‘Greenness’ Important to Plant Positioning

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CHICAGO — Two-thirds (68.9%) of drycleaners mention that their services are “green” or “environmentally friendly” in marketing their plants, this month’s Wire survey says, but almost half (50.0%) say they put other selling points first.

Almost one in five (18.9%) respondents says that being “environmentally friendly” is their biggest selling point, while 27.0% say they emphasize other factors — quality, service, convenience, etc. — exclusively in marketing their plants. Just 4.1% answered “The less customers know, the better.”

Asked how “green” they think their operations truly are in terms of recycling raw materials, reducing utility usage and avoiding pollution, 22.4% of respondents said their plants are “Among the ‘greenest’ in the country” — slightly more than the percentage marketing themselves as such.

Some 44.7% of respondents rated their plants as “‘greener’ than most,” while 22.4% said “No more or less ‘green’ than others.” Only 5.3% of survey respondents said their plants “Need to do more environmentally," and an equal percentage answered, “Don’t know.”