Legislation to change the cleanup standards for drycleaning solvents in soil and groundwater was introduced in Congress May 22 by Texas Republican Joe Barton.
Barton originally introduced the legislation in October 1995. The bill expired at the end of the 104th Congress but the new bill, now up for consideration by the 105th Congress, takes the same approach. Known formally as the Small Business Remediation Act, it has, almost since its original introduction, been known simply as "the Barton Bill."
At the time of introduction, seven members of Congress had signed on as cosponsors. Three of the cosponsors are Barton's fellow Texans: Democrats Martin Frost and Gene Green, and Republican Lamar Smith. Others include Republicans John Shadegg of Arizona, Jon Christensen of Nebraska, Michael Crapo of Idaho, Helen Chenoweth of Idaho and George Radanovich of California. Crapo is considered a key sponsor because he is a member of the House Commerce Committee which will have jurisdiction over the bill.
The Barton Bill takes a simple approach to the problems faced by the industry due to contamination of soil and groundwater from the use of drycleaning solvents over the years. The problem is magnified because there are no federal standards for clean-ups in these situations, thus the drinking water standard, which is set at 5 parts per billion, is often adopted, making cleanups cost more than many believe are necessary to protect public health and the environment.
Under the Barton Bill, cleanup levels for drycleaning solvent in soil and groundwater would be set at one-tenth the level that OSHA allows as an average eight-hour exposure in the workplace. The current OSHA standard for perc exposure is 100 parts per million, which would result in a 10 parts per million standard for soil and groundwater cleanup. The drinking water standard would not be changed under the Barton Bill.
A more stringent standard is likely since OSHA has announced its intention to revise the perc exposure level. But even an OSHA standard of 10 to 25 parts per million would result in a Barton Bill cleanup standard more feasible than the current 5 parts per billion.
A campaign to garner more support in Congress for the legislation will be launched at the Clean '97 show in Las Vegas. The International Fabricare Institute planned to have a huge map of the United States at its booth where cleaners will be encouraged to sign their name on their home state. After the show, members of Congress will receive a copy of the portion of the map with their state showing the signatures that were gathered.
"We wanted a visual and effective way to collect signatures for congressional representatives," said Andy Stanley, executive director of the Southwest Drycleaners Association."
The Texas-based association agreed to underwrite the petition effort by putting up the estimated $2,912 cost. SDA hopes other industry trade groups will share in the expense IFI and the Neighborhood Cleaners Association International agreed to contribute $250 each.
If other state and regional trade associations each put up about half that amount, the cost would be evenly shared among them.
The Mid-Atlantic Cleaners and Launderers Association agreed to supply stickers that will be given to supporters after they sign the petition.
The Barton Bill was also to be the topic of the Legislative Day program at Clean '97. Rep. Barton himself was scheduled to speak as was Gary Baise of the Baise & Miller, the Washington law firm that has been spearheading efforts on Capitol Hill for the legislation .
Barton's remarks
In commentary Rep. Barton offered when introducing the legislation, he said his legislation would "enable the nation's 30,000 drycleaners, their employees, neighbors and customers to improve the local environment while preserving the drycleaners ability to preserve business and remain vital contributors to their communities."
Barton said the legislation would correct "the misapplication of the federal drinking water standard to soil remediation projects." The 5 parts per billion standard "might be appropriate for drinking water, he said, "but can hardly be considered appropriate for the amount of perchloroethylene in dirt."
"As a result of this arbitrary, illogical situation, drycleaners increasingly face clean-ups requiring staggering sums of money," Barton said. "In many cases the drycleaner may simply be forced to declare bankruptcy and walk away penniless. "
The OSHA standard, which would be used as the basis for cleanups under his bill "has been found to be protective of workers who are exposed to perc in the workplace everyday for their entire working lives."
Barton added that his bill would "lead to more efficient and timely improvement of the environment. By providing certainty, it will help focus resources on clean ups, not lawyers."
The following information explaining how the Barton Bill works was produced by the Baise & Miller firm. Baise & Miller can be reached by telephone at (202) 331-9100, fax at (202) 331-9060, or e-mail at baisemill@aol.com.
It was just another announcement of an opening of a business, and since it was in New York City where business openings are commonplace, it barely made a ripple in the daily news.
But the site of this particular business has been the center of controversy for over a year, and the May 19 announcement opened a new chapter in the story that may generate even more controversy, especially within the drycleaning industry.
The story began back in 1995 with another announcement of a business opening. Jeff Namm ran into a roadblock when he tried to open White Glove Cleaners on Manhattan's Lower West Side in an upscale neighborhood where lofts were being converted into expensive condominiums.
Residents of the building used their celebrity and political connections to try to prevent the opening, saying that they feared perc vapors from the plant would threaten their health. Building residents received a court injunction to prevent the opening, but the New York Supreme Court set aside that injunction and White Glove was able to open on April 1, 1996.
The brand-new plant featured fourth-generation perc cleaning equipment and vapor barriers in the ceiling to try to keep perc emissions from wafting into the neighbors' apartments, but residents began complaining of "perc" smells even before the equipment actually went in to operation, according to the Neighborhood Cleaners Association International.
Residents of the building who were adamant about getting the drycleaning plant out of the building stayed on the case. Last fall the Department of Health took measurements in the apartment above White Glove, finding perc levels of between 65 and 240 parts per billion.
Then last Nov. 20, White Glove found its front steps used for a press conference featuring some of New York's leading opponents of perc drycleaning in mixed-use residential buildings. They included elected officials, representatives of environmental and labor groups and some of the building's tenants. Also on hand, and attempting to defend White Glove, were representatives of the Neighborhood Cleaners Association International.
Media coverage of that event was extensive -- several television stations and local newspapers sent reporters to the scene. Soon after the press conference, city officials showed up and closed down White Glove Cleaners on the basis of violating a guideline of no more than 15 parts per billion of perc vapor in apartments that adjoin a cleaning plant.
Store owner Namm and NCAI successfully fought the closure, arguing that the vapor monitoring test methods were inadequate. NCAI said the tests, which were taken with passive air measuring devices, "flawed and suspect because they were unsupervised." New tests were taken and White Glove soon reopened.
In its February, 1997, newsletter, NCAI reported: "We would like to say that this is the happy end of the story, but we fear that more problems are sure to follow as the opposition has no intention of buckling under."
Indeed, it was just the end of a chapter, not the end of the story. Namm, who still operates stores at several other locations, was winning the battle on the Lower West Side but losing the war. He faced mounting attorney fees and finally put the new store into bankruptcy.
Then White Glove became the scene of another press conference May 19 with many of the same participants from the November event back again.
Missing from this one was the media, except for a local cable channel and a neighborhood newspaper. So the announcement that White Glove's lease and assets at the Lower West Side location had been purchased by Ecomat, a wetcleaning company, went largely unnoticed.
Ecomat takes over
Ecomat, which has about two dozen stores around the United States, will now operate at the location as a 100-percent wetcleaning plant in addition to providing pick up and drop off wash and fold laundry service.
Laine Wilder, Ecomat's marketing vice president, said the revamped store will use UniMac wetcleaning equipment.
In an internet posting, Ecomat president and CEO Diane Weiser called the acquisition of White Glove "a stunning example of the successful cooperation between community residents, public officials, unions, environmental organizations and environmentally and socially responsible businesses such as Ecomat. I want to personally thank each and every shareholder of Ecomat for believing in our company's goal to end the risks from perc emissions beginning here in New York City and continuing through our national and international expansion."
Ecomat's Internet posting also noted that the company has contracted for the opening of 33 domestic franchises throughout the United States and three master franchise licenses internationally, and plans to open more company-owned facilities in the Northeast.
The company has headquarters in Mamaroneck, NY. The company went public last December with its stock trading on the NASDAQ exchange. In May its stock was selling for around $7 per share.
The May 19 press conference didn't attract much press -- "a non-media event" is how NCAI's Peter Atha described it -- but opponents of perc drycleaning used the occasion to throw a few rhetorical punches.
Greenpeace chimes in
"One Down, 899 To Go" was the headline on a Greenpeace press release announcing that a "professional wet cleaner replaces toxic dry cleaner."
Greenpeace Toxic Campaigner Dave DeRosa said the "one down, 899 to go" headline was not intended to mean that Greenpeace wants to put cleaners out of business but rather that the organization wants a switch from perc to other garment cleaning methods. Greenpeace believes there are about 900 residential buildings in New York City with co-located drycleaners.
The Ecomat store opening, DeRosa said in the Greenpeace press release, represents the first such switch and "is the beginning of the end. No one -- rich or poor -- will have to live in a building with toxic fumes when clean and safe alternatives are available."
The press release also quoted Robert Morrison, president of Perc Alert, declaring "We are proof to other buildings that you can win. It's too bad drycleaning organizations continue to deny that perc is a problem, They should move to a clear solution and get the neighborhoods on their side. Why not work with us? Now this fight is going to spread to other buildings."
Perc Alert is a group pursuing a lawsuit against New York City and State for "not adequately protecting apartment dwellers from perc vapors," Greenpeace said.
Beating a dead horse
But NCAI's Atha said he thinks those who pursue that issue will be "beating a dead horse" in view of the recently enacted regulatory controls on drycleaners in New York State.
"If cleaners do what they're supposed to do (under the regulations), there shouldn't be any complaints," Atha said.
The New York drycleaning regulations, which received final approval in March, took effect May 15, kicking off a phase-in period that will require many cleaners to upgrade existing equipment and setting forth tough rules for new installations.
The regulations also include a host of requirements such as installing vapor barriers in mixed-use settings, obtaining permits, receiving training certification, rules for operation, maintenance, record-keeping and waste management, and even posting of notices to tell the public about the substances in use in the drycleaning plant.
NCAI has started a program of seminars to help cleaners get into compliance with the new rules. The seminar schedule and more information are on page 52.
Even before it opened, Clean '97 claimed a new record.
In mid-May, John Riddle, president of Riddle & Associates, the show management company, announced that the 1997 edition of the Clean Show will be the first to exceed one-quarter-million square feet of exhibit space.
The show was completely sold out at 252,000 net square feet three weeks before its scheduled June 2 opening at the Las Vegas Convention Center and there was a waiting list for exhibit space. Total exhibit space, including the cosponsor pavilion and concourse, exceeds 282,000 square feet with 530 exhibitors contracted for the show. Exhibitors include 152 companies that were not part of Clean '95 in New Orleans.
"We just can't put any more booths on the floor," Riddle said.
Attendee registration was running ahead of two years ago, too. Riddle said that about 1,000 more people had signed up by the advance registration cut-off date than had done so in the past. About 25,000 people were expected to attend the four-day show. A new attendance record is likely, too.
This issue of National Clothesline went to press just before the opening of the show. The July issue will have all the news from the Clean '97 scene. In the meantime, readers can get updates on Clean happenings from the National Clothesline World Wide Web site at http://users.aol.com/ncled.
NEW YORK, NY -- The Neighborhood Cleaners Association International said it expects to have more than 350 booths sold for its Tex-Care '97 show this fall.
This year's show will be held Sept. 20-21 at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, NJ, which offers more exhibit space than the Garden State Convention Center in Somerset, NJ, which was bursting at the seams to hold the 325 booths at NCAI's 1995 show. The larger space should also better accommodate the expected crowd. The 1995 show drew about 5,000 attendees with another 1,500 representatives of exhibiting companies on hand.
