About two years ago, Steve Green knew he wanted a web site for his three drycleaning plants in California, but he didn't know what to name it.
"You need a name that says what you do, who you are and how to find you," he explained.
One problem Steve faced was that he had two locations (one in L.A. and one in Sherman Oaks) that were called Carriage Trade Cleaners, and another location in Pacific Palisades that had been dubbed Regal Cleaners.
He figured both names would be too long and too difficult to remember. After all, he would have the address printed on the sides of his delivery vans. After giving the matter considerable thought, he opted to put a web site up at www.mrdrycleaner.com.
A catchy and memorable name to be sure, but Steve realized that his web site could be much more than a novelty: it could be a powerful tool, as well.
"You want to create a web site that gives people a reason to return regularly," he said. "What's working the most right now -- I know a lot of cleaners don't want to hear this -- is coupons. I have them on my site because I want people to keep coming back."
Also available on Steve's web site is an online application form so customers can set up a pickup and delivery order without talking to a single human. However, Steve still recognizes the need for a personal touch. Site visitors can also view plant pictures and read about the company's history and services, which include drapes, wedding gowns, suedes and leathers, blankets and quilts, repairs and alterations, and same day service.
Perhaps the site's most interesting aspect is an online submission form where customers can submit drycleaning questions to "Mr. Drycleaner" himself. "It doesn't get a lot of questions from customers yet, but I am hoping that it will," Steve said. "But, we're getting a lot of hits. I am seeing Internet coupons every day."
Long before the Internet (or computers, for that matter) Steve's family was active in the industry. In fact, Steve is a fourth generation cleaner.
"My great grandfather was in the laundry business in New York. My grandfather was in the cleaning and laundry business in Detroit. My father came out here and got in the cleaning business in Los Angeles," he said.
In all, Steve's grandfather had six children who all had drycleaning businesses at one time. "The whole family moved from Detroit," he said. "They were never partners. If we could have combined our resources, we probably would have been a really big company. But, guess what? They all still get along."
Steve's first memory of working in the industry dates back to the 1950s when he was about five or six years old. "My dad would take me to work with him. I actually remember they used to have machines that would wrap string around shirt laundry boxes."
He continued to work with his father through high school, but he needed to leave L.A. after graduation. "I had to get out of town," he explained, adding, "How many 18-year-old kids get along with their father?"
So, Steve attended the University of Denver and earned a psychology degree, minoring in communications. Though he loved the study of the human mind, he ultimately wanted to be an entrepreneur. "I was drawn to the economics of going to work in my dad's company and making money and doing my own thing," he said.
Upon moving back to L.A. in 1974, Steve began to learn everything he could about the family business. At the time, Steve's father had four different companies with a total of 18 cleaners.
"My father was a tough guy," Steve said. "He would not relinquish control easily, but anyone who knew him knows that. It was many years before he started to back off."
In 1982, Steve's father grew disenchanted with the business and started selling locations. At that time, Steve stepped in as a general manager, just as strip malls began popping up everywhere and the number of drycleaning plants in the area quickly grew.
"The competition became really intense," he recalled. "Our market was shrinking. You had to either become a discount cleaner or you had to improve your quality. I went for the quality. It took a while and my father backed me on that. He gave me the opportunity to take it over."
Once Steve had the opportunity, he began to take the company in a different direction. "I was always wanting to learn," he recalled. "I started getting involved with the associations. That was something my father never wanted anything to do with. We had our arguments about that, but it takes a little time. I got to learn more about the business. I got to go in other cleaners and see how they were doing it... what they were doing wrong, what they were doing right. That had really helped our quality."
Some of the groups Steve joined included the Greater Los Angeles Dry Cleaners Association and the California Cleaners Association. He also became the founder and president of the Concerned Drycleaners for a Clean Environment -- a group Steve started thanks in part to the inspiration of his wife of twelve years, Rhonda.
"She would say, 'You got to do something with all of this plastic. You got to do something will all of these hangers'," he said. "So, I think that planted the seed and one thing lead to another. I thought, 'We can improve our image and do the right thing.'"
It took a long time, but Steve managed to get United Chemicals and Apple Plastic to create a plastic recycling program for drycleaners. He also worked with a company known as the Pick-Up Artists to recycle hangers. Among other things, the group grinds hangers into particles used in cement.
Unfortunately, the Concerned Drycleaners for a Clean Environment eventually disbanded. "It didn't last but for a few years," he pointed out. "We just couldn't get cleaners interested at the time in trying to do things like recycling."
Steve's efforts lead him to be recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency, who utilized him on a few of its advisory committees, including 1992's Design for the Environment Project, which seeks to help businesses make decisions that consider the potential ramifications on the environment.
Though Steve has always been an advocate for being environmentally conscious, his main concern is providing for his family, which includes two sons. Josh is nine and Cake is seven-and-a-half.
