National Clothesline

California cleaners may be stressed by the recession and regulations on their businesses, but they presented an upbeat and forward-looking face at the California Cleaners Association trade show in Long Beach last month.

To be sure, the 73 companies that comprised the Fabricare 2010 exhibit made for a smaller show than previous years at the same venue, but they enjoyed a steady stream of visitors to their booths throughout the two-day run.

Cleaners faced with removing perc from their operations due to state regulations had an opportunity to talk to vendors of several of the alternative solvents. Representatives from well-established GreenEarth and the hydrocarbon solvents were on hand as was a newer entry, DrySolv with its n-propyl bromide drycleaning solvent and, back after a hiatus, Rynex, which is now being produced by a company out of Albany, GA.

Also back after an initial appearance at last year’s Clean Show was Xeros, Ltd., a company that is developing a water-based system that uses thousands of tiny beads to clean the clothes. They said they have worked out the bug of recovering all the beads and expect to have a working machine available in the next year.

Combine that with the latest in finishing equipment, computer systems, supplies and other services and attendees were presented with a complete set of building blocks to construct a better future.

Getting to that future is the immediate issue. Three days of seminars provided insights into how to build a 21st century drycleaning business. Before the Saturday afternoon seminar, industry veteran Doris Easley gave cleaners a brief pep talk, noting that in her 50 years in the industry she has seen ups and downs and that the good operators always survive the downs and thrive during the ups. She encouraged cleaners to be optimistic.

Leading off the seminar program was James Peuster, aka The Route Pro, whose all-day presentation on Friday before the show officially opened concentrated on how to develop and grow successful routes. Peuster said he was pleased not only with the attendance at the seminar but also with interest shown by visitors to his booth where he continued discussions throughout the show.

Customer service was the topic on Saturday morning where Barry Gershenson, executive coordinator of Leading Cleaners Internationale, and Robert Shapiro, general manager of Milt & Edie’s Drycleaners, told how to go beyond — in some cases way beyond — the usual in providing a level of customer service that will bring people in and keep them coming back.

At Milt & Edie’s, for example, the Burbank store is open 24 hours a day and staffing includes a maitre d’ whose sole purpose is to greet customers, direct them in the store and resolve any problems immediately.

“We aren’t promoting price,” Shapiro said. “We’re promoting service.”

Using social networking was the topic of the Saturday afternoon seminar presented by John Zimmerman, CEO of eRocketFuel.com. Social media has burst upon the internet scene with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, augmenting and in some cases surpassing more familiar tools like e-mail, web sites and blogs.

Social media is a form of word-of-mouth advertising, he said, and it is changing how we talk to each other. The necessary skills can be learned by a do-it-yourselfer or they can be outsourced, he said. In either case, he said, it’s important to plan before diving in and to remember that it’s more about “social” than “media.”

Sunday’s seminars were more nuts-and-bolts. Norm Korey of Wyatt-Bennett Equipment told the morning group to be prepared for an equipment breakdown by having on hand a complete list of all the machines in the plant along with model numbers and serial numbers. He also recommended keeping at least a basic set of tools on hand which can help resolve a problem over the phone rather than having a mechanic visit.

The number-one cause of equipment problems? It’s lint, Korey said.

“You are a drycleaner. You’re selling cleanliness. Get rid of that lint!” he said.

Finishing the seminar set was industry consultant Kenney Slatten who explained how to set up and maintain a smooth-running drycleaning operation through planning, organization and an overall company vision.