Planet Laundry Nov 2020

COPING WI TH COVID- 19

Weathering the Storm Three Laundromat Owners Who Have Adapted – And Continue to Thrive – During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In Houston, where Rob Maes owns four laundromats, commercial business is down. “We press a lot of sheets for small hotels, but that side of the business is reduced by half,”he explained. Toovercome this challenge, henowoffers a residential pickup-and-delivery service. “When compared with commercial work, home pickup-and-delivery results in more headaches and competitors,” Maes said. “It’s not as profitable, but nevertheless, we are working to build that side of the business.” In general, Maes reported that his stores located in low-income neighborhoods have held up the best, because the customers don’t have washers and dryers at home. By contrast, his laundries in high-incomemarkets are down in revenue by about 20 percent. Obtaining Paycheck Protection Program loans proved difficult as well, according to Maes and Jaeger. This involved getting in touch with a lender willing to accept the PPP application in

wear masks and socially distance.” Nevertheless, Jaeger and his laundry businessweathered the stormandprevailed. “In April, we suffered our biggest decrease in business,”he said. “Then, we increased 8 percent in May, another 2 percent in June, and an additional 3 percent in July.” While California was hit hard onmultiple fronts, Indiana wasn’t – as least not Mooresville, where Pepper’s Express Laundry Center is located. “To be honest, the pandemic has had a minimal impact on the overall business,” noted Pepper’s owner JimMcNutt. “We are fortunate to have a few advantages during these times, among them the fact that self-service laundries are classified as essential businesses – allowing us to remain open – and our being located in a rural area where independence and personal freedoms are not taken lightly. Our overall numbers were steady as usual throughMarch. In April, we saw an overall drop of 1 percent in sales. FromMay on, our numbers returned to normal.”

Although the COVID-19 shutdown in March left many businesses out in the cold, laundromats – deemed as providing essential services – motored on, adapted to the changes and overcame obstacles. Here are a few first-hand accounts from store owners who have benefitted from a few unforeseen silver linings of this global pandemic. Facing the Challenges As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. and world economies lurched. Businesses faced a slew of challenges all at once – including state shutdown mandates; newdisinfection and protective mask protocols; civil unrest, widespread protesting and, in some instances, property destruction and looting; fear among customers and employees; and the often confusing process of applying for and securing much-needed government disaster-assistance funding. There was uncertainty, fear and, in some cases, violence. Art Jaeger, who owns multiple laundromats, reflected on the state of affairs in California. “The rules and circumstances kept changing,”he explained. “In March and April, there was very little information and a lot of fright. We had 10 days of protests on top of COVID-19, with curfews at 6:00 p.m. We experienced hurdles with supply chain interruptions, obtaining sufficient personal protective equipment, having employees adopt new sanitization protocols, putting store safety signs and floor stickers in place, negotiating with landlords andbanks, obtaininggovernment loans, and encouraging customers to

12

PlanetLaundry Magazine

planetlaundry.com

Magazine of the Coin Laundry Association