Wayne Edelman, owner of three Meurice Garment Care drycleaning stores in New York, recalled a time that Sotheby's sent him a beaded dress to clean. They had the dress on consignment, and, upon its return, the client informed the auction house that a brown stain on the bodice of the dress had not been there previously.
"Just looking at this garment I could tell it was one of the most beautifully made garments I had ever seen," remembered Edelman. "We spot cleaned it and sent it back to them. The client was very happy. Later, I'm in London in a wax museum and I look at the wax figure of Princess Di and I'm like, 'Holy Cow! That's the dress!'
"I really felt that they should have told me what I was handling. I knew when I was cleaning her other dresses. They came with armed guards in a locked box."
Still, whether Edelman knows who the owner of a dress is or not, he treats every garment he handles with the utmost level of care.
Meurice Garment Care's tradition of high quality began back when Wayne's father, Larry, had various plants throughout lower Manhattan. Even then, they had a reputation for high quality, often servicing customers such as Eleanor Roosevelt, who had her silk stockings mended there.
Wayne grew up in the business and his first memories were of working alongside his father. "He worked very long hours and very hard."
His father's hectic schedule often prompted impulsive family get-aways. "I remember going away as a child...when we took vacation it was spontaneous," he said. "If things were good at work and everybody was there, he'd be able to pick up and go and that's the way we went. I think, as a result, I hate planning things. I hate the anticipation."
After graduating from high school (in between visits to the local New York disco houses), Wayne had no intention of taking over his father's business.
"He never wanted to see me in the business," he recalled. "He didn't like how he was away from me growing up. He didn't like the hours."
Instead, Wayne chose to obtain a B.A. in Psychology from George Washington University. "I have always been very sales-oriented and a psychology degree gave me an insight to the way that people work," he explained.
College was a time for learning, although, ironically, most of his knowledge was gained outside the classroom. "I always saw myself as an entrepreneur," he said. "I was always wheeling and dealing... brokering used audio equipment in college, buying and selling bicycles... whatever I could do. I like commerce."
After graduating in 1984, Wayne left college and worked as a salesman for Motorola, trying to bring the New York cellular system online. He became frustrated competing for sales of his own product from resellers who could offer it for less, so he left and dabbled in commercial real estate, leasing office space in New York.
All the while, Wayne helped his father's business by upgrading the equipment and handling plant renovations and lease renewals. He began to have a change of heart. "I had said to my father at one point, 'If you ever don't want this business, I'll take it.' I saw the opportunity. I saw a great name, a solid business with a decent reputation."
Not long afterwards, Wayne joined his father and began computerizing the business. He downsized the company and combined new world technology with old world craftsmanship. Wayne wanted to take Meurice to another level.
One problem that plagued Wayne was the cost of their service -- he felt it was too low. "We charged more than other cleaners in the neighborhood, but I felt that we weren't charging enough," he said. He believed that handling and weaving expensive clothing required a different level of care. Since then, Meurice has always been proud to be one of the highest priced cleaners in New York.
Also at this time, Wayne began working closer with designers and manufacturers, building a reputation that his plant could handle anything.
Wayne remembers one particularly difficult garment -- a hand-crocheted mohair dress -- that had been infiltrated by body paint worn by a runway model. Nobody else would touch it. "At that point, the garment costs $7,500, which by today's standards, was minuscule compared to the cost of the garments that we handle now."
Using a sample of the body paint, Wayne stained up a piece of fabric and began experimenting. Eventually, the garment came out great and he charged $750 for his service.
Shortly after, Meurice Garment Care began doing business with Giorgio Armani and other designers. That list has grown to include Escada, Barneys, Bergdorfs, Matsuda and Richard Tyler.
"For a lot of designers we do business with, we're the only cleaners in the country that can clean these particular items," he said.
Part of the reason for Meurice's success is due to the fact that they have a bonafide arsenal of equipment. "We have two perc drycleaning machines, a hydrocarbon drycleaning machine, wetcleaning machines, and we actually use our upholstery machine, both wet and dry, to clean some items. I like to stay on top of technology," he pointed out.
Wayne is a big advocate of offering more to customers. He started a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week hotline for emergency fabricare, and Meurice offers a "deluxe" service for customers who prefer to have their expensive garments hand-pressed. "It's greater attention to detail, basically, from start to finish," explained Wayne.
Certainly, the company has also prospered as the result of tremendous PR, which, ironically, only occurred after Wayne had fired a PR agent.
Since then, Wayne has been featured in magazine articles for The New York Times, Time, The Boston News, Business Week, Worth and Martha Stewart's Living publication.
He has also been featured in two television segments for Martha Stewart's show. "I've become like the Martha Stewart cleaner of choice," he observed. "A lot of times people will ask Martha questions and she'll turn around and ask me."
Meurice Garment Care maintains a high level of customer satisfaction, which keeps customers coming back.
