James McArdle, owner of McArdle's Newell Cleaners in Sharon, PA, has been in the drycleaning industry for almost 75 years. In fact, his plant has been at the same location on Griswold St. for nearly 48 years.
At the age of 91, he believes he is the longest active professional in the drycleaning industry. In all that time, McArdle has never read a negative article on the drycleaning industry that upset him as much as one he recently read in The National Enquirer.
The article, which was titled "Beware! Dry-Cleaned Clothes Can Kill You," began: "That killer outfit you just brought home from the dry cleaners can really kill you, experts warn. That's because perchloroethylene (perc), the chemical used by most dry cleaners, has been linked to a multitude of health woes -- including cancer."
The article, written by S.D. Hubbard, quoted Lisa Finaldi, a toxicity expert for Greenpeace International, who said: "People who work in or live near dry cleaners are most at risk, but simple contact with freshly drycleaned clothes can expose you to unhealthy levels of perc."
Finaldi also gives several recommendations to readers, saying that many "dry clean only" items can be carefully cleaned at home by hand or in a washing machine.
In response, McArdle wrote to the tabloid publication on Oct. 20, stating: "The write-up in your paper is absolutely the worst ever that I have come across. I do not read the 'rags' because they are mostly untruths, but this was called to my attention by a friend. Your writer, S.D. Hubbard, did not stretch the truth, tell the truth, but his comments were downright all outright lies."
He continued: "At first I was upset and aggravated, but then I thought this over and decided I should be complimenting your paper for employing S.D. Hubbard as one of the dumbest, no good liars in the world."
McArdle sent a copy of his letter to National Clothesline, urging that all cleaners should write to publications that publish false statements about the industry.
CleaningExpo, the worldwide cleaning industry on-line trade show, officially began selling exhibit space on Nov. 15.
The site, which was created by Norford LLC., is run by David Norford, who serves as executive vice president of the MidAtlantic Association of Cleaners.
"I think by the end of this month [November], we'll have the first participating companies signed up and their individual exhibit areas under construction," Norford said.
In addition to serving as a meeting point for buyers and sellers in the cleaning industry, the site also will contain many other features, including: a schedule of upcoming events; a press room; an employment center where job opening and resumes can be posted; a resource center full of tools, agencies and companies connected to the industry; a message board where general comments can be posted; and a cybercasting section for live events.
The site is expected to officially be launched in December, however, it is already viewable on-line at: www.gotradeshows.com/cleaningexpo.
For more information about CleaningExpo, call (540) 775-2525.
The Iowa-Nebraska Drycleaners and Laundry Association recently announced its new officers at the association's annual meeting.
The event took place from Oct. 13-15 at Harvey's Casino Hotel in Council Bluffs, IA.
During the meeting, Michael McKernan of NuTrend Cleaners in Omaha, NE, was elected as the association's president.
Joining him will be President-Elect Rick Kasperbauer of Kasperbauer Cleaners in Carroll, IA.
Kermit Engh of Fashion Cleaners in Omaha, NE, will serve as INDLA's new secretary-treasurer.
Additionally, four directors were elected, including: Kathy Himmelsehr of Max. I. Walkers in Omaha, NE; Scott Orr of Orr's Draperies-Drycleaning in North Platte, NE; LeRoy Lovely of Max I. Walkers in Omaha, NE; and Steve Walters of Tri-Supply in Omaha, NE.
The newly-elected officers will serve two-year terms and the new directors will serve three-year terms.
Also during the event, Barney Deden, who has been leading the industry's legislative clean-up campaign, was honored with a Golden Hanger Award.
Deden was recognized for his outstanding dedication toward improving the drycleaning industry, including his tireless efforts toward the passing of the Barton Bill legislation.
Deden's wife, Patty, was also honored at the event.
INDLA's annual meeting offered many educational programs, as well. Alan Robson, who is a columnist for National Clothesline in addition to serving as a principal for Biz Builder Services, presented "Profit Is Not A Dirty Word."
The annual meeting's educational program also featured Mike Roseland, owner of Profit Advantage, Inc., who discussed "Employee Retention and Longevity."
