National Clothesline

Martinizing Dry Cleaning is putting a new spin on a name that has been synonymous with drycleaning in the minds of many consumers since 1949.

Although it is the largest drycleaning franchisor in the United States and has 619 locations worldwide, 80 percent of the current franchisees signed on before 1987. Now the company wants to increase its industry presence, harkening back to its heyday of the 1960s when thousands of Martinizing Dry Cleaning stores dotted the U.S. landscape.

The Cincinnati, OH-based franchisor hopes to attract multi-unit investors, a popular growth vehicle in the franchising industry. The company began the push two years ago when it made staff changes, realigned its marketing and real estate departments, and improved marketing

Historical highlights

In 1949, Buffalo, NY, chemist Henry Martin developed the concept of on-premise drycleaning using a non-flammable†chemical.

Martinizing’s early growth came after American Laundry Machinery, a manufacturer of drycleaning equipment, bought the company. The company established a division named Martin Sales that worked through the established network of equipment distributors who were called on to help grow the Martinizing concept.† Martinizing Dry Cleaning grew to thousands of stores across the United States in its heyday of the 1960s.

When the entire drycleaning industry took a nosedive in the 1970s with the introduction of polyester fabric and a downturn in the economy, hundreds of Martinizing Dry Cleaning stores were shut down.

In 1978,†George Strike took over the company and in 1987 Martinizing Dry Cleaning introduced a new franchise agreement which was more reflective of a full-format franchisor, offering all the support services of traditional concepts. The company recently overhauled operations to focus on attracting multi-unit developers to spearhead growth.

and operational support for franchisees.

“We’ve always been the largest franchised drycleaner as far as units go, but that has never been Martinizing’s goal.† Our goal has been to be the best,” said Frank Knowles, director of franchise development, who joined the company two years ago as part of the new growth movement. “They always tried to grow one unit at a time. Our new approach will target great business people who can grow in multi-units.”

Five core areas have been selected as the foundation of Martinizing Dry Cleaning’s new growth. Orlando, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Nashville, and Cincinnati are areas that already support successful stores, have a multi-unit operator in place or show potential for strong growth. Exclusive multi-unit development agreements have already been reached for Orlando (10 stores), Tampa, FL, (10 stores), Des Moines, IA (5 stores) and Mesa, AZ (3 stores). The company’s goal is to open 20 locations in 2004, 30 in 2005 and 40 in 2006.

“Our focus will be on identifying potential multi-unit operators who qualify for 5-, 10-, and 15-unit exclusive development areas within these markets,” said Jerry Laesser, vice president of marketing and franchise development. “Yes, we will continue to grant single-unit franchises as we have for more than 50 years. However, our impetus will be on multi-unit exclusive developments.† Our plans call for 100-plus store growth in the next three to four years under this strategy.”

Martinizing Dry Cleaning markets itself as a premium provider to an upscale customer base (median household income of $60,000-plus), without premium pricing. With approximately 30,000 drycleaning businesses vying for customers’ dollars in the United States, “the good news for us,” Laesser said, “is that there are not a whole lot of high quality dry cleaners.”

The company views its primary competitors as the established regional chains of quality cleaners. The so-called “dollar cleaners” and typical mom-and-pop stores aren’t seen as competitive threats since they appeal to a different clientele. More recent players such as Zoots, founded in 1998 by the creators of Staples office supply stores, and Hangers, which uses a liquid carbon dioxide system to clean garments, also are not seen as threats, the company said.

“You always have folks coming into the market who think they have a better mousetrap,” said Laesser. “People think they have the next McDonald’s and they don’t.”

There is already a base of multi-store operators within the Martinizing system, but many of those are “grandfathers,” who joined the system before 1987 when the new franchising agreement was introduced. They don’t pay the standard four percent royalty fee. Instead, they pay a set yearly fee adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index.

Almost 30 percent of the company’s U.S. franchisees own more than one store and that same group accounts for almost 70 percent of the chain’s 405 stores in the United States. But the multi-unit operator that Martinizing Dry Cleaning is going after now is different.

Multi-unit investors with Martinizing Dry Cleaning must have a net worth of $500,000 and many could be refugees from corporate America, where they have gained strong management and marketing skills but have become disillusioned. “They’re tired of it,” Knowles said. “They’re leaving with substantial amounts of money and looking for something better, and something for themselves.”

Martinizing is using Claritas, the largest demographic research company in the country, to identify prime demographics for store locations. Eddie Bauer, BMW of North America and the Los Angeles Times are among other Claritas clients.

“Multi-unit development is the kind of kick in the pants you need for a franchise system like ours that has some real positives going for it,” Laesser said. “We have really re-invented ourselves and we’re a much more dynamic company than we were even two years ago.”