Wayne noted that the plant gets mail-order garments sent to them to be cleaned from all over, including dozens of U.S. cities, and they even receive parcels from South Africa, Europe and Italy. "It makes me feel good when I have a customer in Florida who sends me their clothes twice a week."
Despite the heavy work load, however, Wayne has still found time to be active in the industry. He is currently president of the Long Island Chapter of NCA-I, in which he has spent seven years on the board.
Wayne also participates in several other organizations, including The Wedding Gown Specialists, Methods for Management and The Prospectors, giving him access to a forum of his peers that he can use to exchange business strategies and practices with.
"It's great to have other people that you can reach out to in your business and run things by. We have proven success doing what we do, but it does not hurt to run ideas by other people and get their input," he said.
Wayne even prefers to exchange advice with his competitors. "I can't handle all of the cleaning in this area," he pointed out. "I'm a big fan of being friends with competitors and neighbors. I have a cleaner around the corner who gets $2.99 for a pair of pants and we get $8 and up. If he has a problem, he can come to me. If I have a problem, I can go to him."
One business practice that Wayne subscribes to is practicing what he preaches. "I am of the management mind-set where I will not ask anyone to do anything I won't do myself," he said. "I'm very hands-on. I'm known to get on top of the machines and tear them apart."
Wayne also believes that a garment should never be given up on, which is largely why he has developed a reputation for being a "stainmaster."
"I can't make money on every garment I handle. There's going to be something I have to spend hours on. Sometimes you have to eat it. I'll do whatever I have to do in order to get that garment right."
When he isn't cleaning garments, Wayne loves to find time to take off and travel. He has gathered his share of frequent flyer miles, visiting such exotic locations as Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize and Mexico. He and his fiance, Merritt, have plans to do some scuba diving off the coasts of South Africa on their honeymoon this November.
Wayne's love of exotic places may explain why Meurice Garment Care was recognized by the National Waste Prevention Coalition for being one of the "15 Model Cleaners" for their continuous efforts to be environmentally friendly with recycling programs and an increased amount of wetcleaning.
They have made headlines by giving back to the community in other ways, as well. They recently cleaned many prestigious gowns without charge for Christie's Night at the Oscars auction, including dresses worn by Elizabeth Taylor and Uma Thurman. "It was a lot of work. I felt good about it," he said.
Wayne is actually accustomed to working on garments for celebrity customers, but he won't disclose any details: "My standard line is... 'We have more dirt on our celebrity clientele than The National Enquirer' ...but we don't talk."
Three new companies have been invited to join the 56th annual Varsity International conference of drycleaners which will be held at the Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, TX, Oct. 1-6.
The conference is a week-long gathering of drycleaners who meet to discuss new management, marketing and operational strategies. Participation is by invitation only. Each company must come prepared to share its best ideas. All information is confidential and only companies representing non-competitive markets are invited.
The participating companies are graded by their peers and invited back only if they are judged to have contributed to the success of the conference.
Invited to join the group this year are Battiston's of West Hartford, CT; Creeds Dry Cleaning of Toronto, Canada; and Plaza Ford-Ideal Laundry & Drycleaners of Kansas City, MO.
In all, 17 companies will participate in the Varsity 2000 conference. Other participants include A Cleaner World of High Point, NC; Burke Cleaners of Davenport, IA; Clayton's Fine Drycleaning of Evansville, IN; Craig's Cleaners of Houston, TX; Dependable Cleaners of Quincy, MA; Hallmark Cleaners of Jackson, MS; Jack Brown Cleaners of Austin, TX; Jim Massey Cleaners of Montgomery, AL; Kean's The Cleaner of Baton Rouge, LA; Langley Parisian of Hamilton, ON; Owen Cleaners of Paducah, KY; Porter's Cleaners of Shreveport, LA; Puritan Cleaners of Richmond, VA; and Sam Meyer's Drycleaners of Louisville KY.
Harry Craig of Craig's Cleaners in Houston, TX, will chair this year's conference.
"We are pleased to have three outstanding companies joining us this year," Craig said. "Battiston's was a regular participant in Varsity in past years and it is great to have them back again. Creeds and Plaza Ford-Ideal come from new markets that have not been represented in Varsity for a while."
Maximizing the New Millennium" is the theme chosen by Craig for this year's conference.
Varsity was formed in 1944 by Paul Trimble, who was the managing executive of the National Cleaner and Dyer magazine. World War II had curtailed the normal exchange of visits between drycleaners, so he formed the conference to bring together a group of outstanding companies to exchange ideas and advance industry knowledge.
The first conference was held in Cleveland where Trimble, alluding to Grantland Rice and other sportswriters who selected all-star teams for various sports, told the group, "You are my all-time, all-star drycleaning team. You are Varsity, Gentlemen."