The seminar on "Essential Service Solutions for the Millennium" was presented by Shawnie Higgins and Kathy Broniecki, officers of the public relations firm Envoy.
INDLA's next seminal will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Omaha, NE, from Oct. 12-14, 2001.
Klinke Cleaners, one of the largest drycleaners in Wisconsin, recently purchased five retail stores in Waukesha County. The new stores are located in Pewuakee, Westbrook and Springdale.
The purchase brought the total number of Klinke plants up to 19 retail outlets. Fourteen of those are positioned in Dane County and serve the greater Madison area in Wisconsin.
Owner Richard Klinke negotiated the ownership of the stores owned by Bask, Inc. with Dave Baskerville, who operated the stores under the name Fabricare of Waukesha.
Klinke plans to supervise the rebuilding of the stores so that they all will incorporate the "Klinke look." He plans to retain most of the Fabricare of Waukesha employees.
The business deal was part of a "stepping stone" plan of Klinke's, who hopes to continue evolving and expanding the family operation over the next six years.
According to an article in the October issue of Impressions, the newsletter of the Wisconsin Fabricare Institute, Klinke credited the Wisconsin Drycleaning Environmental Response Fund with making the transaction possible.
Both parties involved agreed that initial environmental liability would belong to Bask, Inc., in the event that contamination was discovered. However, Klinke will assume liability down the road.
Klinke believes that drycleaners are more likely to make business negotiations knowing that a safety net such as DERF exists.
For information on Klinke's Cleaners, visit them on the web at www.klinke.com. The site offers many features, including results from this year's Koats For Kids drive. In fourteen years, the company has cleaned over 139,000 coats for needy families.
Lansing Cleaners of Lansing, IL, was one of 17 companies commended by Illinois Governor George H. Ryan for achievements in reducing hazardous waste and toxic air emissions.
Lansing Cleaners, owned and operated by Tom Ustanik, uses a liquid carbon dioxide cleaning machine which, when it was in-stalled last year, was the second commercial unit to go into operation in the United States. Lansing uses the Micare system developed by Micell Technologies to bring CO2 technology to consumers.
The company has taken pollution prevention steps through the use of high-efficiency lighting, above average insulation, natural gas powered trucks natural gas fired air conditioning and energy management controls of electric motors.
Applicants for the award were judged in statewide competition on the innovative strategies and their uses of technology to prevent or reduce the volume and toxicity of waste. Criteria included technological innovation, environmental significance, economic benefits and commitment to pollution prevention. Pollution prevention engineers from Waste Management and Research Center, a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, reviewed the applications while the Illinois environmental Protection Agency determined companies' environmental compliance.
Information on the program is available from the Waste Management and Research Center, (217) 333-8940, or at www.mrc.uic.edu.
After last year's highly successful Coats for Kids campaign, Anton's Cleaners of Massachusetts is hoping to collect over 25,000 coats this winter for needy families.
One year ago, Anton's Cleaners cleaned over 27,000 winter coats during its annual Coats for Kids drive, a figure considerably more than the 20,000-coat goal set by the company.
The cleaning costs for last year were valued at over $214,000.
In all, Anton's Coats for Kids program has collected over 60,000 coats in five years. Last year, more than 100 local schools participated in the event, which attributed over half of the drive's collections.
As a result of such efforts, the Tri-City Community Action Program of Malden, Medford and Everett, MA, recently presented Anton's with a Harry "Buddy" Coholan Community Service Award "for providing services that afford these persons the dignity of receiving and owning clean and pressed clothes." The Tri-City Action program has received several hundreds of coats from the Coats for Kids program for its clients.
This year, Anton's will re-enlist the aid of local schools, along with co-sponsors Fox 25, the Boston Bruins, the Salvation Army and the Massachusetts Community Action Program.
"The success of Coats for Kids has always been the generosity of those in the community," said Charles A. Anton, president of Anton's Cleaners. "It's been gratifying to be a part of a program that helps so many families. Donating a coat is a simple, yet very meaningful way of helping those who are less fortunate."
From now until the January 15 deadline, people can contribute their coats to any of the 39 Anton's Cleaners locations in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
Specific plant locations can be obtained at Anton's web site at www.antons.com or by calling (800) 659-0069.
