Zoots targets expansion with East Coast
acquisitions
Though Zoots is already one of the largest drycleaners
in the East Coast, the company announced on January 8 that it
seeks to continue expanding in 2004.
Zoots recently purchased several
drycleaning businesses in the eastern United States as part of
an aggressive plan to target acquisitions, new site development
and territory expansion in that region.
“We’re accelerating our
growth,” explained Zoots CEO Jim McManus. “Our
continual focus on improving the servicing of our customers has
led to a number of terrific expansion opportunities within our
current markets.”
Those markets had greatly increased in
scope at the end of last year when Zoots established major
delivery routes in both northern New Jersey and Greenwich,
Connecticut. Additionally, the company purchased
the Cleaners By Nature retail store and delivery routes in
Framingham, MA, last September.
“We plan to grow via a combination
of new store and route openings, as well as acquisitions of
high quality cleaners in our existing geographies along the
East Coast,” McManus said.
He originally joined as president and CEO
of Zoots in March of 2003 following a nine-year stint as
president of a $2 billion division of Aramark Corporation.
Zoots, however, was founded five years
before that in 1998 by Todd Krasnow and Tom Stemberg, creators
of the national office supply chain Staples.
Since its inception, Zoots has grown from
one retail store in Danvers, Massachusetts (just north of
Boston) to 54 retail drycleaning locations with 150 pickup and
delivery routes in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire,
New Jersey and Virginia.
For more information, visit the
company’s web site located at www.zoots.com.
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Maintenance, safety are on NELA agenda
Presentations on plant maintenance and
safety issues will highlight the 2004 winter seminar hosted by
the Northeast Laundry Association on Thursday, February 19 at
the Sheraton Springfield Hotel in Springfield, MA.
“Preventive Plant Maintenance and
Safety” will begin at 8 a.m. and last until 12:15 p.m.
The program will feature a walk-through
tour of a laundry where various maintenance topics will be
addressed, as well as some safety issues that effect laundry
plants. How to avoid costly mistakes will also be covered.
Handouts will be offered to help attendees
establish safety programs in their own plants.
James R. Stine, who has been a sales and
service representative for Tingue Brown and Company for over 14
years, will be the guest speaker.
After a networking luncheon the program
resumes with a “Virtual OSHA Walk-Around” by
Jeffrey L. Hirsch, the author of seven books on labor and
employment law, including the OSHA handbook.
At 2:30 p.m., “Energy Savings with
Heat Recovery and Water Systems” will run for one hour.
Mark R. Liberto, a 20-year sales and engineering employee of
Ludell Manufacturing Co., will examine energy savings in both
new and existing plants with new designs and updates to
existing systems.
For more information, contact the NELA
office at (781) 397-8870.
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NCA to host courses at NY School of
Drycleaning
Drycleaners will have the opportunity to
expand and reinforce their knowledge on fabric care in the
coming months as the National Cleaner Association prepares its 2004 educational schedule.
The association will present an offering
of its one-week intensive course in Korean from February 23 to
27, meeting on all five days between 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The class will take place at the New York
School of Drycleaning, located at 252 W. 29th St. (29th St. and
8th Ave.) in New York, NY. Frank Choy will serve as instructor.
The cost is $750 for members and $895 for
non-members.
NCA’s most comprehensive class,
“Principles and Practices of Drycleaning,” will run
later in the year in English between April 13 and June 17, and
then again between October 5 and December 14.
The ten-week program meets at the NY
School of Drycleaning on Monday and Wednesday evenings between
7 and 11 p.m.
Tuition is $870 per student for both
members and non-members. Instructional aids, which include $40
for a student notebook and $40 for a fabric book, are optional
and sold separately.
For more information or to register,
contact NCA by calling (212) 967-3002 or go online to
www.ncaclean.com.
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