Citing consumer resistance to garments that require drycleaning, apparel manufacturers are expanding production of washables and many companies expect to offer 80 percent or more of their fall lines in machine washable fabrics.
Washable fabrics have long been the mainstay of manufacturers who cater to budget-conscious consumers, but giants in the "better" market like Liz Claiborne Inc., Pendleton Woolen Mills and Bernard Chaus are "waking up to the call for easy-care garments," according to a report in Women's Wear Daily.
Garment makers are responding to retailers who are responding to consumers, said WWD.
"It's a major issue," Conrad Szymanski, president of Bealls Department Store in Bradenton, FL, was quoted. "It's particularly germane in the moderate market. People don't want to pay $29 to $39 for a career jacket and then have to invest $6 on drycleaning."
Bealls, which operates 55 stores, carries washable and drycleanable linens, but the big volume is in washable.
Apparel vendors, feeling pressure from retailers, are pushing suppliers to come up with specially treated fabrics that will help them increase their machine-washable assortments.
"The consumer is time poor," said Denise Seegal, president of Liz Claiborne "We are doing everything to make her life easier."
Liz Claiborne has expanded its washable line over the past couple of years, from merlino sweaters to washable cashmere sweaters and, this fall, washable jackets with a wool hand.
Chaus's offerings in washable clothes will include tailored rayon polyester and Lycra blend trousers and matte polyester blouses, from ruffled looks to bow styles.
Two years ago, about half of The Leslie Fay Company's offerings were machine or hand washable. For fall, the line will be 90 percent washable. The company's products have expanded beyond polyester to include tailored jackets in rayon polyesters, wool blends and silk dresses.
"Who would dream that they could take a blazer and throw it in the washing machine?" asked Bob Salem, marketing director at the Leslie Fay Co. "The impact on washable fabrics that cater to the traditional target customer is extremely important.
Salem added that the issue is not just the cost of drycleaners. In his travels about the country, he said he has found that many customers don't have access to drycleaners.
More washables have meant more sales for Notations, which went from 60 percent hand or machine washable three years ago to at least 90 percent today. Sales are up 20 percent.
"As a rule, drycleaning just doesn't work," Kurt Erman, president of Notations, said in reference to consumer's price resistance. "Consumers are telling stores, which are telling us. We are working with the mills."
Another maker, J.G. Hook has increased its washbable by a similar amount. Eric King, a partner at J.G. Hook, told WWD that the decision was based on the bottom line: "lost business on some items that needed to be drycleaned."
All of the company's embellished merchandise, which accounted for 20 percent of last fall's offerings, had to be drycleaned. Sales were poor. Working with mills to develop different treatments, the company has made sure that most of its embellished items for this fall can be hand washed.
Lasting Impressions has stepped up its washable assortments to 70 percent this fall from 50 percent last year. Included are washable suits and other tailored garments.
"Consumers have been demanding washable fabrics," said Marie Levine, marketing director, "Now the technology has caught up with the demand."
Casual and comfortable continue to gain favor among women, according to surveys conducted by Cotton Inc.'s Lifestyle Monitor.
The Monitor reported earlier this year that 70 percent of women now work in an office that allows casual dress at least one day a week, while 86 percent believe that casual attire is appropriate at work.
Those figures represent a continued growth in the acceptance among employers and employees alike of casual dressing at work. Fewer than 8 percent disapproved of casual day at work.
Similarly, women's preference for comfortable clothing continues to grow.
More than half of the women surveyed at the end of last year said they prefer clothes that are comfortable over those that look better.
That was a big change from a survey taken in 1998, when a solid majority of women said they preferred clothes that look better.
During the same period, the percentage of women willing to sacrifice comfort for fashion went down, falling to 28.6 percent from 34.8 percent in 1998.
The preference for comfort over fashion was at its highest level in the five-year history of the Lifestyle Monitor surveys.
