National Clothesline

A group of Japanese drycleaning business owners were guest participants at the Methods For Management Northwest Management Bureau meeting in Seattle, WA, recently.

The purpose of their visit was to get a first hand view of the management bureau process and the American drycleaning industry. They participated in all facets of the meeting. A highlight of the meeting was a visit to a local member’s plant where members and guests critiqued the operation and made recommendations for improvements.

Other agenda items included an open forum for sharing experiences, insights and workable solutions of common problems, and a review of financial benchmarks. The Japanese presented an overview of their packaging options.

Deborah Rechnitz, MFM’s managing director, said, “Our international visitors want to learn how the bureau process works and how it might assist them in improving their own businesses. They were impressed with the bureau process and with members’ willingness to share.

“Our U.S. members were likewise impressed with the business acumen of the Japanese visitors. This visit was one more positive step in developing opportunities to share information and ideas with our Japanese cohorts to the mutual benefit of everyone and provided a basis for international exchange and understanding.”

MFM coordinates 14 management bureaus throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. These bureaus allow small businesses greater access to the firm’s consulting expertise and effective interaction with other operators.

The bureaus provide for a free exchange of ideas, information and data among members, allowing owners throughout the country to share ideas with other successful non-competitive owners.

MFM attempts to identify prospective members based on matching the anticipated size of the organization, the organizational structure and, as much as possible, the geographic proximity to other members.

Each management bureau consists of a group of† six to 12 plant owners from non-competing geographic areas who meet on a quarterly basis. A typical two-day meeting includes a visit to the host member’s plant in which the group critically analyzes and suggests improvements; a comparative review of financial and operating performance factors among the member plants; special reports and training sessions by the coordinator dealing with specific areas of interest; and open sharing of ideas and concerns between members.

To learn more about MFM’s Management Bureaus visit www.mfmi.com, call the MFM office (253) 851-6327, or e-mail: info@mfmi.com).

PICTURE WITH CAPTION: A group of visiting drycleaners from Japan joined the Methods for Management† Northwest Bureau meeting in Seattle.

Maineline Computer Systems hosted 69 attendees at its national Compassmax User Group meeting on June 25 and 26 at the historic Black Point Inn on the Maine Coast.

The theme of the meeting was “Staying the Course 2004” and included prominent industry professionals who shared information srategies they have used to succeed in businesses.

The attendees also participated in various roundtable discussions in which they received ideas on how better to use Compassmax to improve their business.

IPSO’s third annual dealer meeting held this spring in Panama City, FL, was the largest attended meeting the company has hosted.

Dealers also toured IPSO’s manufacturing facility which features automated cutting equipment, robotic welders and an in-house testing facility.

Talks included how to better sell the investment of coin laundry ownership and how to sell OPL equipment to government facilities. New financing opportunities were introduced and dealers were told how to help customers pick which program is right for their particular needs.

IPSO also named its first Dealer Council which will meet to discuss issues of concern for the dealer network. The council is comprised of the following: Dennis J. Gonzales, ASN Laundry Group; Donald Watt, Coinamatic Canada Inc.; Michael S. Steiner, Steiner-Atlantic Corp.; Ovanes “Oncho” Kerian, Automated Laundry Systems, Inc.; Robert Renteria, WashPro USA; Avner Wolanow, Atlas International; and Matt Stephenson, Unitec Laundry & Dry Cleaning Equipment. The council has been formed to provide the dealer network with a unified forum for providing feedback to IPSO regarding equipment reliability, customer service issues and input to help growth.

Owner Angie Welter, who bought the cleaners in 1999, manages the daily operation and works alongside her employees, applying her philosophy, “If you wouldn’t wear it yourself, do not send it to my customer.”

After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, she cleaned fatigues for active-duty military free of charge and continually provides financial support for charitable organizations, athletic programs and community projects. She cleans winter wear for Hope Haven and Salvation Army for free and offers discounts for cleaning military, firefighter and police uniforms.

“She has a heart of gold,” said John Hall, secretary and past president of the Diamondhead Business and Professional Association. “She is always available to help with projects and charitable causes when asked.”

Drycleaning has been Welter’s trade since she began pressing clothes at age 17 in Hardy, AR. She has lived in Diamondhead for eight years with her husband of 14 years and her 7-year-old son.

Zoots has announced the acquisition of a number of drycleaning delivery routes and stores as part of its plan for expansion along the East Coast.

Within the past few months, Zoots has purchased and integrated more than a half dozen large home delivery routes in southern Connecticut and northern New Jersey and a large retail drop store in the Boston area. More delivery route and retail store acquisitions are scheduled for the summer in northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut as well as new store openings in the Virginia Beach, VA, area.