Anton's is a family-owned business that has been in operation since 1913.
The North East Fabricare Association recently announced three new directors-at-large. George Monk, Michael Paliotta and Bambi Roth were all appointed by NEFA's Executive Committee to serve one year terms.
George Monk is the owner of Consumer Cleaners in Newburgh, NY. He approached NEFA's committee with a desire to help forge the associations activities. In addition to being a lifelong drycleaner, Monk is certified in New York.
Filling in a seat vacated by his uncle Anthony, Michael Paliotta is a fourth generation operator at Security Cleaners in Warwick, RI. Paliotta has served as a volunteer leader for more than 20 years and has experience in every facet of the industry.
Bambi Roth is the office manager for Town and Country Cleaners, one of the largest leather and suede cleaning wholesalers in the northeast United States. She is a second generation with extensive knowledge of specialty cleaning.
All three directors will be eligible for reappointment at the end of their one-year term.
Varsity International, a consortium of some of the world's leading laundry/drycleaning companies, met for its annual conference recently at the Westin La Cantera Hotel in San Antonio, TX.
This year's event, named "Maximizing the New Millennium," featured discussions on a variety of subjects pertinent to the industry, such as how to maximize a company's financial performance, management, training, marketing and equipment.
Members attend by invitation only and are graded by their peers each year to determine who gets to remain in the group.
The current membership roster for Varsity International includes: A Cleaner World of High Point, NC; Battiston's Cleaners of West Hartford, CT; Burke Cleaners of Davenport, IA; Clayton's Fine Cleaning of Evansville, IN; Creeds Dry Cleaning of Toronto, Ontario, in Canada; 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 Cleaners of Baton Rouge, LA; Owen Cleaners of Paducah, KY; Plaza Ford-Ideal Cleaners of Kansas City, MO; Porter's Cleaners of Boussier City, LA; Puritan Cleaners of Richmond, VA; Sam Meyer's Drycleaners of Louisville, KY; and Craig's Cleaners of Houston, TX.
Hangers Cleaners has continued its expansion of franchisee stores to reach the southwestern United States.
Very soon, a plant in the Houston area will be opening its doors for business. Greg York, a 36-year-old Shell Oil senior research engineer has acquired the franchise rights for a 4,000 sq. ft. Hangers Cleaners facility.
In an interview with the Houston Business Journal, York said, "There is just such a difference in the product and service that I think there will be room in the market for something like this."
A former classmate and friend of Hangers founder, Dr. Joe DeSimone, York has a polymer science degree from Virginia Tech University.
York, eventually hopes to open 40 Houston-area stores over the next four-and-a-half years. He plans to locate the plants in high-end areas of Houston in order to cater to an upscale crowd that will be paying approximately $5 on average per garment.
Since it opened its first store in Wilmington, NC, in February of 1999, Hangers Cleaners has been expanding its market of franchisees to reach a total of four states, including Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina and Rhode Island.
More information on Hangers Cleaners can be found at www.hangersdrycleaners.com.
As a result of a technical error in the legislation, North Carolina's Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Act tax has been postponed for a year. Originally scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 1, 2000, the tax has been postponed until Oct. 1, 2001.
The legislation, which is designed to raise funds for drycleaning site cleanups in North Carolina, currently calls for a $5.85 per gallon tax on perc solvents and an $0.80 per gallon tax on hydrocarbon solvents.
Though state environmental officials were reportedly disappointed with the delay, it is not expected to hinder the implementation of the program.
In fact, the North Carolina Association of Launderers & Cleaners currently has plans to seek legislation early in the 2001 General Assembly to accelerate that effective date to February or March of 2001.
In the meantime, NCALC is expected to work with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to develop a new set of rules necessary for implementing the Act.
When the tax increase begins next year, perc solvents will be charged $10.00 per gallon and hydrocarbon solvents will rise to $1.35 per gallon.
Additionally, the new legislation also allocates a percentage of sales tax (four out of every six cents) on drycleaning services to the Drycleaning Solvent Fund beginning in July of 2003. Combined with the increased solvent tax, the fund is anticipated to generate over $10 million annually starting in the 2003-04 fiscal year and ending on July 10, 2010, when the tax changes expire.