While the casual trend continues to grow, Cotton Inc. sees signs that the definition of casual is changing.
"For so many seasons the focus has been on casual, but now people are tired of it," said Jo Cohen, director of Cotton Inc.'s Cottonworks Fabric Library. "They want to be comfortable, but that doesn't mean that they have to wear khakis or cargo pants or turtlenecks. The key is to have these comfortable elements of dressing with some pizzazz."
When asked about how they dressed, more than one-third of the women surveyed agreed with the statement: "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." That was an increase from the previous year.
At the same time, fewer agreed with the statement, " You can't tell a book by its cover," than in the survey taken in 1998.
"People always value looking good and always make the effort to present themselves in a positive manner. But what they think looks good has changed," said Edgar Trinidad, a spokesperson for The Fashion Association, a not-for-profit public relations arm of the apparel industry.
Comfort rules
"The trend towards casual apparel has indicated that people want clothing that is less constructed and comfortable They value comfort above everything," Trinidad continued. "A lot of the clothing that is perceived as comfortable is casual wear, while worktime apparel like suits is not. However, apparel has become so much more comfortable now due to development in textile technology. There are plenty of options out there."
David Wolf, creative director of a New York-based fashion and retail consulting company, sees an upswing in dressing up more while retaining the casual feel.
"Casual is perceived by most people as a cooler, more modern, younger way to appear," Wolf said.
"I think we're going to learn to dress up in a new, more modern way and also learn how to wear color again," Wolf predicted. "We're not going to abandon comfort in any way, shape or form. Easy care will be the way to go with our clothes, but we want them to look fresh and new, not worn and scruffy."
Cotton Inc.'s Cohen says consumers will be faced with "a lot of choices on how to dress" and there will be "no clear cut rules for dressing."
A rising barometer
In the five years since interviewing began, Cotton Inc.'s Lifestyle Barometer for casual wear has climbed inexorably higher.
In the first survey in 1995, the Casual Barometer scored 56 on a scale of 100. In the most recent survey, it had reached 65.
"The enthusiasm for causal dressing is shared by all ages and income levels," Cotton Inc. said. "Even Fashion Innovators those women who love to be the first to try new things and looks, are now solidly behind the trend toward casual dressing."
The "Fashion Innovators" scored 61 on the most recent barometer, compared to 52 five years ago.
The Lifestyle Monitor data is derived from telephone surveys taken regularly of thousands of women between the ages of 16 and 70. The 125-question survey covers a variety of topics related to attitudes towards clothing, fashion and shopping. Results and commentaries are available on the Cotton Inc. webs site: www.cottoninc.com.
Two-thirds of the Monitor respondents who work in offices now way they have casual dress days. Five years ago it was 56 percent. For 90 percent, the casual privilege is year-round.
Employers may be willing to "go casual" as a means to attract and retain employees in today's tight labor market.
A poll by Ceridian employer services (www.ces.ceridian.com) found that casual dress was the most frequently offered of five common company perks. Four out of five firms reported offering "casual dress" as a perk. That put casual ahead of flexible hours, personal development training, employee entertainment and company discounts and free food and beverages.
The walls are crumbling around one of the last bastions against casual wear -- lawyers.
Two large law firms "went causal" this spring -- Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, based in New York, and Morgan Lewis and Bockius, based in Philadelphia. That mean hundreds of suit-and-tie attorneys -- and support staff of the firms' -- now have a wider range of choices, and not just for a "casual day," but every day.
Casual dress has expanded throughout the workplace after getting started at high-tech firms. At first, companies allowed "Casual Fridays" in the summer, then "Casual Friday" throughout the year. Now many companies are casual every day.
Those high-tech companies that started the trend are now part of the reason law firms are adopting a less dressed approach.
"The firm's many young clients, particularly those running Internet and high-tech ventures, find it more comfortable to deal with attorneys who dress as they do," the Philadelphia Inquirer said in reporting on the change in dress code at Morgan, Lewis and Bockius.