"I think if you do the right thing, you get more business," he said. "You make more money and you get to do more things with your family."
One family tradition is watching UCLA basketball games together. Steve and his father used to watch Kareem Abdul-Jabar play (back when he was Lew Alcindor) for the Bruins; now Steve takes Josh and Jake to watch Jason Kapono. He also takes them to see UCLA football and baseball games, as well.
When Steve isn't taking his sons to games, he is watching them play basketball or soccer. "Now that I have kids, that's where my time goes," he said. "I go to as many games as I can. Actually, I love being that part of a father."
However, it isn't all fun and games. Not only does Rhonda work full time as the business's accountant and bookkeeper, but Josh and Jake help out from time to time. "We'll give them chores to do in the stores and they earn money. They like to clock in on the time clock," Steve said.
Steve hasn't decided if he likes the idea of Josh and Jake being fifth generation cleaners.
"I'm divided on that," he admitted. "Really, I think it's going to depend on where we end up with technology."
While he doesn't want to push them away from the industry, he also doesn't want to see them tangled up in a mess of perc-related headaches.
"I still don't get it," he said. "I don't understand why the government is trying to hold the small business people responsible for things that were done in the 1940s and 1950s when nobody had a clue."
In the meantime, Steve plans to be in the industry for at least another decade, and he wants to use that time investigating technological breakthroughs in the industry.
"You can never afford to sit back and get too comfortable in our business," he said.
Of course, if Steve's children decide they do want to follow in his footsteps, he is already aware of the difficulties involved with passing the torch from father to son.
"I really think that the American Way is family businesses, and I'd like to see the universities offer programs in family business and in the transition from the parent to the children," he said. "My father and I -- we had a lot of tough roads to deal with -- and neither one of us was prepared or educated for it. We had nobody to go to."
All that will change if Steve has anything to say about it. "There are a few universities that are starting to dabble in this now and I have been approached by the University of Denver to possibly give some lectures on family business," he explained.
"Our industry is a good example. I have heard horror stories about father and son relationships in this business. I think I would like the opportunity to help kids in college that are going into family business. It's a tough thing to do. It's a tough balance. Both sides need to be respected."
The International Fabricare Institute has announced appointments of a new associate editor of Fabricare magazine and a new manager of textile testing.
Harry A. Kimmel III is the new associate editor. Most recently he was hotel editor for the United States Association Executive. He has also worked as a photographer, writer and webmaster for a weekly newspaper chain in central Pennsylvania.
In addition to writing for Fabricare magazine and Clothes Care Gazette, he will also do public relations work for IFI.
Kimmel is a native of Pennsylvania and a graduate of Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania.
Shahid Bhatti, the new manager of textile testing, has been with IFI since 1999, most recently serving as supervisor of textile testing. He will take on new responsibilities related to managing the department while retaining many of his old duties. He will manage the department's work flow, handle customer inquiries, monitor work progress, write reports and assist with research projects and research bulletins.
Bhatti is a graduate of Philadelphia University, formerly known as Philadelphia College of Textiles and Sciences.
NIE Insurance has announced that most policy holders will get back 18 percent of their 2000 premium, pursuant to guidelines set by its Advisory Committee in which most of its profits for the year are to be returned.
The profit return has two components: cash dividends to be paid in March, 2001; and credits to Subscriber Savings Accounts (SSA). All subscribers as of Dec. 31, 2000, qualify for the dividend and the SSA.
Subscribers of more than two continuous years will receive the full 18 percent return -- a 12 percent dividend and 6 percent SSA. Subscribers of one to two years will receive a total of 12 percent, and those with less than one year will received 6 percent.
"Few other insurers ever return any premium on commercial package policies," said Bob Aikin, NIE president. "Our Exchange has returned profits every year but one." NIE has been insuring the fabric care industry since 1915.
Based in St. Louis, NIE can be reached by phone at (800) 325-9522 or on the web at www.nieins.com.
Deborah Jones is the new president of the Coin Laundry Association of Maryland. She has been involved in the industry since 1988 and operates two laundries, TLC -- The Laundry Centers.
Seitz Inc. has moved its U.S. headquarters. The new address is 7723 Anderson Rd., Tampa, FL 33634. The phone number is (813) 886-2700 and the fax number is (813) 886-2510.
Continental Girbau has announced the official "relaunch" of its corporate website: www.cont-girbau.com.
Visitors can access detailed product descriptions and specifications, locate distributors, receive on-line finance quotes and view architectural layouts.
Continental Girbau Inc., is the North American subsidiary of Girbau, S.A. based in Barcelona, Spain.
Firbimatic/Eco Dry of America moved to a new office last month.
The new address is 11972-L Oak Creek Parkway, Huntley, IL 60142. The phone number is (847) 515-2202 and the fax number is (847) 515-2444.
Copyright © 2001, National Clothesline Maintained by: Hal Horning