Rick Siegel
February 16, 2012
LOS ANGELES — During that first hard year of building my personal management company, I had lunch with Michael Levine, a celebrity publicist who seems to show up on...
Rick Siegel
January 19, 2012
LOS ANGELES — Those who know I spent 25 years in show business often ask why I’d ever leave show business for dry cleaning. And they get one of three answers...
Rick Siegel
October 26, 2011
LOS ANGELES — I have shopped all over the world: in Toronto, I shop at Rochester Big and Tall. In New York, Rochester Big and Tall. In London, Rochester; Chicago,...
Rick Siegel
September 19, 2011
LOS ANGELES — When I was 21, after getting fired from the radio station I was selling advertising time for—badly—I started my own advertising agency.
I...
Rick Siegel
August 18, 2011
LOS ANGELES — There’s a drycleaner in my neighborhood that brags that, “The only greener way to care for your clothes is to use a rock and a stream....
Rick Siegel
July 7, 2011
CHICAGO — Going to a trade show is a bit like making professional New Year’s resolutions. You see a new innovation or service, maybe learn about a different...
June 28, 2011
SARASOTA, Fla. — As with many parts of the country, drycleaning coupons abound in southwest Florida; but they only focus on getting the customer in the door, says...
Rick Siegel
May 9, 2011
CHICAGO — Every month, I like to align my column to the magazine’s theme. But the May had me stumped. What do I know about “Retooling for Recovery?”...
Rick Siegel
April 6, 2011
CHICAGO — I confess: I was once about as eco-unfriendly as you could get. I drove a gas-guzzling car, believed a light off was a light wasted, and even though the City...
Ian P. Murphy
March 29, 2011
CHICAGO — The talk of the industry always seems to hinge on the newest big company to make the scene. And following extensive research from parent company Procter...
Ian P. Murphy
March 3, 2011
CHICAGO — Where would your business be without the Internet? Even if you never built a website, Google and Yelp! tell people where you are, what you do and how well you...
Howard Kaschyk
March 1, 2011
CHICAGO — This month’s issue goes to the core of what all drycleaning business owners should do. That is, to use advances in technology to reduce costs and to...
Rick Siegel
February 22, 2011
CHICAGO — The year was 1977. I was 20 years old, creating advertising supplements for shopping malls, and I had the opportunity to use a new technology—the Exxon...
Marc Levine
September 2, 2010
Jolly Belin of France opened the world’s first drycleaning “business” in the 1840s. He accidentally spilled some kerosene on his stained clothing and saw...
Marc Levine
August 31, 2010
Jolly Belin of France opened the world’s first drycleaning “business” in the 1840s. He accidentally spilled some kerosene on his stained clothing and saw...
Howard Scott
August 19, 2010
CHICAGO — The other day, I drove by a drycleaner and did a double-take. Its sign—a big one—said, “Dry Cleaners.” That’s it—no name...
Howard Kaschyk
May 13, 2010
One reason entrepreneurs enter the drycleaning industry is to build meaningful businesses that grow into bigger and better enterprises. Add the freedom of “doing it...
Howard Kaschyk
March 30, 2010
Being “green” can create great opportunities, and with opportunity, there is always risk. But to ignore the trend or create an appearance of apathy is, I think,...
Howard Kaschyk
March 18, 2010
Over the last few years, America, sadly, has become a nation of hangers-on — a country full of people whose main goal is to “just hang on.” “If I can...
Janna Benitez
November 13, 2009
With the holiday season fast approaching, it’s easy to overlook a vital aspect of the drycleaning business — your customers. This is a great time to thank your...
Howard Scott
October 1, 2009
Every drycleaner says he or she cleans clothes, but such a statement is insufficient. When you make this declaration, you’re underselling yourself.
You don’t...
Howard Kaschyk
August 18, 2009
What your business means to customers begins and ends with branding. You’re in the cleaning business. If you have a plant, a store or a truck, you’ve already...
Diana Vollmer
August 11, 2009
One of the biggest buzzwords in business today is “social networking,” but many drycleaners are out of the loop. Social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and...
Howard Kaschyk
June 23, 2009
You have a point-of-sale (POS) system in place. It holds your pricelist, and you can change it at any time. Employees and garment descriptions are listed, too, and you...
Ian P. Murphy
June 20, 2009
NEW ORLEANS — Websites are an essential element of marketing today, said Daniel McCrory, director of Internet marketing for the Golomb Group, in yesterday’s...