The New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center is located in the Raritan Center, a location that NCAI said will be more convenient for many of the show's attendees. Advance booth sales for the exhibit were running well ahead of 1995, the association said. Companies interested in exhibiting should contact NCAI, (212) 967-3002.
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Plans have been changed for the International Drycleaners Congress pre-convention tour.
The Washington, DC, portion of the tour has been dropped in favor of spending more time in the historical coastal areas of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida in route to the annual convention at Disney World in Orlando, FL, Oct 18-22.
The pre-convention tour will begin in Myrtle Beach, SC, on Oct 8 and be headquartered at the Myrtle Beach Hilton for three nights. On Oct 11 the tour will move on to The Charleston Place Hotel in Charleston, SC, then it will be on to Hilton Head where the Hyatt Regency will be home for three nights. On Oct. 15 the tour moves on to Ponte Vedre, FL, for two nights at the Ponte Vedre Club before starting out for Orlando and the convention on Oct 17.
Special sight-seeing, entertainment and dining activities are planned throughout the tour. The total cost is $2,498 per person (sharing a double room) for 10 days and nine nights.
Headquarters for the convention will be Disney's Grand Floridian Beach Resort. Rooms are also blocked at Disney's Polynesian Resort. Hotel accommodations at the Polynesian Resort are $185 per person per night for a single or double and $249 per night at the Grand Floridian.
Convention registration is $490 per person which includes the welcome buffet reception, daily continental breakfast, luncheon, convention sessions, an evening at the Magic Kingdom, a plant tour and the IDC banquet and entertainment.
The post convention tour will depart from Orlando to St. Louis, MO, on Oct. 23. The following day, travelers will board the Delta Queen's Mississippi Queen for a steamboat trip up the Mississippi River to St. Paul, MN. Fall foliage should be in full color on the upper Mississippi as the steamboat makes its way north.
Costs for the post convention tour vary depending on the accommodations desired on board the Mississippi Queen. Space is limited, so those who want to join the tour should make arrangements immediately.
For more information, contact Joyce Francis at the Yamato Travel Bureau, 200 S. San Pedro St., Suite 502, Los Angeles, CA 90012; phone (800) 334-4982 or fax (213) 680-2825. In the 213, 818 and 310 area codes, the phone number is (213) 680-0333.
VANCOUVER, WA -- E. Childers & Associates is offering drycleaning classes in Bismark, ND, June 21-22 and Little Rock,AR, June 28-29.
Covered in the course are fibers and fabrics, drycleaning, spotting, wetcleaning and bleaching. More classes will be offered in the fall. The schedule is as follows: Sept. 6-7, Lincoln, NE; Sept. 13-14, Sacramento, CA; Oct. 11-12, Salt Lake City, UT; Oct. 18-19, Buffalo, NY; Nov. 1-2, Nashville, TN; Nov. 8-9, Memphis, TN.
For more information please contact Everett Childers, PO Box 1005, Vancouver, WA 98666 or phone (360) 604-0267 or contact him through his e-mail address, echild@e-z.net.
The Master Drycleaners Notebook, written by Childers, is the standard textbook for the class. The class fee of $280 includes all learning material and lunch both days at an area hotel. It also includes the free analysis of one garment of the student's choice. The classes are limited to the first 40 people who register.
SILVER SPRING, MD -- A "Drycleaner Code of Responsibility" developed by the International Fabricare Institute will be sent to IFI members when they renew their membership for the next year.
IFI said the code emphasize members' professionalism and provides another way to them to distinguish themselves as professionals clothing care experts, which means not only getting a job done but also living up to standards that are required by customers, employees and colleagues.
The code outlines four areas of responsibility: to customers, to workers, to the profession and to the community and nation.
"We are encouraging our members to post the code in their call offices," said IFI vice president roger Schilling. "This is an opportunity for the outstanding and ethical drycleaners to stand out in their community."
The code reads as follows:
I will safeguard customer's property with all reasonable care and treat it with respect.
I will continually strive to provide courteous, considerate and efficient service to all of my customers. Such service will never be tempered by concern for race, color, creed or gender.
I will strive to make a profit through reasonable and intelligent pricing, efficient cost control and superior service and product delivery. All pricing will be determined independently by myself and my representatives, based on the marketplace, available resources and individual business needs. Prices will remain uniform among customer categories and will not reflect discrimination in any form.
Customer claims for damaged or missing property will receive priority attention within a framework of courtesy, reasonableness and timeliness.
I do regard our workers as important, dignified individuals and they shall be treated accordingly.
I shall strive to provide a safe workplace environment, both as a moral responsibility and in keeping with the laws of this nation.
I will train and inspire our employees to serve our customers with skill, courtesy and a sense if importance of what they do.
I will train and inspire our employees to service our customers with skill, courtesy and a sense of importance of what they do.
I will provide our staff with benefits not less than may be prescribed by law.
I will work to continually upgrade the image of this profession by expanding my technical and managerial knowledge and skills through study and self improvement, and then apply this knowledge to my everyday business life.
I will be appropriately responsive to the needs of others within this profession.
I will refrain publicly or privately from causing harm to other drycleaners for by doing so we create customer confusion and damage the image of all in our profession. I will strive to keep advertising and other tools of business competition positive and self serving, rather than using this means a personal attack on another in this industry.
As a law abiding business person, I acknowledge my responsibility to know and follow the letter and intent of all community, state and national laws. I acknowledge my right, however, to peacefully work to change such laws which encroach on my moral, ethical and economic standards.
I pledge to act a as good citizen, willing to pay my civic dues to the community from which I earn my income and profit.
As a good citizen, I will practice sound environmental management techniques consistent with modern procedures and methods, Environmental considerations will be given a high priority when faced with the need to replace old equipment.
While many in the industry were getting ready for the Clean Show last month, a group of cleaners in Michigan were attending a different kind of show. Members of the Michigan Institute of Laundering and Drycleaning took the opportunity offered by the International Women's Show to get out and meet consumers and ask the question: "What does the public really want or need from the fabric care industry?"
The group of MILD members who gave of both their time and money to put forth the industry's message at the show -- and to listen to what the public had to say about the industry -- have both their heads and their hearts in the right place. Their work reminds us that no matter what technological break-throughs we see at industry trade shows or how well organized we may become on the political front or how ingenious we may be at operating our businesses, the thing that really matters most is that we remain useful and important to our customers. Without customers, all the trappings of a dryclneaing business are just so many big, expensive and, ultimately, useless toys.
Some 35,000 people visited the show in suburban Detroit during the its four-day run. Many of them stopped by the MILD booth where they picked up some information about professional garment care. But more important, about 1,000 people took the time to help the MILD members staffing the booth to pick up some information about customer concerns and interests.
MILD had at short questionnaire that visitors were asked to fill out, answering questions concerning how often they use drycleaning services, how much time they spend doing laundry at home and which is more important, quality or price. (Quality won by a 2 to 1 margin. For the rest of the results, see page 36.)
For the MILD members, it was a lot of work but also fun. It was, MILD reported, "an excellent way to get with the public, your customers, in a different setting and get to the heart of what their needs and concerns are."
We are grateful to these volunteers not only for the effort they gave on behalf of the industry but also for reminding us that the world of "show" business extends far beyond the boundaries of the industry's own trade exhibits.
The textile care industry is first and foremost a service industry. Toward that end, one important aspect of a business is its promotion as an opportunity to develop a relationship of trust and integrity. The example set by New York City drycleaner Ed Roth highlights the fact that service is not something that can be acquired without some measure of expense, both financial and emotional (see the story on page 4 of this issue). This long-time cleaner makes a point of saying service is everything. And he proudly admits it with a sign that invites complaints.
Which leads us to the main point of this editorial: Are you happy with the service you both receive and give?
In order to answer, think about what you expect from the many vendors, organizations and others with whom you deal each day. Ask yourself if you are satisfied with what you are provided. Then consider if you are applying a similar standard of integrity to your own claims.
Can you back up what you say? Or do you make statements because, well, because they're what you wish your business to be? What is important is examining the nature of your business and, to paraphrase Roth, being able to go to sleep each night with no qualms because you know you have made an honest and fair presentation of your abilities and efforts to your customers.
So take a few minutes, examine the culture of your business and perform a self-critique. It can be the reminder you needed that, yes, you are proud of your business, your career and your self.
SILVER SPRING, MD -- Certified Environmental Drycleaner (CED) status was achieved by 41 industry members while 36 others earned Certified Professional Drycleaner (CPD) status after taking the International Fabricare Institute exams in April.
The next exams will be given October 4 at various sites around the country. The deadline to register is August 15.
The CED exam consists of 150 questions on environmental regulations, proper waste handling, and safe drycleaning equipment operating procedures.
The 250 questions on the CPD exam cover business management, customer service, fibers and fabrics, and the drycleaning process.
The fee for the CED exam is $175 for IFI members and $275 for non-members. The fee for the CPD exam is $295 for members and $395 for non-members.
For more information on the CED or CPD programs, contact the Professional Testing Corporation, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10036 or call (212) 852- 0400.
Certified Professional Drycleaners
The following are those who passed the second Certified Professional Drycleaner's (CPD) exam. They are now are designated as Certified Professional Drycleaners.
Arizona: Michael S. Levey (Scottsdale)
Arkansas: Lou Schickel (Little Rock)
California: William Cassa (San Rafael), Kai Holloway (Redwood City), and Janis E. Sadler (Albany)
Florida: Donald R. Griffin II (Sebring) and Gerald Lapan (Hollywood)
Illinois: Brian Park (Aurora)
Iowa: Marshall B. Lawson (Bettendorf) and Edwin S. Longanecker (Mt. Pleasant)
Maryland: Patrick Bergmann (Kensington), Edward B. Boorstein (Rockville), John Fitzgerald (Laurel), and Joyce Quinlan (Crofton)
Minnesota: Carey L. Johnston (St. Paul) and William A. Sterling (Mankato)
Mississippi: David Blaine (Biloxi)
Missouri: Greg L. Leubbert (Fulton), Dennis Loomis (St. Louis), and D. Shawn Miller (St. Louis)
New Jersey: Patrick F. Delora Jr. (Clifton) and John Parker (Harrington)
New York: Thomas J. Walbourn (Rochester)
North Carolina: Keith Weber (Charlotte)
Ohio: Chris J. Tanalski (Waterville)
South Carolina: David Force (Newberry)
Texas: Allan R. Cripe (Temple), Tom Grant (Plano), Don Manross (Perryton), and Bata Amin (Dallas)
Utah: Michael Horrall (Salt Lake City)
Virginia: William Smith (Danville), Jamie A. Plaine (Chesapeake), Jimmy Savin (Virginia Beach), and Robert A. Schwartz (Alexandria)
Wisconsin: Judy L. Verhasselt (Wausau)
Certified Environmental Drycleaners
The following are those who passed IFI's environmental certification exam in April, 1997, and are now designated as Certified Environmental Drycleaners (CED).