“We’re accelerating our growth with acquisitions to supplement our new store and route openings,” said Zoots CEO Jim McManus. “We’re becoming very good at quickly evaluating and completing acquisitions with a process that works both for the seller and for Zoots. We utilize a range of acquisition structures, depending on the needs of the sellers.”

Since it was founded in 1998 by Todd Krasnow and Tom Stemberg, creators of Staples office supply stores, Zoots has grown from a single retail store north of Boston to become one the larger drycleaners on the East Coast with 54 retail drycleaning locations and 150 pick-up and delivery routes in ten states.

Zoots purchased Widmer’s in Cincinnati, OH, in 1999. In 2002 the company purchased Riverstone, the Connecticut-based retail drycleaning business of Unilever, expanding Zoots’ presence into the Fairfield County area.

Over the past three years, Zoots has completed ten acquisitions of drycleaning stores and routes throughout the Northeast. It has also opened 29 stores across its ten-state network in the last four years and is on schedule to open 12 additional stores in 2004.

Hohenstein Institutes, the German drycleaning research organization, has established an agreement with The Cleaners Family publication, represented by Abe Cho, for exclusive rights for publication of Hohenstein materials in the field of drycleaning in the United States. The rights cover only publishing purposes and do not include any of the institute’s distribution to individuals and organizations for private use or for non-publishing uses in the United States.

Hohenstein said the purpose is to educate the American drycleaning industry on the institute’s research and increase awareness of the institute among American drycleaners. The Cleaners Family is published in English and Korean with some 25,000 copies distributed to cleaners and companies in the United States. Cho is president of both The Cleaners Family and Satec USA.

One Stop Dry Cleaning Machinery is providing machinery installation and services for drycleaners, ranging from building new plants, modifying existing cleaners and delivering and installing new machines and replacements.

Owner Daniel S. Echt is the son of Bernie Echt Sr, who formerly owned Imperial Dry Cleaning Machinery and Royal Machinery in Jacksonville, FL, and the brother of Bernie Echt Jr. who owns Bernie’s Boilers in Jacksonville, FL.

The company can be reached by phone at (386) 532-3451 or fax at (386) 228-2517.

Best Manufacturing Group LLC has acquired Artex International, Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of textiles and garments for the U.S. textile rental and hospitality markets.

The combination of Best’s institutional business unit and Artex, will conduct business as Best:Artex LLC. The union creates a complimentary business that leverages the global manufacturing and sourcing capabilities of Artex with the napery, garment and sales and distribution strengths of Best.

The combined operations will have wider geographic coverage and deeper distribution capabilities in the institutional textiles marketplaces. Customers will have a broader line of product choices, expanded services, a larger field sales force and a combined experience base in the industry that is unrivalled by competitors.

The acquisition of Artex is part of Best’s strategy to focus on its core textile and garment businesses, expand product and service offerings and grow through acquisition.

In 2002, Best Manufacturing Group acquired H.W. Baker Linen, now functioning as a fully integrated member of Best as its hospitality business. Best remains committed to its relationship with Milliken & Company and views the addition of Artex to the team as an asset to an already strong alliance.

Best Manufacturing, founded in 1914, services the textile rental, hospitality, healthcare and image apparel markets with a wide range of products, including, napery, uniforms and other textile products. The company is headquartered in New Jersey and has operations based in Massachusetts, Georgia, South Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Nevada, Canada and Mexico.

Artex International, Inc., which was founded in 1933, is a manufacturer and supplier of textiles and garments for the textile rental and hospitality markets in the U.S. and abroad. The company provides the textile rental and hospitality markets with products ranging from napkins and tablecloths to garments and aprons to sheets, towels, pillowcases and other textile products. The company is a full line integrated manufacturer from weaving fabric to producing a finished product. Artex is headquartered in Highland, Illinois and has distribution centers and manufacturing facilities in the US, Asia and Mexico.†

Terry Anderson, Artex’s existing Chairman and CEO, will lead a newly formed subsidiary of Best as president and CEO, reporting to Best Chairman and CEO, Scott Korman.

“We are delighted to have the Artex organization join the Best team,” Korman said. “The associates of Artex complement Best Manufacturing with over 70 years of knowledge and accomplishments, creating a combined company with the deepest capabilities in the textile rental and hospitality markets. Artex’s institutional product lines, combined with deep manufacturing expertise, world-wide market coverage and accomplished global sourcing will allow us to provide our customers the best product offerings and the most diverse mix of value-added services available in the institutional textiles marketplace anywhere in the world.”