The new dress code takes some attorneys outside their own comfort zone, however.
"Before this, I knew the suits, ties and shirt I have and what worked together," one young lawyer at the Cadwalader firm told and MS-NBC reporter. "Now, I'd like someone to show me the spectrum of what business causal means and to see what the options really are."
The New York attorney is not the only one confused by changing dress codes. His firm turned to Polo Ralph Lauren and Esquire for help and Polo put on a one-night seminar at its flagship store in New York.
Some companies have found that employees may interpret casual as "anything goes." At Development Counselors International, a New York-based marketing firm that went casual year-round in 1998, some employees came to work braless and in gym clothes. The company now has a detailed list of what can and can't be worn to the office. Button down shirts and dress sandals are in; bare midriffs and beach attire are out.
The Cadwalader firm requires men to wear shirts with collars and buttons; no jeans no sneakers. For women, halter tops and tank tops are out.
One young attorney took a tongue-in-cheek jab at casual attire in an op-ed piece in the March 24 edition of the New York Times.
"Sure the clients wear polo shirts and chinos (or worse), but that's why they're clients," wrote Cameron Stracher. "They don't have to look good for their lawyers; they pay them.
"If lawyers were representing the circus, would they dress up as clowns?" Stracher asked.
More than 1,000 individuals signed up to testify at a series of hearings held around the country this spring on OSHA's controversial ergonomics proposal.
The hearings opened in Washington, DC, in March and will conclude there this month. Additional hearings were held at sites in Chicago and Portland in the intervening weeks.
The ergonomics proposal has stirred comment and criticism since it was published by OSHA last November. The standard would cover 27 million workers at 1.9 million work sites and, OSHA believes, would prevent an average of 300,000 injuries and generate annual savings of $9 billion.
Critics of the plan see it differently. Among those critics is the International Fabricare Institute, which has testified on behalf of the drycleaning industry.
The proposal, IFI said, is "overly vague, broadly inclusive and presents an onerous financial burden on small businesses without sufficient evidence that the standard would mitigate musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the workplace."
Patricia Williams, IFI's vice president of government affairs, noted several key points that trouble the drycleaning industry in her testimony.
First, the definition of "covered jobs" does not incorporate the activities that occur in the drycleaning industry, therefore the rule should not apply to the industry.
Second, the "single incident trigger" effectively makes all jobs subject to the ergonomics standard.
And finally, the work protection provision place undue financial burdens on small business owners.
"IFI is concerned that this standard cannot distinguish between work-related MSDs and those injuries that occurred outside the workplace," Williams said. She questioned how "OSHA can differentiate home injuries from workplace injuries if the worker chooses to misrepresent the place and cause of the injury."
The potential for employee fraud and abuse would be unlimited under the guidelines proposed by OSHA and employers would be placed in a position where they cannot realistically defend themselves from "unmeritorious claims," IFI said.
"The standard fails to address whether an MSD resulted from workplace activity, occurred at home or was a pre-existing condition that was aggravated, not caused at work," said IFI CEO William E. Fisher. "It is very likely that drycleaners will unjustifiably face liability when, in fact, the MSD was preexisting and was only aggravated by workplace activity."
Testimony from IFI also noted that OSHA's statement regarding employers' costs to comply with the standard is "woefully underestimated." OSHA has estimated that the cost to implement the standard would be $4 billion, but IFI noted that other sources, including the Small Business Administration, place the cost higher. One group, the Food Distributors International, said compliance could cost its members alone up to $26 billion.
IFI also said that the length of time that OSHA allocated for public participation and comment on the standard was "excessively short for a comprehensive discussion of all the attendant issues."
When OSHA published the 10-page proposal last November, the cut-off for comments was February 2. That was extended by 30 days after protests. The extension also had the effect of setting the hearing schedule back 30 days.
