National Clothesline

Lyondell Chemical Co. has selected Caled Chemical, as the exclusive full service distributor of Impress™ solvent†for the North American dry cleaning market.

Under the agreement, Caled Chemical, a specialty chemical division of Anscott Industries, Inc. based in Wayne, NJ, will distribute Impress solvent and provide customer and technical service support through its North American drycleaning product distribution network.

Caled Chemical provides field service and drycleaning products to professional cleaners, through a network of sales representatives and warehouses in the United States and Canada.

Impress solvent is a propylene glycol ether-based solvent that is compatible with hydrocarbon machines and readily biodegradable

“Because of our long standing commitment to the drycleaning market, our experienced technical services support team, and commitment to providing environmentally-friendly cleaning solvents, we knew our company would be a good fit to bring Impress solvent to drycleaners throughout North America,” said Jeffrey Battiston, product manager, Caled Chemical.

“Caled’s distribution channel will allow Impress solvent to have a strong footprint across the entire North American drycleaning market in a very short period of time,” says Ellen Lenz, market development manager for Lyondell.

Headquartered in Houston, TX, Lyondell is a producer of propylene oxide and derivatives, including propylene glycol, butanediol and propylene glycol ether and it is one of the largest refiners in the United States.

For more information, contact Lyondell at (610) 359-4774 or visit www.impress-lyondell.com or contact Caled Chemical at (800) 652-2533.

Johnson Service Group consolidated its position as the biggest operator of drycleaning outlets in the United Kingdom recently with the acquisition of rival Sketchley.

Johnson will take over ownership of 103 Sketchley branches from Timpson, a shoe-repair group, under a complex agreement. Johnson will reclaim tax losses following the sale, giving a share of these rebates to Timpson.

Johnson will now operate from around 620 sites in the UK. The purchase will add around $11.8 million to annual revenue although up to $3.6 million will be spent on changing stores to its core Johnson’s brand.the company expects savings from greater volumes at its regional processing plants and by spreading its overhead over a wider base.

The deal doubles Johnson’s presence in London by adding 12 stores to its existing portfolio, which includes 11 outlets trading as Jeeves of Belgravia. Timpson will continue to use the Sketchley brand under license in concessions at a supermarket chain and certain of its outlets.

Johnson also specializes in supplying workwear to sectors including catering and leisure and provides catering equipment and furniture for sporting and entertainment events through its Johnson Hospitality Services arm.

Allied Commercial Laundry Equipment has added Paul Estopare to its staff as sales manager while Corrie Gravitt has been promoted to regional sales representative.

Estopare has five years experience as a branch office manager for another commercial laundry distributor. Gravitt has worked her way up through the ranks of Allied, holding several inside positions.

Allied distributes drycleaning equipment and coin and on-premise laundry equipment in Missouri and Illinois.

Laundry owners from New Jersey, Philadelphia and New York participated in seminars and equipment exhibits at ASN Laundry Group’s 1st Annual Open House at its Roselle, NJ, regional sales office, warehouse and service center.

The one day event featured service schools conducted by Tracy Mummert, customer service manager of IPSO USA, John Nery, service technician of American Dryer Corporation (ADC), Dan Wagner of Standard Change-Makers and a seminar on advertising and marketing for coin laundries conducted by Sue Lally, director of membership and planning for the Coin Laundry Association.

Among the equipment and supplies displayed were IPSO washer-extractors, ADC Dryers, ESD card systems, Standard Change-Makers, Hamilton Engineering, Vend-Rite vending machines and NATCO Boilers as well as the Coin Laundry Association. Representatives from all these suppliers were on hand to demonstrate their products and answer questions.

All attendees received a water valve courtesy of Arrow Parts, a division of ASN Laundry Group while taking advantage of the low tax rates on equipment and parts made possible by the facility’s location in a Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ).

ASN is planning an open house scheduled Sept. 18-19 at its Bronx, NY, headquarters.