Arizona: Phyllis Sandoval (Phoenix)
California: Gary Casassa (San Rafael)
Florida: Richard Whitten (Punta Gorda)
Georgia: Tracy L. Brickle (Martinez) and William Brickle III (Evans)
Illinois: John W. Tosaw (Batavia)
Iowa: Sue Johnson (Spirit Lake) and Don Wilson (Spirit Lake)
Maryland: Richard Ehrenreich (Olney), James B. Hopper (Baltimore), and Scott G. Kerridge (Annapolis)
Massachusetts: Yaakov Z. Cohn (Framingham), James Flynn (Scituate), Daniel Henchey (Holyoke), Jeanne Maciejewski (Westford), Jaehoon Sim (Salem), and Amy Lynn Warren (Newburyport)
Minnesota: John Bourdaghs (Stillwater), Joleen Bourdaghs (Stillwater), and Mark Sjobeck (Waite Park)
Mississippi: James T. Blanks, Jr. (Jackson) and Jeff Carter (Jackson)
New York: Jo A. Shapiro (Clifton)
Ohio: Timothy Blakenship (Willowick), Donald W. Phares (Canton), and Christopher M .Ward (Canton)
Pennsylvania: Heather A. Evans (Enola)
Tennessee: Billy Allen (Tullahoma), Nancy M. Batcheler (Murfreesboro), John G. Clark (Somerville), Donna Conner (Cookeville), Chris Maxwell (Jackson), and Bobbie Percer, Jr. (Millington)
Texas: Daniel J. Cripe (Gatesville), Carol Gardner (Richmond), George D. Johnson (Corpus Christi), and Bill Shaw (Carrollton)
Virginia: Raymond Ball (Springfield) and Kevin P. Smith (Herndon)
Virgin Islands: John Boyd (St. Croix)
Washington: Youssef Kazemi (Bellingham)
Recertification
Also in April, recertification was granted to 107 persons who had previsoulsy passed the the CED exam. The program requires periodic recertification to maintain CED status.
California: Bill Abbott (Pacific Palisades), John Christol (Saratoga), James Foasberg III (Long Beach), Stephen Green (West L.A.), Edward Morris (Vallejo), Donald Patton (El Centro), Scott Rowell (Lodi), Janis Sadler (Albany), and Nemi Thackerson (Manteca).
Colorado: Brad Ewing (Greeley) and Gregory Shea (Denver).
Connecticut: Paul Bagley (Plainfield), Grace McGrath (Waterbury), and Robert Trahan (Planfield).
Florida: Keith Houston (Cocoa), Kevin Houston (Cocoa), Kirti Patel (Orange Park), and Purnima Patel (Orange Park).
Georgia: Jame Ala (Stone Mountain).
Illinois: Dennis Lincicome (Urbana), Mark Purcell (Salem), and John Triebel (Peoria).
Indiana: Andrew Clayton (Evansville), Michael Clayton (Evansville), Marcella Fulkerson (Evansville), William Fulkerson (Evansville), Kathryn Ridley (Mt. Vernon), and Jennifer Simpson (Evansville).
Iowa: Jeffrey Lahey (Des Moines) and Craig Schmidt (Waterloo).
Kansas: Brian Gibber (Manhattan).
Lousiana: Robert J Bailey (Natchitorches), Jon Carmer (Monroe), and James Shepard (Ruston).
Maine: Dawn Smith (Bath).
Maryland: Todd Bailey (Crofton).
Massachusetts: Arthur Anton Jr. (Tewksbury), Soc Anton (Tewksbury), Dominic Ingemi (Canton), James Kokinis (Peabody), and Farshad Sayan (Charlestown).
Michigan: Paul White (Bay City).
Minnesota: Jerome Feriancek (Brainerd).
Missouri: George Drazic (Manchester), Rober Howard (Less Summitt), Lance Keller (Cape Girardea), Carey May (Kansas City), and Sandy Whyte (Montgomery).
Montana: Marc Topel (Missoula).
Nebraska: Bryon Deden (Omaha) and Douglas Deden (Omaha).
New Hampshire: Gregory Coronis (Nashua) and Richard Jette (Hampton).
New Jersey: William Brennan (Neshanic), Louis Cecchini (Sussex), and Steven Cohen (Tenafly).
New York: James Giaquint (Syracuse).
Ohio: Dennie L Bell (Sunbury), Paul Gelpi (Columbus), Robert Hurm (St Marys), Raymond Kroner (Cincinnati), Gerald Lehman Sr. (Springfield), Michael Nichols (Barbertown), Leon Oates (Kenton), Robert Reehorst (Westlake),and Greg Schwegmann (Cincinnati).
Oregon: Brian Olson (Portland).
Pennsylvania: Nancy Delp (Dallastown), Paul Galante (Allentown), Gary Greenholt (Hanover), Charles Hall (York), Robert La Rocca (Coraopolis), Lawrence Nicolais (Dunmore), Charles Temple (Quarryville), Joseph Weiss (Lancaster), and Thomas Weiss (Lancaster).
Rhode Island: Edmund Silva (Providence).
South Carolina: Leon Cooper Jr. (Columbia) and Leon Cooper (Columbia).
South Dakota: Lynn Landry (Rapid City) and Gene Willimas (Rapid City).
Tennessee: Britt Akers (Cookeville), William Baltzer (Columbia), Charles Bennett (Paris), Jesse Bond (Jackson), Philip Disser (Nashville), Barry Goss (Knox), Paul Green (Dyersburg), Jimmy Smith (Knoxville), Edward Vance (Nashville), John Williams (Nashville), and Ira Wruble (Memphis).
Texas: David Bolin (San Angelo), James Cripe (Temple), Thomas Kevin Keel (Ft. Worth), Noble McBride (Austin), and Alex Trevino (Corpus Christi).
Utah: Michael Horrall (Salt Lake) and Dave Kitches (Salt Lake).
Virginia: William Bohannon (Alexandria), Edward Thornhill (Salem), and Mitchell Wheeler (Roanoke).
Washington: Joy Humphreys (Vashon) and Dae Uh (Spokane).
West Virginia: Jame Dowdy (Weirton).
Wisconsin: Debra Nass (Wisconsin Rapids) and Donna Griesemer (Milwaukee).
NEW YORK NY -- Barbara Koffler of Valetaria Inc., Plantation, FL, was elected president of the Neighborhood Cleaners Association International at the associations Board of Directors meeting.
A native of Easton, PA, Koffler is the third generation of her family in the drycleaning business, her grandfather having started out with a plant in the 1930s. Her son, Steven Moffo, expects to carry on the family business. Her plant has been at its current location for 34 years and she has been an NCAI member throughout that time and served on the NCAI board for nine years.
First Vice President is Allen Clark of Ramsdell's Cleaners, Hamburg, NY. He and his wife, Audrey, bought a plant in 1956 which was originally established in 1928. Allen had just graduated from the National Institute of Drycleaning school. Their sir son, Allen, Jr., joined the family business in 1979. They have been NCAI members for 40 years and Allen has served as a member of the board since 1980.
Second Vice President is Anthony Vecere of 3-D Cleaners, Eastchester, NY. He and his wife, Joanne, and brother-in-law Paul Ranellone are second generation drycleaners. The business was started by Tony's father-in-law, Carmine Ranellone, in 1956 and his wife, Mary, still works in the store. 3-D Cleaners has been an NCAI member for 20 years and Tony has served on the board for five years.
Secretary is Jerry Levin of Linden Cleaners, Philadelphia, PA. He started working in the family business 30 years ago and is a third-generation drycleaner, a past president of the Delaware Valley NCAI chapter and an NCAI member for 25 years. He and his wife, Libby, and two children live in Philadelphia.
Treasurer is Alan Katz, of Nu Clear Cleaners, St. Albans, NY. He has been in the drycleaning business since 1973 and a member of NCAI throughout that time, serving on the association's board since 1985. He is also president of the New York City/Long Island NCAI Chapter, having been re-elected to a second term in 1997. Katz will continue to serve as chairman of the finance committee.
He resides in Merrick, Long Island, NY, with his wife, Myrna, and daughter. In addition to his industry activities, he is a certified paramedic and has been a strong community affairs volunteer for many years.
Marta R. Nixon of Greeley, CO, who was active in the drycleaning industry for more than 25 years, died in March at age 55 after a lengthy illness.
She and her husband, Jim, whom she married in 1964, moved to Greeley in 1971 to open a One-Hour Martinizing drycleaning plant. Later they bought Nu-Way Cleaners in Loveland and Foothills Cleaners in Ft. Collins and had recently purchased Anna's Alterations in Greeley.
She was instrumental in the organization of the Rocky Mountain Fabricare Association in 1987 and held various association offices, including two terms as president from 1994-96. She remained a member of the RMFA executive committee and was chairperson of the board at the time of her death.
She was also involved in International Fabricare Institute board of directors activities during the time that her husband service as IFI president. She was honored with a distinguished served award from IFI in 1995, presented by then-IFI president Wade Elam, in recognition of her contributions to the IFI board as social activities director.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by a daughter, Mary Marta Ewing; a grandson, Brandon James Ewing; and a son-in-law, Brad Ewing. She is also survived by her parents, a brother and a sister.
The RMFA board of directors will provide an annual Marta Nixon Memorial Scholarship award to RMFA for tuition to an IFI resident course in Silver Spring, MD.
The board will also annually honor an RMFA member as Drycleaner of the Year in memory of Marta Nixon.
Details about both programs will be announced later by RMFA. For information, call the association, (303) 433-4446.
Fausto A. "Lucky" Amatore, 52, died May 6 in Lehigh Valley, PA, hospital from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
He and his wife, Lynn, were owners of Lehigh Valley Dry Cleaning for the past 12 years with four locations in the area. The company received the Nazareth Area Chamber of Commerce Award of Excellence in 1995.
Amatore was president-elect of the Pennsylvania Drycleaners Launderers Association, a board member of the Lehigh Valley Professional Dry Cleaners Guild and a member of the International Fabricare Institute.
He was a past president of the Nazareth Area Chamber of Commerce and chaired various Chamber of Commerce committees. He was also a member of the Twin Rivers Area Chamber of Commerce. Among his many other activities and interests, he served for the past two years as secretary of the Bushkill Valley Motorcycle Club and was a member of the Hugh Moore Historical Park and Museum and served on the Canal Festival committee. He was also a member of Holy Family Catholic Church in Nazareth.
Born in 1944 in Siracusa, Sicily, he was the son of the late Santo and Paola Amatore. Prior to entering the drycleaning business, he was a district supervisor of H.C. Boerner's in New York City for 15 years.
In addition to his wife, with whom he celebrated his 31st wedding anniversary last year; he is survived by two daughters and a son; four brothers, five sisters; and a granddaughter.
The Pennsylvania Drycleaners Launderers Association has established a memorial scholarship to IFI as a tribute to his devotion to the industry, the trade association, and to education.
The year was 1951 and Sanitone's patent for a "charge system" method of cleaning clothes had just run out.
My plant in Fort Meade had been using this method of cleaning since 1948 with excellent results in water-soluble stain removal and insoluble soil removal, and the solvent we used was Stoddard petroleum 105 degreesF flash point. We distilled all of our extractions and we used powdered carbon in our filter's precoat.
Then Adco and Street chemical and soap/detergent manufacturers were the first to jump on the bandwagon by using the charge system formerly controlled by Sanitone.
The Sanitone method was a single-bath, 1 percent charge with a measured amount of water injected into the cleaning bath in the form of a mist or cloud. The mahogany oil-based detergent became soluble in solvent and the water was partially dissolved into the solvent/detergent solution and also partially emulsified with that solution.
The Adco system was somewhat similar to Sanitone's single bath system.
Before 1951, all chemical companies were marketing a true soap which was not solvent-soluble. The soap was mixed with solvent and water in various proportions and was added to the drycleaning washer for a batch run (no filter) for 10 minutes. Then the batch run was sent through the filter for 10 to 15 minutes.
Since the added soap-solvent-water emulsion (milky) was not solvent-soluble it would not pass through the filter's powder precoat. This ran up the filter pressure and after only a few loads the filter's precoat had to be removed and replaced with a fresh precoat.