But OSHA has been working for years on regulations covering ergonomics, which is defined as the science of accommodating a work station or task to an employee's physical needs in order to prevent injury.
A previous proposal was withdrawn after it became the target of heated objections from businesses and members of Congress in 1995.
"We've spent 10 years studying this issue, talking with stakeholders, analyzing evidence, reviewing data and sifting ideas and options," said OSHA Assistant Secretary of Labor Charles N. Jeffress. "It's time for all parties to engage in good faith to find ways to prevent the painful, potentially disabling injuries that account for one-third of U.S. workers' compensation cases."
No timetable, but...
No firm timetable for the proposal has been published, but Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman said the agency is committed to issuing a final ergonomics standard this year.
"Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are the most serious occupational health hazard facing our nation because they can end careers prematurely and destroy lives along with livelihoods," said Herman.
OSHA says work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a leading cause of lost workday injuries and workers' compensation costs.
Such injuries account for 34 percent of all lost-workday injuries and illnesses, and for $1 out of every $3 spent for workers' compensation, OSHA said. Annual costs of workers' compensation range from $15 to $20 billion.
The standard would require employers to periodically provide information to employees that explains how to identify and report MSD signs and symptoms. A system must be in place for employees to report those signs and symptoms and to get responses from management explaining corrective actions.
Once an MSD is reported, an employer would have to take steps to improve workplace conditions or change job duties to reduce the risk of an MSD. Those steps could include redesigning the workplace, allowing a worker to rotate work surfaces or reducing the weight of objects being lifted.
Injured workers could receive "work restriction protection." That would provide 100 percent of net pay and benefits for six months for a worker recovering from an injury if that worker is on "light duty." If the individual is not working at all, he or she would still receive 90 percent of net pay and benefits.
An excerpt from OSHA's press information had this to say about the impact of its ergonomics proposal on small business:
Only 25 percent of general industry companies with fewer than 20 workers -- 1.3 million -- will need to adopt basic ergonomics programs for one or more of their jobs involving manual handling or manufacturing production work. Over a 10-year period, about 1.1 million small employers will need full programs or Quick Fixes at some point because one or more of their workers will have experienced a Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD).
OSHA plans to provide extensive assistance to small businesses to assist with compliance -- through publications, Internet-based materials, outreach sessions and its free consultation program. In addition, many of the provisions of the OSHA ergonomics program proposal have been designed specifically to minimize the impact on small business. For example:
Five more members of Congress joined the ranks of supporters of Texas Rep. Joe Barton's Small Business Remediation Act in early April, bringing the total of cosponsors to 53.
Signing on to the bill were Republicans Ron Lewis and Ed Whitfield, both of Kentucky, Chris Cannon of Utah and Richard Pombo of California. One Democrat, David Minge of Minnesota, also signed on to the bill.
All five had been sponsors of the cleanup legislation Barton introduce in the last Congress, too.
As of April 15 the bill had 54 sponsors, including Barton, comprised of 40 Republicans and 14 Democrats from 24 states or territories
Eastern Massachusetts is one of the nation's most competitive environments for drycleaning, so it's no wonder that about 80 cleaners turned out on a weeknight to hear one of the industry's best-known advisors speak on marketing and sales.
The program was part of the Neighborhood Cleaners Association-International local chapter's ongoing series of seminars and the guest speaker was Stan Golomb, a man who was in the cleaning business before many of the meeting attendees were born and has ridden the ups and downs of the industry's roller coaster for years.
While well-heeled competitors like Zoots add to the competitive pressure in the region, Golomb told cleaners at the meeting that they have a key advantage. "We understand this business. It's one of our strengths," he said.
"In many respects, our new competitors face the same production and staffing problems and have the need to build a strong, ever expanding loyal customer base," Golomb said. "They have the advantage of deep pockets and the ability to throw money at a problem."
To remain competitive and profitable in the face of this competition, Golomb urged cleaners to go "back to the basics of good drycleaning and utilizing sound business practices."
