work, which
has paid off in the form of loyal customers, some of whom include many designer
boutiques in Orlando’s upscale Mall at Millenia.
In an interview in the Orlando Sentinel, Elizabeth Moore, a sales associate at
the St. John Boutique, explained why they utilize Acme’s services.
“They take good care of their knit fabrics,” she said. “A lot of cleaners don’t know how to work with knits. They also know how to handle our delicate buttons
and our beading and paillettes. Other drycleaners just destroy them.”
Since 2000, the business revamped itself from the field of hotel-valet cleaning
to become superior couture cleaning. To accomplish that end, Parham has
equipped Acme with several cleaning options, including a hydrocarbon unit, as
well as machinery that utilizes Green Jet and Aqua Clean.
“Most cleaners will have one, maybe two ways to clean clothes,” Parham told the Sentinel. “We offer four options.”
Parham is also a big proponent of keeping his staff happy, as well. Of its 34
employees, eleven have been with the company over a decade. Three have been
there longer than 25 years. Acme also boasts three employees who are certified
by DLI.
Such working experience has helped the company earn various awards over the
years, including a 2003 Small Wonder Award for being the top small business
employer in Orlando. Acme was also selected to the Orlando Sentinel’s list of the area’s top 100 companies for working families eleven straight times.