Because of this cleaning procedure, the Sanitone charge system was by far the best available and other manufacturers knew it.
Now comes R. R. Street with the answer to water-soluble soil removal by what they called the strong soap wash with a filter rinse, or "two bath cleaning system."
The wash bath was charged with 4 percent solvent-soluble drycleaning detergent to which water was added in amounts of 1 ounce per pound of clothes (minimum). This was solubulized into the solvent/detergent with the formation of micelles producing both negative and positive charges to hold the chain together.
Now that the water was solubilized, it could remove water-borne spots without any damage to the fabrics.
Since the 4 percent detergent bath was too oily for the fabrics, it had to be diluted to a percentage under 2 percent. Hence, the second bath of lightly charged solvent (from the still and clean tank) to rinse the soap from the fabrics. At first, a second filter was used for the rinse cycle, but later the second filter was dropped since all the soil had been removed by the first soap bath (filtered). All that was needed was a batch rinse to dilute the strong soap charge.
Adco then followed with their similar system.
A little later, both Street and Adco came out with an extractor rinse as the second bath since most equipment consisted of a "belly washer" and separate extractor.
When the American Laundry Machinery Co. came out with its three-pocket washer-extractor called "American True Clean," the second filter was again used for the rinse cycle. However, this was again dropped in favor of a second batch run of a few minutes to dilute the four percent charge.
We used this machine with great success by cleaning the hard finish wool military uniforms, using water amounts of 1 to 1 1Ž4 ounce per pound of garments with no shrinkage or fabric damage. Spotting was greatly reduced (post spotting with no pre-spotting except for vegetable oil and animal fats, which petroleum solvents cannot remove.
The four percent charge automatically charged the distilled rinse bath to almost 2 percent by the time it was pumped over to the wash tank to replenish the four percent charge.
Consequently, the supply cost to run this two-bath system is just a little more than maintaining the 1.5 percent single-bath charge that I presently use and recommended in my article "Remove Spots in the Cleaning Machine," August, 1988 (Copies available on request from National Clothesline).
An airline's dilemma
In 1987, I was approached by Piedmont Airlines, headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina (later purchased by U.S. Airways) to solve its serious problem of removing food and beverage stains on 100-percent wool seat covers. Several chemical companies' drycleaning processes had been tried using both charge anionic detergent) and injection (cationic detergent) with either added water or compounded with water.
Although some of the stains and all general soils were removed, Piedmont was hoping to get more than 90 percent stain removal, which it was not receiving from the various processes.
Costly labor
The reason for the goal of over 90 percent stain removal was the fact that aircraft mechanics were running the drycleaning operation in the Piedmont maintenance division. A minimum wage of $19 per hour was being paid to these mechanics for trying to remove the stains on a spotting board after cleaning.
Prespotting was tried but soon discarded since there were mountains of seat covers to be processed and it was impossible for an inexperienced spotter to distinguish between what is removable in the machine from what is removable on the spotting board.
Piedmont went to one of the most professional cleaners in the Greensboro area for advice. I was recommended to solve the problem since I was not employed by a chemical manufacturing company and I was a former chief instructor at the International Fabricare Institute and, at that time, current chief instructor at the school operated by the Texas Laundering and Drycleaning Association (now the southwest Drycleaners Association) and I taught drycleaning technology and stain removal procedures.
How I solved the problem
The Piedmont plant was equipped with two 65-lb. drycleaning machines complete with a large still, cartridge filters (four tubes holding four jumbo all-carbon splits each), refrigerated condenser, two pumps and four base tanks (capacity of about 50 gallons of perc each).
A spotting board with steam, water, air and vacuum was installed. A 100-pound scale and several carts and baskets on casters were also there.
When I received my assignment from Piedmont, I immediately called the only chemical company not previously involved in the cleaning projects and told the director of research and operations how I wanted to solve this problem. The necessary detergents for the project were shipped immediately to Piedmont and the local technician was told to meet me at the airport along with the Piedmont maintenance director.
I ordered a premium anionic detergent full strength, with a neutral pH waster dispersing agent. My plan was to charge tanks #1 and #2 at four percent detergent, use tank #3 as a rinse tank lightly charged and tank #4 to receive the distilled solvent from the (continuous) still.
As the work tank #1 (4% charge) became depleted, I would pump over the lightly charged solvent from tank #3 (titrated at 1.7% to 2% charge) to tank #1 and added enough detergent (usually about two ounces per gallon of solvent) to bring it up to four percent. This was determined later by me after several titrations.
I loaded the machines with 55 pounds of wool seat covers, which was a 10-pound underload for each machine. The machines were, at first, to run manually and then to operate by automated punch card after optimum times were established.
After several experimental runs for minimum but effective running times, the formula shown in the chart on the preceding page was cut into the cards.
Note: A water stock solution of 10 parts water to one part water dispersion agent was prepared and it was added to the wash cycle after a high solvent level was reached in the cylinder.
Piedmont told me that the labor cost of cleaning and spotting seat covers far exceeded the manufacturing labor cost of $2.75 per seat cover ($19 per hour, minimum, for cleaning and spotting using aircraft mechanics).
Well, to everyone's pleasant surprise, only about 10 seat covers had stains on them after almost eight hours of cleaning many loads. They decided to discard those 10 seat covers rather than spotting them.
Not just seat covers
Since the latest revision to the care label rule says that unless drycleaning is forbidden by the words: "Do Not" or "No" in the instructions, the garment may be assumed to be drycleanable.
Although your detergent cost will be higher than running a 1.3 percent to 1.5 percent charge system, the four percent, two-bath system will accept much more water safely on all but loosely-knitted garments or loosely twisted yarns on soft finish woolen garments.
Other fibers and fabrics of silk, rayon, linen, thermoplastic and hard-finish wool will clean safely in the four percent charge with about one ounce per pound of water stock solution.
However, all the requirements set forth in my August, 1988, article must be met before the use of any water stock additions are used.
Cycle Description Solvent Time Temp Remarks
No. Level (Minutes)
1 Wash High 14.0 -- Add 1.25 oz/lb.
of water stock
solution
2 Drain -- 2.50 -- To work tank
3 Drain -- 1.0 -- To still
4 Extract 3.00 -- To still
(over100G)
5 Rinse High 2.00 -- From Tank #2,
Batch
6 Drain -- 3.00 -- To Tank #2
7 Extract -- 3.25 -- To Tank #2
(over 100G)
8 Dry/Reclaim -- 17.25 140F Out Would use
Solvent Sensor
165F In
If available
9 Cool Down -- 8.25 To 135F(-) Steam off,
cylinder reverse.
End temp 125F
to 135F
Fan on
10 Fluff -- 0.75 -- Cylinder
Reverse.
Steam Off
11 End signal -- -- -- Unload
In this series on quality I am trying to stress the importance of pressing or, for a more correct term, "finishing."
Quality of course, takes on a special meaning in all phases of fabric restoration. First there is the obvious, such as making the garment stain-free, soil-free and odor-free. But what catches the eye is always finishing and the wrinkle-free garment. That is what we look for when we purchase a new garment and the most important thing a clothing manufacturer strives for in order to sell that garment.
Very few drycleaners are aware that a clothing manufacturer uses more than 25 different shape pressers to finish a garment. True, many are for production purposes, but many are used to "correct" what the cutter, designer or seamstress has done wrong.
Yet we in the drycleaning industry, or a better term, the fabric restoration business, are asked to restore with no less than two or three different shapes. We also have to contend with production demands or there would be little or no profit.
This article deals with our most popular garment -- pants. Whether you believe it or not, pants make up more than 50 percent of our volume, and even more in southern climates or summer months.
The largest abuse of time and production starts with the improper preparation in setting up the pants station.
Let's start with cleanliness. That means wiping clean yesterday's dust, lint, etc., including that dusty overhead light that may not been have cleaned since it was installed.
Next, where are your hangers, pins, whisk broom and pleating block?
Are all your presses equipped with a steam iron and an overhanging water gun?
Does your operator have a fatigue mat?
Does the operator have to take two or three steps for every piece or can he or she simply reach or pivot?
Where are your feeder lines? What is your ventilation? Are your steam lines insulated? How about the overhead exhaust fans? The savings come not only from higher production but also on hourly wage.
Press padding almost requires a separate column, but the importance of faster steam and, still more important, faster and more efficient removal of moisture from the finished garment is perhaps our most often overlooked fault.
Crisp and sharp finishing only comes about with total drying and steam removal. Inspect an old order. If you see a rippled lapel or pocket flap, you will know the vacuum time was shortened or non-existent. This is exacerbated by the rising moisture in floor-to-ceiling conveyors and the moisture retained in plastic bags.
I once surveyed a plant and counted a total of seven steps to pick up a hanger, return to the press, pick-up the pants, and then walk to and hang up the pants. What made this more amazing was the fact that this waste was multiplied by two other pressers. And all were on an hourly wage! When asked "Why?" I was simply told, "We always did it that way!
What could have been done? Start out by using a "banana type" hook over a pants horse so the spotter loads up from the bottom hook upwards whereby most wrinkles fall out and no new ones are added on the bottom from the load weight.
Next, look for an operator "ceiling gazing" and eliminate that wasteful practice when the press is closed and steam and vacuuming are functioning.
No production minded plant could allow that waste. For that very reason, the smart plant owner installs "tandem units" where the operator simply pivots and turns to an adjoining press while loading or final finishing the first piece.
I don't much care if that second press is a topper blower (which of course is not a press) but a preparer or topper for pants or a mushroom puffer.
The most ideal unit is a mushroom pants topper press. The operator again can set up the timers to release and coordinate the production with his legger press. I speak of a legger utility which has the width and length for doing a pants leg with one lay for front and back crease and never a chance for a double crease (unless it was pressed by a drycleaning competitor whose work you have the job of correcting).
Now with the right equipment, an operator can achieve the following: first topping the pants on a blower/topper with pressurized pleat paddles; load and top pants, set up steam/air cycle; then lay-out on legger press, (but don't press first pants) but set-up second pants and while that cycle is going through, complete and hang the first pants. Now, the cycle goes on.
Some 25 years ago, I was able to instruct and witness two high school seniors with absolutely no experience using the above method. They pressed some 25 pants per hour the first week, 40 to 50 the second week, and stabilized the production to 55 pants per hour thereafter, with an improved and consistent quality.
They were put on piece work and were paid five cents a pants the first week. If they showed any dexterity and conscientiousness, they were kept on and were increased to eight cents a pair the second week, then finally elevated to 10 cents a pair as the final rate.
Not bad -- $5.50 an hour 25 years ago, for a part-time after-school position. The average retail price of a suit cleaned was $4.25.
The important thing is that the bottle neck of pants production was totally eliminated, quality was increased and all with lower costs.
Any system -- spotting, pressing, you name it -- is only as good as that all important step, the Final Inspection. (For my fail-safe method, send $5 to my address below for a copy of "The Final Inspector.")
Next month's article will offer a fail-safe method of perfect solvent maintenance that produces whiter whites, saves solvent and offers the use of germicides or bacteriastats for total germ- and odor-free drycleaning, plus the means to promote the fact that it is "A service only provided at your neighborhood drycleaner, your clothes best friend!"
Manufacturers use different fibers in making a fabric so that the good qualities of the fabric are emphasized and poor quality is minimized.
Manufacturers try to obtain better hand, feel, texture and fabric appearance.