Since that first gathering, Varsity has grown in international representation and, in past years, has included companies from Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Joining the club...Brief profiles of this year's new invitees to join the Varsity Conference:
Battiston's, one of New England's largest volume drycleaners, was founded by Lino J. Battiston in 1946. Through a network of franchisees, the company today operates 18 stores and seven pick-up and delivery routes in all the 17 towns of Hartford County, Connecticut. Len Battiston, a son of Lino, is president and will represent the company at Varsity along with Greg Battiston.
Plaza Ford-Ideal Laundry and Dry Cleaners began in 1908 from its location in downtown Kansas City, MO. The building has tripled in size over the year, but its address remains the same. Today the company consists of eight family and commercial routes, 11 dry stores, seven package plants, three grocery stores and more than 50 hotel valet accounts. Peter Bernier, who joined the company last august as chief executive officer, will attend Varsity along with the current owner, Bob Eisen.
Creeds Dry Cleaning has changed dramatically in recent years, recently moving to a new 100,000 square foot plant in Toronto that operates seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The company has a full range of drycleaning services through a network of stores, hotels and supermarket accounts. Jack Creed will represent his company at the Varsity Conference.
Methods for Management has announced an agreement with Covert Engineers to serve the engineering needs of the drycleaning industry.
Methods for Management has been providing layout designs for the drycleaning industry for more than 40 years, creating unique designs for each application and emphasizing efficient use of space to minimize labor, operations and rent costs to meet quality standards.
The firm's industry-specific expertise will be combined with Covert Engineers' knowledge of processing technology and a staff of engineers, designers and draft person.
Deborah Rechnitz, managing director of Methods for Management, said, "Our association with a premier engineering firm makes it possible for the first time to provide from the very smallest to the very largest professional engineering support to this industry."
"This industry is now in a position to develop new technologies for garment handling, cleaning, pressing and distribution systems and integrate them with existing systems," Rechnitz continued. "Our engineering capabilities can provide the technical expertise to help in the success of these plans."
A Certified Professional Engineer will manage every project.
Services will include new plant planning, process design and construction, plant expansions and/or upgrades; feasibility studies; regulatory permitting; design of utility and air flow systems; site layout and preparation; mechanical and electrical design; on-site supervision of construction; building and equipment layout and design; industrial refrigeration and steam configuration; and bid packages, construction contracts and project cost control.
Rechnitz said the firms will work closely with each owner to get a grasp of operation-specific requirements and company issues such as individual cultures, philosophies and methodologies.
"Our goal is to provide our clients with the best available engineering strength and breadth of experience in the drycleaning industry," Rechnitz said. "Whether it be augmenting your staff, providing services in selected areas or assembling a full engineering team, we are committed to providing efficient, timely and high quality services."
For information, contact Rechnitz at Methods for Management, (253) 851-6327 or fax to (253) 858-2013 or e-mail drechnitz@mfmi.com . The company also has a web site at www.mfmi.com.
Gary Goddard has been named sales manager of the northeast regional drycleaning division of Hoyt Corp.
A resident of Kingston, RI, Goddard previously worked in a family drycleaning business with a 34-year history. John Olinger, president of Hoyt, said Goddard brings interpersonal skills to the company in addition to his industry experience.
The next training session of the Royaltone Suedemate Leather Cleaning Center in Tulsa, OK, will be taught by Frank Lucenta on Sept. 14 and 15. The final session of the year will be Dec. 7-8.
The class consists of both classroom and in-plant hands-on sessions with Lucenta teaching small groups of plant owners and managers how to use his Royaltone procedures and products and to identify, accept, spot, wetclean, dryclean, press and recolor suedes, leathers, and furs.
Class size is limited. Early enrollment will ensure a place in this class and an advance copy of the class instruction books written by Lucenta for study before the class begins.
Students also get to meet other plant owners and managers and learn how they operate their plants.
After-training support is provided to ensure the smooth implementation of a leather wetcleaning and/or drycleaning service by each graduate.
For more information, call (800) 331-5506 or e-mail frank@royaltone.com. Information is also available on the Royaltone web site at www.royaltone.com.
Anton's Cleaners of Tewksbury, MA, has been honored by the Tri-City Community Action Program for the Coats of Kids program that provides donated winter coats to children and families in need.
Charles Anton, president of Anton's Cleaners, accepted the Harry (Buddy) Coholan Business Award on behalf of Anton's and its employees. The award is named for a long-time member of the Tri-City Community Action Program who died in 1998. A founder of the Everett Chamber of Commerce, Coholan believed that businesses need to contribute to the communities that sustain them.
In cooperation with WFXT-TV, the Boston Bruins and the Salvation Army, Anton's has collected more than 60,000 coats in the five years since the program started. Anton's receives donated coats at its 39 stores in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, then cleans and distributes them through Tri-City and the Salvation Army.
