Letters to the Editor
There’s more than one way to be a
pro
To the Editor:
I am writing this letter in response to
(Bill Bogus’s) article in the National Clothesline
concerning full price cleaners versus the discount cleaners. “A
customer gets taken to the Cleaners” (January, 2002).
Two days after reading your article, a
customer came into my store with a garment she had taken to a
full-price cleaners for cleaning and spot removal. She was
charged $7.38 for a ladies’ two-piece suit and had
pointed out several chocolate stains on the front of the jacket
to the person behind the counter.
I know she pointed them out because the
ticket, which she still had, was marked “stains on
garment prior to cleaning.”
When she returned to pick up her items,
the stains were still there, so she asked if it could be
redone. They refused to do it.
Needless to say, she was not overly
impressed by the service she received. She asked if I could
help her out, which I was glad to do at no charge. I had always
wanted to test my skills against this very popular full-service
cleaners. The stains were easily removed, which leads me to
believe no actual attempt was ever made to remove the stains.
The point I am trying to make is that your
narrow-minded argument wrongly classifies cleaners into two
categories, discounters and “professional
drycleaners.”
It is not that simple, Mr. Bogus. You say
you do not want to sound resentful or offensive, but I hate to
tell you that you do. Drycleaners should be broken down into
categories of those who care about what they do and those who
don’t.
The price charged per garment has less
bearing on the quality of service offered than honest, solid
principles and pride in work. Individual cleaners are the
deciding factor in whether the customers are treated fairly.
There are good and bad discounters, just as there are good and
bad full service, full-price cleaners.
Do not tell me I am not
“hands-on.” I am in my plant every day and do my
own spotting after nine years in business, and provide
excellent service to my customers at a price they greatly
appreciate.
Do not tell me I am a loser because I run
a discount operation. If I were a loser, my business would not
still be growing going into its tenth year. I must be doing
something right or I would have gone out of business long ago,
regardless of my low price.
I will admit that, in certain instances, I
will direct a customer to a full-service cleaners if they have
a garment with a considerable amount of stains on it. I then
explain that spot removal requires a great deal of time and
effort which I am unable to provide at my price. It has nothing
to do with my ability to remove the stain, but rather the
amount of labor required.
I tell my customer “that you are
paying for the time and this garment will require a great deal
of it.” In no way does it “brand” me as
unprofessional, as you would argue.
The fact remains that not all garments
require the time/labor quotient full-price cleaners factor into
their price charged per garment. I am well aware of this
difference in my service and offer to redo any garment at no
additional cost if the customer is dissatisfied.
I was flabbergasted to learn the
aforementioned cleaner did not subscribe to this policy. It
seems you do not get what you pay for at that cleaners.
Finally, let me reassert that discount
cleaners, if run by honest, caring individuals can offer a
great service to the customer. We have to work hard for our
money, just like the full-price cleaners.
Each must be judged individually, not
classified according to your opinion. I do not see how your
attitude toward a group of your fellow drycleaners can be
judged as anything other than uninformed prejudice.
The bottom line is we are all professional
drycleaners, we just have different business philosophies.
Steven P. Nester
American Discount
Cleaners Inc.
Ridgeland, MS
P. S. Steven asked me to read this letter
to Bill Bogus and I just wanted to add that we won’t even
mention “gender pricing” in his response.
I think it funny that some cleaners charge
different prices for a woman’s blouse versus a
man’s dress shirt.
At our store, the price is one price
regardless. Any item drycleaned and pressed for only $1.98.
I have had friends in the business say
that you cannot make a go of it at such low prices, but after
nine years in business we have continued to grow at a steady
pace.
Our returns have been around 27 percent
each year, with a low of 22 percent and a high of 30 percent
return on the dollar.
We have had 36 straight quarters of
profitability. Not many drycleaners can make that claim. We
continue to beat the odds and amaze ourselves. A great staff
and a great location haven’t hurt either.
I have had most of my crew back in the
back for almost ten years. We experience very little turnover
and have a tremendous amount of repeat business. Business has
been good to say the least, and since we are a small operation,
we are here to greet our customers when they come in, always a
plus for your business.
Most of my friends in the drycleaning
business spend upwards of 50 to 60 hours a week in their shops.
Steven and I average about 30 to 40 hours a week here.
I’ve heard so many negative remarks
about discount operations that I tire of it, however, any
operation can have a nice return if it is managed well and
cared for properly.
We have some of the finest equipment made,
and are currently debt-free.
Kevin Caldwell
Past-president
Mississippi-Louisiana Dry Cleaners and
Launderers Association
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IFI’s Sam Choi sees remarkable
progress
Note: This month’s featured profile
is Sam
Choi. He requested an
opportunity to say a few words directly to our readers.
To the Editor:
I feel that I am greatly indebted to this
great nation. America gave me an opportunity to enjoy my
freedom that I have never experienced before and anywhere else.
American, the land of opportunity, has given me a chance to
earn money — not only to make a comfortable living, but
also to send my children to the best schools in the world.
I am most honored and happy to be part of
the drycleaning industry in the United States. I am indebted to
the International Fabricare Institute for giving me an
opportunity to be part of the great organization that has over
100 years of history serving the entire industry with
dedication and devotion.
I’d like to give special thanks to
IFI’s CEO Bill Fisher for his unreserved support and all
the staff’s cooperation, without which I would have never
been able to get my job done.
I find my job at IFI both enjoyable and
rewarding because I can see and feel every day how my small
effort and contribution pays off. Many Korean-American cleaners
call me at IFI for help and it is my joy to be of some help to
them. Calling me at IFI means showing their respect to IFI and
recognition of IFI’s rasion d’etre and unmatching
membership services.
Remarkable progress has been made among
the Korean drycleaning community in terms of improving their
quality service as professional drycleaners and thus coming
closer to the mainstream drycleaning industry in the United
States.
Sam Choi
Director of Asian Affairs
International Fabricare Institute