For example, a small amount of rayon may give luster and softness to a better fabric. Polyester may give wrinkle resistance to a cotton. Rayon and acetate fabrics are blended for a desired look, feel and hand that cannot be obtained if not blended.
Rayon and acetate can be used in most woven and knit fabrics including taffeta, gabardine, satin and crepe. Rayon and acetate are used primarily for women's garments and household fabrics.
Fabric problems
Rayon and acetate may provide a unique feel and look to the garment but the fabric possesses the weaknesses of both fibers.
Rayon. The yarn is subject to shrinkage, especially when the yarn is twisted, stretched or sized. This can occur from contact with water, heat and mechanical action.
Acetate. The fiber is subject to fume fading (atmospheric gases) and has poor resistance to light. Acetate is also easily discolored by alcohol. Therefore, the fabric can be discolored in normal wear from contact with perfume, cologne and deodorant.
Acetate is also dissolved by acetone, which is commonly found in nail polish remover and some glues. In spotting, acetate can be discolored from contact with oily type paint remover and water, general formula and strong acetone.
Dye loss
The rayon and acetate fabric may have poor dye fastness. This means the dyes can dissolve when drycleaned or wetcleaned.
Inspection
Examine garment for fume or light fading and discoloration. Fume fading can occur while a garment hangs in a closet from gases in the atmosphere. Dark colors may appear reddish and can be noticed by comparing exposed areas to unexposed areas.
Examine underarm and collar areas for discoloration due to perfume and deodorants.
Examine fancy dresses for possible staining from liquor and other hard drinks.
Identification
A positive identification of acetate can be obtained by cutting out a small fabric sample from an unexposed seam and applying a few drops of acetone or nail polish remover. Acetate will soften and dissolve, leaving the remaining fibers which can be assumed to be rayon. Subjected to the burn test, the sample will melt and the fabric used will continue to glow when the flame is extinguished.
Prespotting
Allow all wetside spotting agents to dry before drycleaning. Use the precaution outlined in potting.
Drycleaning
Test rayon and acetate fabrics by wiping with a cheese cloth dampened with a volatile dry solvent. Note dye transfer to cheese cloth.
Solvent temperature must be kept between 75degrees and 80degrees F. Hot solvent promotes shrinkage, wrinkles and color loss.
Dryclean according to the look of the fabric.
Silk. 3 to 5 minutes; no moisture added, dry at l2O degrees F.
Soft knits. Same as silk, but place loose knits in a net bag.
Taffeta. l to 3 minutes; no moisture, short extraction and dry at l2O degrees F.
Satin. Same as taffeta, but place in a net bag inside out.
Spotting
The acetate fiber is sensitive to any spotting agent that releases alcohol, e.g., oily type paint remover and water; general formula.
Strong acetic acid (over 28%) is damaging to acetate. Caution must be used even when using acetic at 28%. When heated, the chemical action of acetic acid increases. Every l8 degrees F doubles the chemical action.
When spotting, hold the steam gun 4 inches from the fabric and observe if bleeding occurs onto cheesecloth. Bleeding indicates that spotting contamination is a risk.
Wetcleaning
Rayon and acetate cannot be assumed to be safe in wetcleaning. Wetclean according to labeling instructions. Test colors by flushing the fabric onto cheesecloth and note any dye transfer. Always use cool water and mild detergent.
Rinse thoroughly and hang to dry.
Avoid extraction which can wrinkle the fabric.
Finishing
Rayon and acetate require less moisture, heat and pressure than silk or all-rayon fabrics. Do not use excessive pressure and heat when pressing on seam areas or areas of double thickness.
Avoid spraying with water; shrinkage may occur.
Satin and taffeta may also discolor and deluster when spraying with water and steaming.
The drycleaner's internet, made up of some 400 drycleaners and allied trades people, has filled a gap in communications among drycleaners throughout the world.
One of the features of this forum is that questions can be answered instantly, or within hours, when knowing people read the questions and volunteer answers based on their experience.
Two people are most responsible for this forum that serves the purpose of providing various information about everything.
This highly sophisticated program was created on a strictly volunteer basis by David Spensley, who has been a long time contributor to the industry. His background takes him from a family drycleaning business in Iowa, to an R.R. Street & Co. executive, to a machinery distributor and now he is involved with a plant in northern California. Dave Spensley is truly a drycleaning hero.
Another major supporter is none other than the editor of the National Clothesline, who has volunteered his efforts to assist Spensley. Hal Horning helps track membership, reports major current events and is a constant supporter of the industry. The service is free and neither Dave nor Hal receive payment for their extra curricular work.
And then there are the folks on the net who constantly provide information and ideas, sometimes thought provoking comments, or a joke or two to brighten our day.
One of these contributors, Ed Roth, is a successful drycleaner, a former New York City school teacher and a board member of the Neighborhood Cleaners Association International. Recently, Ed wrote a question to the drycleaner's group on the net titled, "What's It All About, Alfie?" Many people responded as to why they are in the business, what their goals are, and some reported on their hardships.
Now I'd like to tell you what I did to change things when I thought about Ed Roth's question, "What's It All About?" It made me think about what I considered my personal position and what I'm doing to realize my goals.
I'm an avid seminar attendee and have gone to some of the most expensive seminars ever run and always get my money's worth, even if it's just one good idea.
I attended Joe Sugarman's (of BluBlocker Sunglasses) five-day seminar many years ago. We worked day and night to learn the secrets of direct response marketing. It was there I met a most successful business entrepreneur and outstanding person, Ted Nicholas. He was already a huge success and was still willing to take a week out of his life to learn new and different ideas.
Then I went to a seminar in Utah, conducted by Jay Abraham, who is considered the world's greatest marketing genius. I picked up one idea among many that earned me many dollars over the years.
About four years ago, Ted Nicholas ran a very expensive seminar in Florida and our Bill Bishop attended this week long, 12-hour-a-day meeting and came back with unlimited ideas about how to write copy and market ideas.
Some years later, I heard of a seminar being run by a Dr. Craig Hane, a former professor at the University of Indiana. Hane's subject was the teaching of Dr. Edward Deming, the business management consultant who taught the Japanese how to make quality products and how to manage business right after World War II.
He had been turned down by major American companies but in later years, was very much in demand by the same corporations who had turned him down 40 years earlier. Deming died a few years ago at age 93 and was still teaching and writing at the age of 92.
Dr. Hane was a student of the Deming business methods and he taught things that were new to me and my associate, Bill Bishop, who attended with me. We learned about empowering people to do a job within certain limitations as long as they stayed within a specified range.
We learned about exponential growth and I found this of great value and have practiced this method ever since.
And we learned how to evaluate our own business and that's what the rest of this report will be about.
Please read what Dr. Hane had to say on this subject and the questions that follow. Study the first 10 questions and answer them as honestly as you can. I'm proud to say that I passed the first 10 questions with a straight "A." Then I came to Question 11 and this started me off on a course that is continuing as I write.
Here's hoping that you are on the right track and, if not, now is the time to make a change in your thinking and planning.
There has been much discussion in the business press in recent years about the imperative of transforming the management of our businesses to meet the conditions of the modern world.
People like Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Ichak Adizes, Peter Senge, Steven Covey, William Davidow, Alvin Toffler, and many others have written extensively on the necessity of transforming our businesses.
What this generally implies is the adoption of a new management theory or system, or the adoption of specific policies or management techniques.
In my opinion, it is not enough to follow blindly the advice of some guru since you and your business will be the most profoundly affected by a transformation. Only you and your business colleagues can determine if such a transformation is appropriate for your business.
To aid you in this deliberation and decision, I hereby present you with 16 questions I feel are vital in making the decision. Please take the time to fully and correctly answer these questions. They only matter to you and are vitally important to your future.
The answers to these first 10 questions are probably "relative" and they probably change from time to time. If, by and large, the answer is a "qualified yes" to most of these 10 questions, then you are to be congratulated on having a successful business.
There is no doubt you have dedicated considerable effort in reaching this position. I can assure you that you are in a minority among business owners if you have answered "yes" to the above 10 questions.
If you are satisfied with your answers and, if you are satisfied with your involvement in the business, the chances are high that you do not desire a transformation.
However, if one or more of the above questions is a significant problem in your operation, then you may want to consider some type of a transformation.
And now, six considerably more difficult questions.
11. What happens to your business if you die, now?
12. Is your business independent of you?
13. Is your business an investment in your portfolio or is your business a prison that has you trapped?
14. Are you running the business or is the business running you?
15. Do you have adequate time for long range strategic planning, contemplation and analysis of those aspects of the business that only a CEO is in a position to consider?
16. Do you have plenty of time for other activities, either other business activities or non-business activities?
These last six questions are more difficult and problematical for most business owners. If you are able also to answer all six of those questions to your satisfaction, I cannot see much point in your making any type of business transformation.
If your business is successful and independent of you, then you are in a very rare minority and should be heartily congratulated.
Prespotting of heavily soiled suedes, leathers and cloth combinations can be reduced by using the Soil Go Soil Release Batch Additive in the drycleaning machine.
The additive can be injected into the machine if it has an injector or it can be poured into or dispensed by squeezing a dispenser bottle filled with the batch additive into the wheel after loading the heavily soiled articles into the wheel and before closing the door and starting the cleaning cycle.
The obvious advantage of using the batch additive is that it lets the machine do the work on heavily soiled items, the saving time and labor spent applying prespotter to the garment and applying mechanical action to it by scrubbing and tamping with a spotting brush on the spotting board.
The soil release batch additive is also highly effective in releasing soils and stains from cloth as well as from suede or leather, making it especially useful for garments that combine cloth and suede or leather. That includes not only cloth items trimmed with Suede and Leather, but also Suede and Leather Items with heavily soiled cloth linings.
Of course, the soil release batch additive can also be used to clean up heavily soiled cloth items in regular drycleaning, again saving the time, effort and cost of spraying with the prespotter and scrubbing with a brush.
The batch additive can remove heavy soil from suede, leather and cloth combinations in the machine without causing color loss, dye bleeding, stiffening of the skins or contamination of the system.
As its name implies, the batch additive is used on a batch cleaning cycle to release soil from the garment into suspension in the cleaning fluid.
A batch cleaning cycle permits the additive to work in concentrated form with minimal dilution in the cleaning fluid for maximum soil removal during the cleaning cycle. This means as little as one ounce of the additive per 10 pounds of dry weight of items being cleaned can do the job in approximately five minutes of batch run time.
The additive will release soil from the garment and put it into suspension in the cleaning fluid which is then filtered or dumped to a still at the end of the five minute batch run.
Batch cleaning means that the garments are cleaned in only a small portion of the drycleaning fluid that the drycleaning machine holds.
In older machines, batch cleaning means placing the garment and additive in the drycleaning machine, then filling the wheel to a low level with drycleaning fluid. The pump is turned off before the drycleaning fluid flows over the level control device and into the button trap.
The garments are then cleaned for five minutes in the small amount of drycleaning fluid in the wheel containing the additive. Then the pump is turned back on and the cleaning cycle is completed.
In newer machines, a batch cycle is either built into the control system or the machine may run on batch on every load as the wheel is filled with drycleaning fluid that is then "milled" from the wheel to the button trap to the filter and back to the wheel, instead of back to the base tank.
If possible, the filter should be by-passed for the batch wash cycle. On many machines, the additive may be injected automatically into the wheel at the start of the cycle and the drycleaning fluid then filtered or dropped to a still at the end of the batch cycle.