Last year the campaign, which also includes coats for adults, collected and cleaned 27,415 coats, which represents $214,522 in cleaning costs. Anton's and its cosponsors have enlisted the help of local schools in the drive.
"Through the Coats for Kids Program, Anton's cleaners has demonstrated its commitment to bettering the communities around them by lending their time, resources and expertise to helping low-income families," said Philip Bronder-Grioux, executive director of Tri-City Community Action Program.
Anton said the program represented his personal commitment that any child in need of a warm winter coat will have one.
"It is a pleasure to accept this award on behalf of our company and our employees who have cleaned more than 60,000 coats since the program began in 1995," Anton said. "We also accept it on behalf of those who have received the coats. Through the generosity of thousands of our customers, school children and others, Coats for Kids makes it possible for anyone needing a warm winter coat to have one."
The Clean Show has moved up to No. 94 from No. 105 in the "Tradeshow Week 200" rankings of North America's largest trade shows.
The publishers of Tradeshow Week Databook, a reference of trade show information, rank shows by the number of square feet of exhibit space they have. Clean '99 had 281,050 net square feet of exhibit space.
Exhibit sales for Clean '01, which will be held in New Orleans July 19-22, 2001, are under way. Clean '99 exhibitors received an Exhibitor Prospectus in mid-June. Additional mailings are in progress.
The biennial Clean Show is sponsored jointly by six national industry associations: Coin Laundry Association, International Fabricare Institute, National Association of Institutional Linen Management, Textile Care Allied Trades Association, Textile Rental Services Association of America, and Uniform & Textile Service Association.
For information about the show, contact Riddle & Associates, by phone (404) 876-1988, or fax 404-876-5121, e-mail info@cleanshow.com .
Fulton Boiler Works has received the Zero Defect Partner Award from Hartford Steam Boiler, one of just four companies out of more than 1,000 insured by HSB to achieve the recognition and the only packaged boiler manufacturer to receive the award.
Hartford has agree to repair any code-related defect in the field at its expense because the program criteria are so strict. The award takes into consideration factors such as defect history of products in the field; in-place ASME quality system; and ISO 9001 certification.
R. Bramley Palm Jr., president of Fulton Boiler Works, said, "The Zero Defect Award is confirmation of what we already knew at Fulton -- our products are manufactured to extremely high standards with the utmost of quality." He noted that since 1986 his company is the only manufacturer to offer a five-year pressure vessel warranty.
Information about the Pulaski, NY, based company is available by calling (315) 298-5121 or vising the company's web site: www.fulton.com.
David Norford, executive vice president of the MidAtlantic Association of Cleaners (MAC) and executive director of Norford LLC, has announced an agreement with TradeExposOnline.com to produce iClean, an international shopping and information web site for the cleaning industry.
The site, sponsored by the MAC in cooperation with Norford LLC, is scheduled for launch in December. Buyers will be able to shop and compare at any time, becoming a central clearinghouse for all commercially related activities in the cleaning and textile care industry.
"We expect iClean to become the way buyers and sellers from around the world will shop and compare and change the way products and service related to the cleaning industry are researched an marketed," said Jeff Younger, technology director for TradeExposOnline.
"Anyone involved in cleaning and textile care anywhere in the world will have one central location to find the best services and products this industry has to offer." The site will be organized in a trade show format. "You won't have to be computer savvy in order to find whatever you may be looking for," Norford said.
"I don't think cleaning industry companies are having all the success they anticipated through their stand alone web sites," he added.
"Representation at iClean, where large numbers of buyers and sellers come together, will reach the market that can be directed to the sellers home web page," Norford explained.
"Making customers aware of their products and service through iClean, for the first time, companies will have a constantly updated single source of cleaning industry venue not unlike participating in an international industry trade show, and prospective buyers will have a single source in order to shop and compare at their convenience. This will provide a level of efficiency, convenience and information access that, until now, has been unheard of in our industry. The scope of iClean is simply not possible in the physical world."
TradeExposOnline has built a "convention center" on the internet and builds on-line trade shows in other industries around the world. The site includes a lobby for registration, bulletin boards for messages, a resource center, seminar rooms, media room and a giant exhibition hall. For presenting program, iClean will have cybercasting capabilities for breakout session and education seminars along with downloadable in-demand show archives so attendees can return to previously held conferences.
Access to the site will be through www.GoTradeShows.com/iClean. Question about the program can be sent by e-mail to iClean@GoTradeshows.com .
Foster-Stephens has announced the opening of its web site at www.Foster-Stephens.com.
The sites has information for brides on gown preservation and lets cleaners order from the company's promotion items -- gown chests, preservation bags, posters, banners, streamer, brochures, vinyl cling sings, hanger tags, etc. -- on line. The company's list of distributors is also posted at the site.
Copyright © 2000, National Clothesline Maintained by: Hal Horning