All aspects of customer service -- from taking the garment sin to presenting the finished produce -- must be tended to. That includes better workmanship in cleaning, spotting and finishing and taking the time to inspect the garment before presenting it to the customer.
Also needed is more personal attention to the customer.
"A customer seeks and reacts positively to any value added to the transaction," Golomb told the group, "Value can be in the form of personal recognition, service extras, convenience, give-aways, tokens of appreciation -- in short, getting a better than minimally acceptable job combined with a perceived or real added value which becomes a link to the transaction."
Golomb also encouraged cleaners to focus on their "Big Tuna" customers -- that 20 percent of the customer base that provides 80 percent of the revenues. Retaining and expanding that base works wonders on both volume and net figures, he said.
Target marketing on any scale and in any community can also bring growth. Choose a plan that fits your operation and budget while targeting select income and age groups of potential customers. Without an effort to attract new customers, Golomb warned, a cleaner will lose market share.
A homecoming
It was a homecoming of sorts for Golomb who was born in Framingham, MA, and got his start in the industry working in a plant his father owned. He spent his youth working in the industry in the area up until he joined the marines in World War II.
After the war, he returned to the Boston area where he resumed working for his father. He also graduated from the 63rd class at the National institute of Drycleaning.
In 1948, he took over a plant in New Rochelle, NY, and joined the fledgling Westchester Chapter of what today is known as the Neighborhood Cleaners Association-International.
"Sometime in 1949 the head of the NCA school heard that I was a pretty good spotter and asked me to teach spotting and wetcleaning at the NCA in downtown Manhattan," Golomb recalled.
"It was there that a young Bill Seitz came into my life and stayed there for the past 50 years."
Now Golomb wonders if he is the oldest living member of NCA.
"If there are any of the old-timers who would be older than me, and still around, let them come forth," he said. "I'd really like to know."
"The Art of Spotting" is the title of a 234-page book that represents a compilation of many of the articles and technical bulletins written over the years by Dan Eisen, chief garment analyst for the Neighborhood Cleaners Association-International.
The articles range from the philosophical to the practical and provide detailed spotting, cleaning and finishing techniques for a variety of fabrics and garment types. Also included are articles about Eisen and his work at NCA-I that were published in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
Eisen also tells how to the Spectralight can help cleaners identify stains and determine the best method of removal.
The pages are assembled in a three-ring binder so the book can be opened and laid flat in the work area.
For more information or to order, contact NCA-I, (212) 967-3002.
Nearly 100 cleaners registered for the Korean-language version of the Certified Environmental Drycleaner exam which was offered for the first time in April by the International Fabricare institute.
Offering the exams in Korean is part of IFI's outreach program to Korean-American drycleaners, which is led by Sam Choi, vice president of Asian Affairs at IFI.
"Realizing that only professional drycleaners with quality service would be able to survive in the current discount pricing environment, an increasing number of Korean-American drycleaners are turning their attention to professional training and education in drycleaning," Choi said.
IFI said that about 60 percent of those taking the Korean-language version of the exam were from Tennessee and about one-fourth were from the Washington, DC, area.
Also noted by IFI was a surge in applications for membership from Korean-American cleaners and numerous inquiries from Korean cleaners about additional programs in Korean.
IFI offers the certification exams twice a year. Exams available in English include the CED as well as the Certified Professional Drycleaner (CPD) and Certified Professional Wetcleaner (CPW).
The next examination date is October 7. The deadline for signing up for the tests is Aug. 15. To register, contact the Professional Testing Corp., (212) 356-0660 or visit the PTC web site: www.ptcny.com. Applicants may also call IFI (800) 638-2627, ext. 144 or (301) 622-1900; or send e-mail to education@ifi.org .
Procter & Gamble's Dryel encountered another unfavorable review from a television news consumer reporter recently.