Note: The drycleaning fluid used with the additive must contain the proper concentration of the Royaltone Detergent Plus conditioner or color loss may occur.
Soil Go Soil Release and Royaltone Detergent Plus are trademarked products manufactured and sold through supply distributors.What is the "position" of your store in the eyes of the consumer? What position do you want it to occupy?
Are you a "gourmet" drycleaner with exceptional quality and correspondingly high prices? Are you a "wham-bam, thank you ma'am" cleaner with cut-rate prices? Or are you somewhere in between?
The choice is yours. It really doesn't matter what position you choose as long as you are making a conscious choice. Don't become so involved in the day-to-day operations of your business that others (your competitors and ultimately the consumers), make this choice for you.
You need to always be aware of your position, the position of your competitors, and whether you are occupying the position you desire.
Although it is easier to move into a desired position on Day One (the day you open for business, provided the store does not carry the same name as another nearby, with an already established reputation), a savvy business person can control the positioning of the store.
First you must be realistic and understand who you are. Are you, your employees and your equipment capable of producing the finest quality cleaning in your area?
If the answer is "No," then you cannot be the premier cleaner in your town.
Do you have the machinery necessary to do a really large volume of clothes, with accompanying low overhead expenses?
If the answer here is "No," then you cannot be the lowest priced cleaner in town and still make a reasonable profit.
There is nothing wrong with falling somewhere in between provided you understand what your position is in relation to your competitors and as long as your prices relate to the quality of your services in the same proportion.
Many cleaners like to flatter themselves by saying, "I don't worry about the competition." I'm not suggesting that you "worry" about the competition. But I am saying that in order to protect and maintain your own position you must constantly be aware of competitors, who they are and what they are doing.
Besides having a comprehensive understanding of where we are, we can never lose sight of where we want to be.
Don't spend a lot of money and effort trying to be something you don't really want to be. Don't try to assume the position of the finest professional cleaner in your area unless you are willing to provide the dedication and charge the necessary fees to fill this position. Otherwise, you're destined for extinction.
The Avis car rental company is a classic example of seeing a realistic position and occupying it. The company knew that the giant Hertz corporation was too well entrenched for them to move in and take away the #1 position overnight. So Avis admitted being only #2 and developed the "We Try Harder" slogan. It may have been a tough stance to take, but in the long run, it made millions for Avis because the customer knows what is really going on whether it is acknowledged or not.
Seven-Up took a different, although equally successful, approach. There was little hope of displacing Coca-Cola as the #1 soft drink, so Seven-Up sidestepped Coke altogether by calling itself the Un-cola. This worked great and gave Seven-Up a position in the soft-drink market that will be difficult to displace.
Always be alert for an unfilled position. Maintain sufficient reserves so that when you see a consumer need, such as smoke damage restoration, you have the capability to occupy this position, either as an addition to the your current one or as a separate entity.
Union Carbide used this approach, after some stumbling, by calling its alkaline power cell battery the "Energizer" as opposed to the Eveready Alkaline Power Cell. Eveready occupied a respectable, but different, position in the battery market.
Never stop doing all of the good things you have done to become successful, even after you have achieved your original goals -- the hand-written "Thank You" cards, the personal attention to "the little things" in each customer's order.
We all have a USP (Unique Selling Position) whether it is a different price point or faster service or whatever. We must convince our customers that our USP is what they need to help them lead a better and higher quality life.
Simply saying that you are the best is not enough. You must position your store in the customer's mind so that when someone moves into your area and asks a neighbor, "What cleaner should I go to?" your store will be the answer.
Do you ever get the feeling that you are working harder and getting less in return? What's going on here? There are three major conditions that you have no control over that are making it more and more difficult to operate a successful drycleaning business today. These conditions are: A drycleaning market that is flat or stagnant.
To be successful in 1997 and beyond these issues must be addressed.
The economy in the United States is growing at a snails pace of 1 to 2 percent a year while many of the world economies are growing from 10 to 13 percent. This slow economic growth rate coupled with the shifting job market (more people working at home), casual dress in the workplace and the downsizing of our large corporations means that the "demand" for drycleaning is not growing. Simply put, the theory of "supply and demand" tells us that when there is more supply (or more drycleaning capacity) than there is demand, prices will come down.
Under normal circumstances a progressive dry-cleaner can compensate for a flat market by aggressively promoting the business and by proactively providing the customer with excellent service.
Unfortunately, circumstances are not normal because of a very tight labor market. This means that when your promotion is successful you will be forced to pay overtime premiums to get the work out on time because additional employees are not available.
Every day I talk to people throughout the country and the most frequent comment I hear is, "I can't get any help." This is a national problem and there is no relief in sight.
The bottom 3%
Unemployment is currently below 5 percent. Three percent unemployment is considered full employment because three percent of the people looking for work are people who cannot hold a job. You know what I'm talking about because you have interviewed, and on a few occasions, hired some of these people. We've bee, there and done thatŠ when we reach 5 percent unemployment we are actually experiencing a 2 percent rate of unemployment.
Today the public school systems are not producing high school graduates who are prepared to enter the work force. The majority of high school graduates who are suitable for employment are not entering the job market, instead opting to continue their education.
Today's labor pool
The drycleaning industry does not require college educated people. The drycleaning industry does require intelligent people who are willing and able to think and work hard. Our public schools are not fulfilling the needs of the students or the American economy as a whole. This means you will need to spend more time and money on training marginal employees if you want to remain in this business.
The other source for productive employees is legal immigrants. Once again, our government has let us down by restricting immigration to 900,000 people a year. Without a competent labor pool to draw from we become caught in the "supply and demand" web again. A high demand for semi-skilled labor and a small supply of competent individuals equals higher wages.
At this point we are facing a flat demand for drycleaning services and a shrinking supply of competent employees. This means that we are now entering the "vicious cycle syndrome."
You need to increase wages to keep competent people. Where will the money to do this come from? It will either come from the customer, in the form of increased prices, or directly out of your pocket. This, of course, assumes that everyone in your plant is productive.
Increasing productivity or lowering your quality standards are the only other ways to "pay" for wage increases. Nobody said it was easy to manage a drycleaning business but nobody said it would be this hard, either.
The market is flat and good people are getting harder and harder to find and what happensŠ a new drycleaner opens down the street or an old drycleaner opens a drop store down the street. This results in taking a flat market and cutting it into smaller pieces. The new store takes a little from everybody.
Furthermore, conventional wisdom tells the new guy to attract customers with coupons and low prices. Let the price wars begin! The only winner in this picture is the customer who gets lower prices.
A new cleaner recently opened a plant in my area. The plant opened where there were already too many drycleaners. This new plant does shirts for 90 cents and immediately took some customers from each of the other six drycleaners.
Within three weeks, the established drycleaners were doing 89-cent shirts and discounting all other work up to 25 percent.
The drycleaning market in this particular area cannot support seven drycleaners. None of these drycleaners will have the piece count or the price per piece that is necessary to break even.
Unfortunately, most of these drycleaners are so busy fighting for their business lives that they don't have time to look at what is happening. Eventually, a few of these drycleaners will go out of business the hard, slow, painful way -- their companies will bleed to death.
Because the drycleaning business is easy and relatively inexpensive to enter, inexperienced competition with low prices will always exist. Enough of the doom and gloom... with the right attitude, every challenge can become an opportunity.
The economic reality in this country is that the gap between those who are well off and those who are not is getting wider. This means that the 15 to 20 percent of drycleaners who can see that the market will continue to change and who are willing to develop a plan to meet the changing market will prosper.
To develop a plan for your business you must first determine where the drycleaning customers are today and where they will be in five and 10 years from now.
Next, you must determine where the "trainable" employees will be and how they will get to your plant.
The drycleaning consumer in this country is becoming more sophisticated and more demanding every year. Also, the true drycleaning customers, the ones who use your services on a weekly basis, are more concerned with the quality of service and the quality of work than they are with price.
New methods needed
The old methods of hiring and training people are becoming more inadequate every day. The available work force is now made up of "discouraged workers" and people who have entered the work force due to welfare reform.
The drycleaners who will prosper in the years to come will be the ones who have the foresight and patience to train and work closely with these people. The planning and development of this program must start immediately. This program must be developed with the help and understanding of your current staff. This program must also include the promise of a better future for those who make it through the training.
Next month I will outline the training program of the future and the potential for establishing a central plant to feed dry stores and routes. Until then, remember, in the game of business, the more you know, the better you can play the game.
Last month I reported on a renovation project I was involved with in my own store.
This month I would like to update you on the last stages of this project, which I am happy to say is now complete. Hopefully I can share some experience and insight for anyone thinking of taking on this kind of challenge.
I am pleased to report that we are receiving wonderful compliments from customers, suppliers and other business acquaintances. I am confident the word is beginning to spread far and wide that there is a first-class cleaner in the neighborhood. The positive effects I believe are beginning to snowball in positive publicity for us that will certainly filter down to greater profits.
In the midst of all the negative image and publicity most of us are familiar with in recent times, I think improving your image is very timely. For those who are tired of cleaners being attacked from all sides, a positive image seems to be sorely needed. As they say, you never have a second chance to create a good first impression.
As we progressed in our project, it seemed to take on a life of its own. Every improvement made it apparent how old and run down we looked to customers. I became embarrassed to see how bad everything looked compared to the shiny new improvements. Add-ons became an every day occurrence despite careful planning. Regardless of how detailed your groundwork may be, there are things you will overlook. An additional 20 percent on top of your initial budget should be no surprise.
Basics and extras
Here are some of the basic costs and extra details you may incur. I suggest starting with counters since this will be the centerpiece of your design.
Plan on spending anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 here. You can chose factory-made or design your own custom cabinetwork with a local shop. We went with a totally custom design. Do not forget the counter racks and bag holders in your cost estimate.
Next the flooring can be anything from carpet to vinyl tile to hardwood to ceramic. Expect to spend anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on how extravagant you want to be.
At this stage, samples of your counter colors will help you chose the floor color and it is time to move to the walls. Here you can go from the low end of paint up to wallpaper, paneling or real wood. We chose a combination of oak wainscotting that matches our counters, some wallpaper, and a section of paint. Here you can expect to spend from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.
The real showpiece in our project is a 10-foot by 10-foot mural. We incorporated a story of our three generations of experience by depicting a recreation of my grandfather's store in the 1930s with myself fitting a woman in a Victorian setting. I included my grandfather, father and my wife looking on.
You can become as creative as you like with this type of decor. I started by going to the library researching the clothing of the time and chose the proper dress for the subjects in our mural. The library is an endless source for ideas.
One of the most cluttered areas in a store front that has a tailor can be the sewing threads and supplies. We had a custom cabinet built to enclose a thread bed purchased from an industry supplier. It looks professional while being very functional. Here again an extra few hundred dollars were needed.
As we progressed to this stage, miscellaneous trim work was required to finish off the rough edges. This extra millwork added a few hundred more dollars to the cost. Now we realized how dingy our ceiling looked and unexpectedly had to replace the ceiling tiles. This again added a few hundred dollars to the project.
Now you may wonder how you can justify this cost. I will expand on my theory that I discussed last month.
Our old store front lasted 18 years. With this type of longevity you can justify your cost to about $1,000 per year. If you can not project a return on this investment, let's look at how many in our industry are reacting to their frustration with slumping sales.
