Stan Golomb

Stan Golomb, who spent most of his 77 years working in some facet of the drycleaning industry, died April 6. Associates who were with him at the time of his death said he remained mentally sharp and in good spirits right up to the end.

It was a full life for a man who said he was “literally born into the drycleaning business.”

His mother’s uncle owned a cleaning business in Boston and his father bought in as a partner in 1923. Stan was born a year later in Framingham, MA.

In an autobiographical article he wrote several years ago, he recalled, “My dad was a hustler and he built the business up to some 58 stores and 20 routes. It was one of the largest plants in the country during the ’30s.”

Stan went to work in the family

business at age 8.

“My dad believed that kids should work and learn the value of a dollar. He never gave me an allowance. I had to earn it.”

By the time he was 16, he was driving a truck after school, delivering the work to some 25 cleaning stores.

World War II intervened. Stan got his high school diploma early and enlisted in the Marines, spending most of the next four years in the South Pacific.

“In July of 1944, I was trapped behind enemy lines on the island of Saipan. I was without rations for about 18 days and I didn’t think I’d make it.

“That is when I developed a philosophy of life that has stood me well over the years. I told myself that if I ever got out of this mess, I would consider each day of my life a bonus and would use it to the fullest.”

After his discharge from the Marines in 1945, he returned to Boston and worked for his father. But he was restless.

“I didn’t want to go to college. I was tired of regimentation and wanted to live a free, adventurous life, at least for a while. So I took my worldly possessions, which consisted of a used 1940 Chevy, a few personal belongings and about $200 in cash, and I headed for Alaska.”

He never got there. The car broke down in Chicago and he had to get a job there to pay for repairs to the car.

“Naturally I found work in a cleaning plant. I was the drycleaner in a large wholesale plant and then worked alternately as a spotter, presser, driver and occasionally as store clerk. As I got involved with friends, I forgot about Alaska. I was happy, but broke.”

He decided that he needed an advanced education after all and, in the summer of 1947, he attended the 63rd General Course of the National Institute of Drycleaning (now the International Fabricare Institute).

After graduation, he returned to Boston and managed a cleaning plant in South Weymouth, MA. Later he went into business with his father in New Rochelle, NY.

“The deal was that I would be half owner, and that wasn’t bad because I was still broke.”

While in new Rochelle, he met and married his wife, Min, in 1949. He got involved in the early stages of development of the Neighborhood Cleaner Association and was eventually asked by NCA to teach a spotting course. “Which I did, after taking their course,” he said.

In 1952, he was offered a job as a technician with R. R. Street & Co., Inc., so he left the cleaning business in the hands of his father and younger brother, Jerry.

“Boy did I get an education. I serviced some of the biggest plants in the world. But I also called on plants that had tiny 9-lb. cleaning machines.”

Street’s offered him a promotion in 1955 and, at age 30, he moved his wife and two children to Chicago. In his new job, he learned more about the business end of the industry.

“I observed how good operators did it, what the bad operators did and didn’t do, and I stored all the information in the world’s best computer, the human brain.”

After 10 years with Street’s, he decided to start his own company, a drycleaning advertising business called Golomb & Company. That lasted until 1972, closing down as the industry seemed on the verge of collapse in the “Polyester Recession.”

He went to work as sales manager for a large drycleaning and laundry supply company, a job that lasted about five years. That was when he decided to share his knowledge through a group of cleaners, placing an ad that asked “Would you hire this man for $10 a week?”

“That's how I started the Golomb Group, which got its first member in November, 1980.”

It has had hundreds since.

“I believe there are only two important areas in marketing the cleaning business… get customers and keep them.”

“I have a strong desire to help anyone who wants help. The fact that I earn my living this way is not bad, either. But the real satisfaction is in being able to help.”