Ian P. Murphy
October 28, 2009
There are always challenges for drycleaners who try to clean couture garments and their off-the-rack imitations, but for the most part, the styles coming off the runways...
Bruce Beggs
October 16, 2009
BEIJING, China — China’s economic growth, improved standard of living and thriving tourism market are creating new demand for sophisticated laundry and...
Ian P. Murphy
September 16, 2009
Saturated with drycleaners of every shape and size, the Chicago market can be tough for a new operation to crack. Going up against the hundreds of Mom-and-Pop shops, chain...
Ian P. Murphy
July 8, 2009
RICHFIELD, Minn. — Pilgrim Cleaners in Richfield has done a good business laundering lab coats for a local dentists’ group for the last 12 years. And operator...
Ian P. Murphy
June 21, 2009
NEW ORLEANS — For drycleaners looking to promote a green, ecofriendly message and communicate to their customers that they are the one-stop shop for all their...
Jason Hicks
June 20, 2009
NEW ORLEANS — Drycleaners looking to add to their plants’ automation need look no further than the Clean Show floor, as speeding up production and increasing...
Ian P. Murphy
June 19, 2009
NEW ORLEANS — No matter who’s portraying the legendary advertising character, having a photo taken with the Maytag Man is a perennial Clean Show attraction....
Ian P. Murphy
June 18, 2009
NEW ORLEANS — Kansas City-based GreenEarth Cleaning debuted a water-saving laundry technology today on the Clean Show floor that uses nylon beads to save up to 90%...
Ian P. Murphy
June 12, 2009
ST. LOUIS — , In celebrating its 75th Anniversary recently, American Drycleaner sought out the longest-running family-owned operation in America, expecting maybe to...
Ian P. Murphy
June 5, 2009
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf shores downstream from New Orleans, its storm surge weakening and eventually breaking through the system of...
Ian P. Murphy
June 5, 2009
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf shores downstream from New Orleans, its storm surge weakening and eventually breaking through the system of...
April 29, 2009
I was in college and needed money to finish when I agreed to work for a year as the manager of a drycleaning plant. I fell in love with the idea of owning my own business...
Ian P. Murphy
April 24, 2009
1990s
The hallmark of the ’90s is a barrage of increasingly stringent rules and regulations covering drycleaning operations and the use of perc, past and present....
April 23, 2009
Believe it or not, my tenure in the drycleaning industry started in 1974, at the age of 10. My mother, Diane, would pick us up at school and bring us back to nap in the...
Ian P. Murphy
April 17, 2009
1970s
Wash-and-wear, permanent press and other easy-care options take a big bite out of the market as the 1970s dawn; recession, stagflation and two prolonged energy...
April 15, 2009
I came to Atlanta after working at Philco. We had a life savings of $10,000, and in 1965, bought a Martinizing franchise. The third week I was open, I had a record low...
Ian P. Murphy
April 10, 2009
1950s
The postwar economic boom spreads into drycleaning, ushering in its most prosperous era in history. More plants race to handle the shirts, suits and millinery of...
April 8, 2009
The idea of metal press pads was one Morris Rosenthal had while in the laundry business. Every Saturday, the pads needed to be changed because they were made of cotton and...
Ian P. Murphy
April 3, 2009
1930s
[NP][/NP]The magazine launches in the depths of the Great Depression, bearing the winged logo of the National Recovery Act (NRA). Soon, the fledgling industry it...
April 1, 2009
Hobbs, N.M., in 1932 was like nothing I had ever seen: A dirty, no-pavement, oil town with no place to live. Oil wells pumped all over town, and it smelled like rotten...
Ian P. Murphy
March 11, 2009
With concerns about fuel prices, global warming and other issues, more consumers are demanding “environmentally friendly” or “organic” options. But...
Ian P. Murphy
January 23, 2009
Outstanding Central Plant: DC Center Cleaners, Woodside, N.Y.
Operator Albert Lee had already consolidated production into a central plant once to handle growth, and his...
Ian P. Murphy
January 21, 2009
Representing the third of four generations of Goldbergs to operate the 125-year-old Cleveland-based chain, Brett Goldberg entered the latest D.O. Summers plant in American...
Hannah Miller
January 2, 2009
SOUTHPORT, N.C. — When Bill and Linda May, proprietors of River Run Cleaners in Southport, N.C., switched to a new hydrocarbon system, they thought they might save...
Ian P. Murphy
December 24, 2008
Haute couture runways in Milan, New York and Paris reveal the challenges that lie ahead for drycleaners in American Drycleaner’s biggest fashion preview ever.
LACE...