We all know how popular price-cutting has become, especially the 99-cent shirt. Let us suppose that you process 1,000 shirts per week. We currently charge $1.60 per shirt. By matching the 99-cent competitors we would discount $610 per week or $31,720 annually. Since I believe that our cost to produce a shirt is over one dollar, we will not only be giving up profits, we would actually be operating at a loss in our shirt department. I know most cleaners will argue that shirts can be an effective loss leader to bring in drycleaning. I have given my view on the error in this judgement before. But that is a subject in itself.
Coping with contractors
When it comes to selecting contractors I suggest interviewing several. You will find that some want your business more than others. I chose a cabinetmaker who was more expensive than the competition, but hounded me for the job. Despite his ambition we did run into some delays.
Since your job will be one of many a contractor is working on -- if he is any good -- you should be careful about how much money you advance to him. I worked out progress payment schedules for anyone that wanted a deposit. When they completed certain stages that we agreed upon in advance, we paid them an amount equal to the work done. I believe this gave them an incentive to continue while neither one of us was at a disadvantage.
I hope I have given food for thought on how to justify making an investment of this type. As for the financial return I will let you know as we experience the effects of our decision. I will add that you should involve your key people in a project of this type so they will be cheerleaders for the success of your project rather than critics. Since they will be working with the new counters, layout and design, be sure their input is welcome to insure it's success.
My last thought is: If you want to keep getting what you are getting, keep doing what you are doing. If you would like to see an improvement in your situation take a bold step to improve your situation. The results can be rewarding.
Hearing the news that a 40-some thing drycleaner was recovering from a heart attack gave the owner of U. N. Cleaners in Flushing Meadow pause.
"This year I turn 50, and I want to change the focus of my life," New York City drycleaner Ed Roth declared. "I want to take time off, spend more time with family."
This is no idle promise, he added. "I need time to be with myself, time to focus on my family and self."
To do this meant he had to put the running of his business in the hands of his employees.
"Let the staff handle it," Roth decided. "Let the store run."
Although there are any number of cleaners who are afraid to trust the staff, Roth looked at his operation with a critical eye.
"When I'm not here and on vacation, it runs great. When I'm here I drive them crazy."
And he promises he is really going to do it.
"It hit home when I was in the store talking of retirement and my customer said, 'you'll never retire.'"
A reinforcing experience occurred on the golf course. His beeper went off twice with two problems he handled easily. If it proved anything, it was "when you're in the store for 12 hours the walls close in on you."
Getting this new project going may be delayed. It's the amount of work "that's my problem. We're busy now because of proms but in three weeks I can take the time, prioritize my real needs."
Although he has found the "beauty of it is that the store runs fine without me."
Of course, that gives rise to mixed feelings.
"When I was a teacher, I had two different thoughts when a substitute was there and the class was wonderful. My thoughts alternated between A, 'the students are trained well,' and B, 'why do they give me hard time?'"
Being the kind of person who wants to "do this and that, to be the prime mover, I'm proud they can take care of it."
Roth became part of the textile care industry when his father purchased the business 34 years ago. It was named "after the first United Nations building in Flushing Meadow Park, the Briarwood."
He began his cleaning career doing odd jobs for his father.
"He bought it when I was 17 and in high school. I worked Saturdays and after school when there was a problem in the plant."
Roth went on to college and became a high school math teacher. But his father's needs at U. N. Cleaners still pulled at him.
"Every time he needed help, I helped him out. As the years went by, he started to go to Florida first for a few days, then for a week, then for a few weeks. I would run store for him."
Roth long ago accepted that his father and he always had different ways of approaching the world.
A very telling statement reveals his father's conception of his son's competence: "I fixed a faucet that couldn't be fixed and my father said that he 'could die now.' When I did well he couldn't cope." Nevertheless, Roth maintained his own sense of ability in the face of resistance. "I had a lot of ideas he would never try because of his constitution."
Eventually his father wanted to retire full time.
"When he was ready to sell, I offered to buy it. He said 'No.' I prevailed upon him and he sold it to me 14 years ago," Roth recalled.
He wasn't buying a job, however. "I continued to teach" although his schedule was brutal.
"I'd come in the store, go to school to teach, come back to the store, go home and mark papers."
Looking back at that period of his life, Roth remembers being on the go all the time. "I was even calling the store during my lunch period."
It was clear at the start that there were capable people working in the business.
"I had a good manager at the time. The store was doing a quarter of the business it has now.
To build clientele, Roth redid the front with new counters, ceiling and carpet. For equipment, he put in a shirt unit.
But the constant was client care.
"My focus was customer service," he said as way of explaining how things really changed in the store. "In the past someone would say a stain was not removed and my father would yell at them. I would go out into the lot and talk to them, explaining that 'my father had a bad day.'"
The experience has stayed with him, though, which goes a long way when explaining his devotion to customer service.
"We fix it -- zippers, buttons. Whatever the customer says, it's 'no problem, we'll take care of it.' Everyone knows I am responsible for zippers, trim, buttons."
There's no "Not Responsible For..." sign here. Rather, his newest wall poster reinforces the shop's sense of pride: "We welcome your complaints. If you are displeased or dissatisfied in any way with our quality or service in any way, please help us improve... tell us what went wrong, and tell us immediately so we can immediately begin fixing it."
The approach "works great for me. I'm in a community where everyone knows everyone, everyone knows a problem was taken care of. If you do something right, everyone knows." And if you do it wrong, they know too.
"I like to schmooze with the customers," Roth continued. "In listening to a lot of cassettes, I learned that if you talk to them about their life, you make a deposit in an emotional bank. You ask about the kids and put their names in the computer. You say 'your hair looks nice' or ask 'how's your mother', these are deposits in my emotional bank."
Once when he was delivering clothes to a customer he was greeted at the home by the client's son who had a sprained neck. Roth went out to a drugstore and got Ben Gay for the boy because the mother wasn't home. The mother was appreciative. And it underscored the customers' belief that "I'm not their drycleaner, I'm Ed."
"I love to be with the customers schmoozing, to run into them out at dinner. It's so interesting to be Ed from U. N. Cleaners."
He also is willing to pay the price a good reputation demands.
"I recently had a situation where a son spilled liquid tar on drapes. We cleaned them and the drapes started to tear. She wanted new drapes and put in a claim for $2,000. I paid the claim."
Not long afterward another customer came in and asked about drapes. As Roth said, news travels fast.
"I like to put my head on the pillow with no qualms, to try to have peace, -- the feeling that 'Ed did right thing.'"
It's the same with things found in the pockets of garments.
"I find that most people don't give back money in pockets. We do. We've had $500 to $7,000 that we've returned."
Sometimes it takes a little searching to find the missing cash.
"One time a guy claimed he left 10 $100 bills in his order. We couldn't find it. But when we cleaned the lint bag we found the 10 bills, all folded together."
It doesn't have to be a large sum to impress people. "A dollar or two found in a pocket makes a big impression on people."
Roth also uses proven marketing programs to sell his services.
"We did Stan Golomb's jackpot program where we gave $100 a week away if they came to the store. It created a certain excitement. That was when I first got the store and wanted to create excitement. We also have gifts for new customers -- a screwdriver set or lint lifter. Any customer who does not come back, we call or send a letter."
And then there's humor.
"Another thing I do is try to tell a joke each day, to take a joke from customers and pass it on. It becomes expected," he admitted. "I told a friend what I do with jokes. He said, 'Not once has his drycleaner told me, I got a joke for you.'" To Roth, that cleaner's missing an opportunity to schmooze.
Although his wife has only been in the business end of the store twice -- once to help and once to type a paper -- his teenage daughter works Saturdays "so she can spend her money at the mall."
"I sometimes wonder if she would ever want to run the store," he said. "Sometimes it's a great business, sometimes it's crazy. She has the outgoing, bright, humorous personality to deal with the twists and turns" of it.
But he knows his business world is a one of demanding people, of people who want their clothes and see it as the end of world if a button breaks.
"When something like that happens and it gets under my skin, I concentrate on my daughters and my wife and how important they are," Roth said.
And he plays on is computer.
"I love the net," he confessed. "I think I've been on a short time and I look up and see the message, 'You have been on 57 minutes.'"
Even with this he has learned to set limits.
"Last night I was on with one or two letters to read. My daughter asked, "Daddy, you want to play backgammon? She saw my face and said, 'you're heart is not in it.' I realized I had to take care" of the important things in life.
His latest project is the "Read to Ride," a program he predicted "will reverse negative publicity and give back to community. He read about Mark Gadue's project in Vermont where kids earn a reward for reading and contacted him. "I hope to get it rolling soon," he said. It ties into his vision of customer service.
"Take care of what has to be done," he insists. As a sign he posted in his store says, "We are committed to provide you with the finest quality and best service possible." For Roth, that holds true for his store and his community. And that's no joke.
HARRISBURG, PA -- A Drycleaner Response Act has been introduced in the Pennsylvania state senate, Pennsylvania Drycleaners & Launderers Association vice president for government affairs Dale Kaplan announced in mid-May. It was filed as SB 973.
The bill's objective is to clean up "environmental contamination associated with certain substances from drycleaning operations."
The state Department of Environmental Protection must develop evaluation procedures within six months after the act's passage. The assessments made by the DEP must be "cost effective, reasonable, and technically feasible."
To do this, a solvent fee on perc at $10 a gallon (based on a tax rate of 175 percent of 1995 cost) and on petroleum (at 40 percent of 1995 cost) would be collected.
There would be a graduated annual registration fee. Cleaners with four or fewer employees pay $500; those with five to 10 employees pay $1,000; and stores with 11 or more employees pay $1,500. Distributors pay $1,500.
There is a deductible cleaners must pay on cleanup costs, up to $5,000 for stores with four or fewer employees; $10,000 for stores with between five and 10 employees; and $15,000 for those with 11 or more workers. Distributors are liable up to $25,000.
According to Kaplan, one good point in the law is "no person who owns or formerly owned or operated a drycleaning facility or who otherwise could be held liable as a result of a release of drycleaning solvent at an affected drycleaning facility shall be subject to any administrative or judicial action brought in state court."
Under the law, all new perc machines must be non-vented to control perc emissions and every operation must install dikes or containment structures. Owners must render floors impervious where solvent could be released.
The act would make it illegal to provide solvents to a plant that has not paid the annual surcharge.
CENTREVILLE, VA -- The Mid-Atlantic Cleaners and Launderers Association has announced its "Hot Topics" program for the MAXPO exhibit and convention this October in Baltimore.
Scheduled speakers at the Oct. 25-26 event include Jon Meijer and Mary Scalco of the International Fabricare Institute, Jack Belluscio Jr, of Global Technology, James Schreiner of Exxon, Steve Risotto of the Center for Emission Control and MACLA executive vice president Dave Norford.
In addition, a two-hour tour of local coin laundries will be held on Sunday.
MAXPO will be held in the Baltimore Convention Center with hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free.
Norford said MACLA expects between 3,000 and 4,000 attendees at the show.
For information, call Norford at (703) 222-9828.
WILMINGTON, DE -- Stewart Outten has founded a local trade association for cleaners in the Wilmington, DE, area. Outten, the owner of Capitol Cleaners in Dover, is a board member of the Pennsylvania Drycleaners & Launderers Association, a group which includes Delaware members.
PDLA officers Carl Gardner and Dale Kaplan were the speakers at the May 19 inaugural meeting of the group. They addressed environmental concerns and government regulations.
The group will meet the third Wendesday of every month. For information, call (302) 674-1511.
LANSING, MI -- Michigan International Women's Show in Novi, MI, last month provided the Michigan Institute of Laundering & Drycleaning with an opportunity to promote the textile care industry.