The changes in the bill, which were initiated by the state's governor this summer, are expected to raise an additional $500,000 per year for the program, and over $77 million in the next ten years.
In addition to increasing solvent taxes, the revised legislation eliminates the requirement for cleaners to carry retroactive pollution liability insurance, which had been extremely difficult for cleaners to obtain.
It also allows for DENR to fund cleanups directly. Responsible parties will still be required to pay deductibles for contaminated sites based on the 1997 legislation, which included the following costs: $5,000 for plants with 0 to 5 employees; $10,000 for plants with 5 to 10 employees; $15,000 for plants with over 10 employees; and $25,000 for abandoned sites and wholesale distributors.
However, a new co-payment prevision is provided under the 2000 legislation. Plants with less than five employees will be given a 1% co-payment rate from project costs between $200,000 and $1 million.
Mid-size plants (five to ten employees) will have a 2% co-payment rate for cleanups that cost between $200,000 and $500,000, and a 1% co-payment rate for cleanups that cost between $500,000 and $1 million.
Abandoned site, wholesale distributors or plants with more than ten employees will have a 3% co-payment rate for cleanup costs ranging from $200,000 to $500,000, and a 1% co-payment rate for cleanup costs ranging from $500,000 to $1 million.
Cleaners are also required to fund the initial testing necessary to show contamination on their plant location, which is estimated to run between $1,300 and $2,100, according to DENR.
For more information on the Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Act or the Drycleaning Solvent Fund, contact NCALC Executive Director Sto Fox at (336) 389-9011.
A new association known as The Oregon Drycleaning Alliance has formed among Oregon drycleaners.
Officially organized in July by over 20 owner/operators and allied trades members in the industry, the group will be initiating a membership drive during the first week of December.
"The purpose of the Alliance is to bring forward a message of all drycleaners so that we can go throughout our state as a unified voice on things that we, as an industry, can agree on," said spokesperson Gary Davenport of Richard's Cleaners in Albany, OR.
Some of the main objectives of the Alliance include: strengthening the voice of all drycleaners; assuring that no individual, group, or organization place unfair socio-economic burdens on the Oregon drycleaning industry; assisting in establishing additional revenue streams to the existing funds for the Oregon Drycleaning Program; and to become involved in Oregon's legislative process to correct issues of equitability found with the Oregon Drycleaner Program.
A large motivation for the forming of the Alliance was due to the increasing problems with the state's environmental clean-up program which currently charges about a $25 per gallon tax on perc.
"The current thinking through the program is to increase the license fee from $1,000 per year to an active plant to $1,600 per year, and to continue with the existing funding mechanism to potentially increase the solvent tax on a semi-annual basis in order to adequately fund the program," Davenport noted.
He added, "Interestingly enough, the Department of Environmental Quality's advisory board is in support of that concept, as are some of our state associations. We are not. What we're proposing is an actual reduction in licensing fees and a reduction in solvent tax, and the development of a secondary revenue stream."
In addition to starting a membership drive in December, the group also has plans to send out surveys to drycleaners, hoping that the feedback will help them determine the "common ground between all drycleaners of the state."
For more information about the Oregon Drycleaning Alliance, contact Gary Davenport at (541) 928-7498.
The Southern California Dry Cleaning School has opened its doors at the Harbor Occupational Center at 740 N. Pacific Ave. in San Pedro, Ca.
The school is operated by the Los Angeles Unified School District in conjunction with the California Cleaners Association.
A Laundry Operator/Dry Cleaning course is currently being offered Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. Night courses are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:45 to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday courses run from 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
The course is an introduction to the drycleaning trade and all related subjects. Students will be able to take modules of the program if they are already working within the trade.
Class costs for the day classes are $35. Night and weekend classes cost $25.
However, there is an additional $20 registration fee per semester and an optional $3.50 fee is required for students to obtain a picture I.D., which includes parking. Individuals over the age of 60 are not required to pay the registration fee.
For more information about the school call Joe Torres at (818) 413-0686 or (310) 547-5551.
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