National Clothesline

Since its inception six years ago, DryClean Depot has expanded forward, oftentimes on a rocky path, but now it seems that the road has doubled back on itself.

Nine out of the eleven stores based in the Washington, DC area have recently decided to drop the DryClean Depot name.

One store out of Waldorf, MD, preferred to follow an independent course and renamed itself as Dry Clean Central.

The other eight stores, however, opted to join together as a local cooperative operating under the title of Zips Dry Cleaners.

Brett Vago, co-owner of a Zips store located in Washington, DC, explained to a the Washington Post writer the basis for the change: “DryClean Depot was run out of California and we wanted to have the stores run locally. We wanted to provide more services that we have not been able to do.”

The stores still plan to offer garments for $1.75 each and laundered shirts for 99 cents.

“From our customers’ perspective, they won’t see a big change,” said Carlos Cadenas, owners of a Zips store in Falls Church, VA. “We will continue to serve our customers, while expanding our new customer base.”

DryClean Depot founder Randy M. Lievan told the Post that the eight-store annexation was also due to a dispute over funding regional advertisements.

As part of DryClean Depot’s policy, Lievan charged franchisees 5 percent of their gross sales, up to $6,000 per year.

“They felt they wanted to cut their advertising fees, and I couldn’t in all fairness cut them and still get the growth we got” he said.

Despite the disagreement, both parties have remained on friendly terms. “I want nothing but the best for them, especially as I am their lender,” Lievan said.

“I think of it like our children: You raise them, they grow up and with the lessons we teach them, we hope they grow and prosper,” he added.

The two remaining DryClean Depot stores are located in Bethesda and Owing Mills, MD.

Not long ago, the drycleaning chain faced considerable resistance when expanding in the DC area from both cleaners and communities. The Korean-American Drycleaners Association raised more than $80,000 to successfully limit the size of a location in Fairfax, VA. Typically, most DryClean Depot sites measure between 5,000 and 6,000 sq. ft., about three times larger than most drycleaning plants.

Additionally, the company has faced zoning obstacles in Sterling, VA, and Prince Georges County, MD.

Despite such setbacks, Lievan still plans to open 20 more DryClean Depots from Baltimore to Richmond in the future, although, the outlets may be somewhat smaller in scope.