MILD gained exposure to 35,000 attendees at its booth at the four-day show.
"We thought, 'what can we do?,' 'what can we bring to the show'," MILD said of its plans for attending. The institute decided to find out what the public wants and needs from the textile care industry. Toward that end, they obtained booth space, created an exhibit and developed a survey which they conducted at the show.
MILD member Jan Caon Barlow donated booth materials and MILD signage and made a 20- minute presentation.
The survey asked 1,000 people six questions. It found that 38 percent of those polled use a cleaner once a month while 23 percent were weekly customers.
They found 32 percent used the cleaner as a laundry service, 47 percent take business casual wear to a cleaner and 49 percent spend four hours a week doing laundry with another 13 percent spending more time.
When asked to rank three items of importance in textile care service, quality was first with 83 percent of respondents. Price was the second and timeliness was ranked third.
By participating in the show, MILD "worked together for the good of the industry," executive director Merry Bering said. "It was an excellent way to get with the public."
CHICAGO, IL -- The Chicago City Council has scheduled June hearings on a bill which would require the posting of service prices in the city.
Alderman Gene Schulter introduced the bill to amend the municipal code. It would mandate the posting of "a list of the services provided by the business and their respective current selling prices."
The proposal also sets a standard for posting prices on items that take extra work. this would include stating the basic price plus the cost of labor.
Penalties proposed range from $200 to $500 for each offense. Each day a violation continues it is a separate offense.
GREENFIELD, WI -- Three customer service seminars will be held this month in Wisconsin under the auspices of the Wisconsin Fabricare Institute.
Textile care consultant Sue Armstrong is the trainer for the classes. The one night sessions will be held June 17, 18 and 19 in Brookfield, Appleton and Kenosha. All classes are scheduled for 7 to 9:30 p.m.
For information, call WFI, (414) 529-4707.
LANSING, MI -- A mid-summer conference at the Grand Traverse Resort in Northern Michigan will be held by the Michigan Institute of Laundering and Drycleaning.
The meeting takes place Aug. 1-3 with four speakers, social activities and other events planned throughout the weekend.
Friday evening features the annual MILD board and membership meeting. Dr. Wayne Hill is the keynote speaker, addressing the topic, "Don't Let Stress Take You to the Cleaner."
On Saturday Canadian Fabricare Association executive director Vic Vandermolen leads a session on "Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Dry Cleaning." In the evening, MILD presents its annual President's Banquet.
On Sunday, an "Eggs and Issues" breakfast focuses on two topics: "How Can I Afford Employee Benefits" and "So Your Customer Is Taking You to Court."
Reservations at the resort will be held for MILD attendees until July 1. For information on MILD activities, contact executive director Merry Bering, (517) 337-2909.
COLUMBUS, OH -- The Ohio Cleaners Association suit to overturn a state Bureau of Workers Compensation rate schedule was found in the association's favor recently. In the next feww weeks, $600,000 will be returned to participants in the association's workers compensation program.
The suit was filed as a result of the bureau's inclusion of "the claims and payroll history of an entire disbanded group in the OCA group" for the rating years of 1992 through 1994, the trade group said. Because of this, the 138 affected cleaners overpaid the fund.
The decision handed down by the Franklin County Court of Appeals stands because the bureau said it would not appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, OCA reported. In total, $615,485.45 will be returned, a figure determined after legal fees and other expenses were deducted.
The case was taken to court after the state BWC denied an appeal of the rating.
LANSING, MI -- Drycleaner Andy Brown of Cheboygan has been appointed to the Michigan General Industry Safety Standards Commission.
The owner of Royal Linen, Brown is a long-time member of the Michigan Institute of Laundering & Drycleaning.
The commission reviews proposed MIOSHA regulations before they are sent to the state OSHA director.
"MIOSHA has done a good job in Michigan and has some good programs," Brown said. "One that comes to mind is they will go into your business and review your operation, not at an enforcement level but at an assistance level."
NEW YORK, NY -- The new rules for perc-using drycleaners went into effect May 15 for New York State drycleaners. In an effort to help cleaners understand the new regulations, Neighborhood Cleaners Association International is presenting a series of public programs that will run through July in the state.
The sessions, which began May 20 in Queens, ask the cleaners six questions about their business. Based on the response, a customized plan of action can be developed for the cleaner.
Programs are planned for June 11 in Staten Island, June 12 in Manhattan, June 18 in Brooklyn, June 25 in Long Island and June 26 in Westchester.
The July dates are July 9 in Albany, July 10 in Syracuse, July 16 in Buffalo and July 17 in Rochester. Further information is available from the Environmental Ombudsman Unit, (800) 782-8369.
In regards to certification requirements under the new rules, NCAI associate director Jerry Levine said the association is working with the state Department. of Environmental Conservation on an advisory committee for the training and certification of owners and operators.
Several organizations which were in on the negotiated rule making committee are included. The organizations invited are NCAI, NEFA, Consumers Policy Institute, NRDC, UNITE and the Korean Drycleaners Association.
At the first meeting, NCAI, KDANY and a UNITE representative participated.
"We talked about the possibilities of a correspondence course. The candidates would have to take a live test," Levine said.
The next meeting is scheduled toward the latter part of June. Things are incredibly complicated.
"We are not the ones who will decide what they state will do; DEC will. This is not a negotiation."
"We're providing input. We've been asked to submit our curriculum. Made revisions to match NY state.
We want to include slides, photos -- there's more we have to work on.
WAKEFIELD, MA -- The North East Fabricare Association advised Massachusetts cleaners that the state's Environemtal Response Program dould become a reality this September.
"This program is designed to educate and inform the drycleaning industry of what is required of them and to then self-certify their compliance," NEFA executive vice president Peter Blake said.
ERP consolidates the state's air, water and hazardous waste regulations under one program, NEFA said. The association was involved in the design of the program and worked to ease its impact on the drycleaning industry.
According to NEFA, a compliance manual and form will be sent to every Massachusetts drycleaner in July. The manual provides information on how to fill out the form and explains the regulations that apply to cleaners.
The deadline for submitting the forms is Sept. 1, 1997. The Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for enforcing the program and told NEFA it would "aggressively follow up on people who don't file by the deadline." According to NEFA, the department developed a comprehensive list of every drycleaner in the state.
More information on the program is available from NEFA, (617) 245-6688.
WAKEFIELD, MA -- The North East Fabricare Association advised Massachusetts cleaners that the state's Environemtal Response Program dould become a reality this September.
"This program is designed to educate and inform the drycleaning industry of what is required of them and to then self-certify their compliance," NEFA executive vice president Peter Blake said.
ERP consolidates the state's air, water and hazardous waste regulations under one program, NEFA said. The association was involved in the design of the program and worked to ease its impact on the drycleaning industry.
According to NEFA, a compliance manual and form will be sent to every Massachusetts drycleaner in July. The manual provides information on how to fill out the form and explains the regulations that apply to cleaners.
The deadline for submitting the forms is Sept. 1, 1997. The Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for enforcing the program and told NEFA it would "aggressively follow up on people who don't file by the deadline." According to NEFA, the department developed a comprehensive list of every drycleaner in the state.
More information on the program is available from NEFA, (617) 245-6688.
WAKEFIELD, MA -- North East Fabricare Association executive vice president Peter Blake testified against a proposed ban on the use of perc at a Massachusetts House of Representatives committee hearing last month in Boston.
HB 3100 proposes a ban on perc as of 2001. It was introduced by Pamela Resor (D-Waltham). In past years, similar versions of the ban have been proposed in the state, prompting NEFA to keep watch on any such legislative maneuvers.
Blake charged that "the authors of this bill have made a number of broad, sweeping allegations about chlorinated organic compounds in general."
He questioned why the bill addresses a limited number of chlorinated solvents and observed that what the bill sponsor calls "easing" is a ban.
"As an industry we continually try to 'ease' away from the use of chemicals," Blake added. "Through both external regulation and tight economics, drycleaners have learned and practice sound environmental management."
He told the committee that ongoing efforts by cleaners have reduced solvent use by between 30 and 50 percent in the last decade. Blake predicted this rate of reduction would continue with the increased use of fourth generation drycleaning machines.
Conceding that "the weight of scientific evidence indicates that exposure to all organic chlorine has possible health risks," he added there is "no scientific evidence that supports zero exposure through an outright ban."
In concluding, Blake said the textile care industry rejects the "allegation that substitute chemicals or technology already exist for drycleaners."
Only one person spoke in favor of the bill at the hearing.
CHARLOTTE, NC -- The Contamination Liability Insurance bill supported by the North Carolina Association of Launderers & Cleaners is awaiting action in the North Carolina State Senate.
The bill cleared the House Environment Committee after changes were made to suit the Department of Natural Resources, NCALC said.
The proposed law would create a state fund and insurance to reduce a drycleaner's liability from a contaminated site and cover the costs of cleanup. It would also create limitations on third party liability.
Eligible cleaner's cost for remediation would be paid through insurance coverage. The money raised through store registration fees and a fee on solvents would fund the state portion of the plan. This would cover clean ups at sites fund which are not eligible for insurance protection. Site fees would range from $3,000 a year for small plants to $5,000 for a large one.
For more information, call NCALC executive director Steve Winzeler, (919) 850-0707.
FRANKFORT, KY -- The possibility of surprise OSHA inspections at Kentucky drycleaning stores prompted the Kentucky Fabricare Association to
provide a guide on what to do to meet compliance standards.
The two-page review of OSHA requirements is a checklist of the many items an inspector may look for in a visit. It was developed by the Neighborhood Cleaners association International.
"Do your own inspection and find problems before the inspector does," KFA executive director Tom Underwood told cleaners. "Fines can run into hundreds of dollars over items you may think are very small."
Underwood also announced that the association will make its presence known at the Clean show in Las Vegas.
Board directors will gather with other drycleaners from the state at the Neighborhood Cleaners Association International booth on June 3 to "celebrate our new independent status and coordinate Kentucky Style socializing on the town that night."
KFA withdrew its affiliation with the International Fabricare Institute earlier this year.
Under their joint contract, membership solicitation was prohibited in the state until June 1.
For information on KFA programs, call (502) 223-5322.
HALLANDALE, FL -- The Textile Rental Services Association has joined with the Kenan-Flager Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to establish a sales and marketing institute for the textile rental industry.
Kenan-Flager staff will meet with TRSA members to determine textile rental industry needs and interview owners, sales people and plant managers.
DENTON, TX -- The Southwest Drycleaners Association May board meeting brought together 38 directors who were "unanimous in support of the Barton bill efforts," SDA executive director Andy Stanley said last month.
"We're helping Mary Scalco with the work at the IFI Clean show booth" with petitions in support of the 'Barton proposal,'" he noted.
"The concept is work hard, get petitions and gain recognition of the bill," he added.
SDA has been the primary force behind the proposed bill, a measure that takes its name from its sponsor, U. S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX). The association and Martinizing franchises have been at the forefront of the effort to get a bill introduced.
Rep. Barton was scheduled to address the legislative session at the Clean show.
"The Clean show is a tremendous opportunity to present the Barton bill," Stanley added.
Bill backers hope that their lobbying work at the Clean show increases the number of active supporters within the industry.
"We're hoping it will attract attention and that we'll get plenty of help" as a result, Stanley said.
Stanley has been in contact with a number of textile care association executives in an effort to generate wider participation in the attempt to build a coalition. These include independent associations, IFI affiliates and NCAI.
In other SDA activities, the association announced the winners of its scholarships to the General Fabricare Course at Texas