Professional drycleaning won hands down when it was pitted against Dryel for a segment of NBC's "Later Today."
The International Fabricare Institute worked with the "Later Today" staff to help get the story straight and point out Dryel's shortcomings. The result, IFI said, was a "very accurate report" which aired in a nine-minute segment on March 17 to a nationwide audience of millions.
In the segment, consumer reporter Janice Lieberman was shown with yellow silk-rayon blouse that she stained with red wine, ball-point pen ink, coffee and lipstick. She took the blouse to a drycleaner and explained the stains, getting assurances that he would do his best to remove them.
For the second part of the test, Lieberman and co-host Florence Henderson applied the same stains to an identical blouse, then tried to remove them by following the Dryel instructions. After 30 minutes of tumbling in the Dryel bag in the dryer, the stains were still there, although somewhat lighter. The garment was also wrinkled and had water rings from the stain removal solution.
And what about the professionally drycleaned blouse? "They got everything out. It's perfect!" Lieberman said.
Lieberman's verdict on Dryel: "I think this really works best on refreshening sweaters, if you're in a bar, if it's smoky, to get the smell out I am a little disappointed about the stains. I was hoping they would come out a little better."
The Neighborhood Cleaners Association-International reports that U. S. Water News has criticized the way the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency spends funds aimed at cleaning Superfund sites.
The article cited a study performed by economists Kip Viscusi and James Hamilton that "found that EPA cleanups of Superfund sites cost an average of $12 billion for every cancer case prevented."
According to the publication U. S. Water News, "virtually all -- 99.5 percent -- of the cancer cases that will be averted by EPA's cleanup efforts are prevented by the first five percent of the agency's expenditures.
The remaining 95 percent of expenditures avert only 0.5 percent of the cancer cases -- at a cost-per-case of an astonishingly unbelievable $200 billion."
The study, funded by the EPA, also claimed that "Superfund site (cleanup) decisions do not follow the expected pattern for efficient risk management."
The study also said that "the factors that replace cost-effectiveness when EPA is making decisions: misplaced risk perceptions and political influence."
"A key ingredient in determining EPA stringency is the public notoriety of the chemicals at the site," U. S. Water News added.
"Their study showed that, incredibly, the more times a chemical was mentioned in the popular press, the more stringent was the risk chosen by the EPA. So, instead of cleaning up the most dangerous sites, it turns out that EPA is cleaning up sites that get the most bad press. So much for good science."
The article also offered comments on the cost-per-case figures EPA expends.
"The average cost per cancer case prevented by the EPA expenditures is an astounding figure -- $11+ billion per case. That surely boggles most minds. How can we be spending cleanup funds at such an enormously low cost-benefit ratio? The range of these cost-per-cancer-prevented is amazing also. According to Viscusi and Hamilton, at the most efficiently cleaned-up site, the cost per cancer case averted was but $20,000. At the other end of the spectrum, according to Benjamin, the cost was $961 billion."
"The problem is that the hundreds of millions of dollars poured into the least inefficient cleanups had so little impact that they were essentially a waste."
U. S. Water News said the answer to the problem with these "grave inefficiencies" is for Congress to step in and put a stop to the EPA procedures.
"There are only limited resources with which to clean up these Superfund sites and the study has shown that these funds are being squandered at an unbelievable rate," the report concluded.
One measure of the rebirth of home delivery services comes in the form of delivery truck sales.
The National Truck Equipment Association (www.ntea.com) notes that sales of short-run delivery vehicles increased by as much as 20 percent in 1999 over the previous year.
That increase came in the Class V category -- trucks with gross vehicle weight of 16,001 to 19,500 -- which had sales of 30,353 in 1999.
In the largest selling category, which is trucks with a gross weight of 6,001 to 10,000 pounds, sales were up 16 percent last year, totalling more than 2.3 million units That also represents a 57 percent increase in the past five years.
Delivery vehicle sales in all categories totalled 2.6 million in 1999, a 61 percent increase in five years.
If predictions for increasing deliveries hold true, those sales numbers will continue to rise rapidly.
Forrester Research reported that 3 million packages were delivered each day in 1999. That figure will more than double to 6.5 million by 2003, the firm said.
On-line sales growth
On-line grocery sales are expected to be a major growth area for home deliveries. Some accounts say those sales will exceed $10 billion by 2003 while grocery company experts think sales will reach $80 billion within the next 10 years.
Other brick and mortar companies are likely to follow suit as they use delivery services to "capture the last mile" between them and consumers, says Jonathan Cope, vice president of development and operations for Workhorse Custom Chassis in Union City, IN.
"Operating a corporate fleet provides opportunities with Internet sales for face-to-face contact with the customer which could, in turn, result in more sales," said Cope.
Companies with one kind of business could expand into other products if they have the fleet to conveniently deliver those products
Cope said that his company (www.workhorssecc.com) aims to help "cyberspace meet the road" for companies venturing into e-commerce. the economics of residential delivery require that companies must be able to make enough deliveries to make a profit while providing goods and service at reasonable prices, he noted.
Jim Cripe, owner of Valet Cleaners in Temple, TX, was elected treasurer of the International Fabricare Institute and will begin serving in that capacity. His election puts him on a track to become IFI president in 2002.
Eric Kloter, the current IFI president, will become chairman of the board. He will be succeeded as president by Bob Shirley of City Laundry and Cleaners in Las Vegas, NV.
The new president elect will be Lang Houston of Crest Cleaners in Cocoa, FL. IFI CEO William Fisher serves as corporate secretary.
Two new at-large district committee members were also approved at the IFI board meeting. They are Brent McWilliams of Laidlaw Corp. and Kenneth Bark, CED, CPD, of Michigan 49-Minute Cleaners.
Two new members will join the board this summer, pending the outcome of balloting held in April. Directors were being elected for Districts 7 and 8 which cover the western United States.
Running unopposed in District 8, which includes California and Hawaii, was Perry G. Pulos of George's Cleaners in Lancaster, CA. Harvey Gershenson of Sterling Westwood Inc. in Los Angeles is the current director from that district.
Three candidates were contending to represent District 7, which includes Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, and has been represented by Shirley for the past four years. They were Gary Campbell of Campbell's Cleaners in Corvallis, OR; Gary McCracken of The Clothesline Cleaners in Boise, ID, and Michael Park of Midway Cleaners in Kent, WA.
District directors continuing on the board include Don Fawcett of Dependable Cleaners in Quincy, MA; David Rosenblatt of Green Valley Cleaners in N. Huntington, PA; Debbie Barnett of Washboard Laundry & cleaners in Indianapolis, IN; and Dan Martino of Martino's Master Drycleaners in Kenosha, WI. Joe Amato III of Amato Industries Inc. in Silver Spring, MD, will continue as the allied trades director.
In other action at the April board meeting, IFI directors approved the association's budget; took an initial vote on minor by-law changes and took steps to revitalize the IFI Foundation.
After the board meeting the directors and leaders of IFI's joint state affiliates met on a variety of issues including membership recruitment and retention; identification and delivery of new services; status and progress on legislative issues; and a membership sales contest.
The sale contest, cosponsored by IFI and the state affiliates, is designed to encourage allied trade representatives and drycleaners to be more active in IFI. The contest will begin now and conclude just prior to next year's Clean Show in New Orleans. Details on this and other member-driven initiatives will be released as IFI staff implements the programs recommend by the elected leadership.
The Clean Executive Committee, which represents the six sponsoring associations of the Clean Show, named officers for Clean '01 at a recent meeting in New Orleans, where the next show will be held July 19-22, 2001.
At the same time, the committee retained Riddle & Associates, an Atlanta trade show management company, to manage Clean '01 and Clean '03. Both shows will be in New Orleans. Riddle & Associates has managed the show since 1992.
Chairman for Clean '01 is David F. Hobson, president and chief executive officer of Uniform & Textile Service Association. Vice Chairman is William E. Fisher, CEO of International Fabricare Institute. Ken Tyler, Clean Show liaison for the National Association of Institutional Linen Management, is secretary/treasurer.
Other committee members are Brian Wallace, executive director of Coin Laundry Association; David H. Cotter, CEO of the Textile Care Allied Trades Association; and Burton Eller, CEO of Textile Rental Services Association of America.
"The Clean Executive Committee is delighted to have Riddle & Associates continue as show managers," said Chairman Hobson. "Riddle's staff has done an outstanding job of growing this show over the last eight years. They have actually been with the show longer than any current committee member, and provide real continuity to the management process."
John Riddle, president of Riddle & Associates, said he and his staff appreciate the vote of confidence.
"We know this show -- its exhibitors, its attendees and its special requirements," Riddle said. "We believe we can continue to make it a better show for everyone involved."
The World Educational Congress for Laundering and Drycleaning, the show's official name, is the largest trade show in the world for the textile care and textile rental industry, and is one of the top 100 trade shows in the U.S.
The first Clean Show was held in Chicago in 1977 at the request of exhibitors who were feeling the financial burden of participating in an increasing number of smaller shows.
The Clean Show was to bring these smaller shows together as a showcase of products and services for all facets of the industry.
That first show had just over 80,000 net square feet of exhibit space. The most recent edition of the show, Clean '99 in Orlando, had more than 281,000 square feet of exhibit space. Exhibit sales for Clean '01 will begin in late June of this year. Attendee registration will begin in early 2001.
For more information or to be added to the mailing list, contact Riddle & Associates, 1874 Piedmont Road, Suite 360-C, Atlanta, GA 30324 USA; phone, 404-876-1988; fax, 404-876-5121; e-mail, cleanshow@jriddle.com .
The International Fabricare Institute replaced an old boiler with a new 50HP horizontal fire tube boiler. IFI said the new boiler, custom assembled by Columbia Boiler Co., will provide all of the steam needed for equipment -- spotting board, finishing equipment and drycleaning machines.
The new boiler has advanced electronic controls to maintain a consistent quality of steam.
"Our new boiler will provide students with the right type of steam to professionally finish garments," said John Wilkinson, building engineer for IFI.
Texcare International will be held June 18-22 at the Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Center in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. More than 250 exhibitors will present their latest products and services to an expected crowd of 20,000 visitors at the show.
Texcare Forums on drycleaning issues will cover topics ranging from the future of perchloroethylene; chlorine-free solvents and their application; and service quality and product differentiation. Experts from the Hohenstein Institute will serve as panelists.
Additional programs will cover hospital textiles and effluent monitoring procedures in laundry and work clothing, featuring presenters from Hohenstein and the Cleaning Technologies Research Institute in Krefeld.
Sessions will be presented in 25-minute segments and will run from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Audio translations will be provided during the sessions.
More information on the show is available from the Atlanta office of Messe Frankfurt, the organizing body; phone (770) 984-8016 or fax (770) 984-8023. Information can also be located on the show's web site, www.texcare.de.
The show is part of the European trade show cycle agreed to by the European Laundry Manufacturers Organization (ELMO). Starting with the TexCare show this year there will be an international show in Europe every four years for large equipment suppliers. Smaller national exhibitions to serve drycleaning and small laundry equipment suppliers will also be held every four years, beginning in Milan, Italy, in 2002.
The schedule was designed to avoid conflicting with the Clean Show which is held in odd-numbered years in the United States. The next Clean Show will be in New Orleans, LA, July 19-21, 2001.
Date created: Mar 30 2000 Copyright © 1999, National Clothesline Maintained by: Hal Horning Hal Horning