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SAN FRANCISCO — America’s Best Cleaners (ABC) Affiliates from across the United States gathered in Scottsdale, Ariz., last month for three days of networking and presentations around industry and general business best practices.

The March 13-15 meeting included presentations by consultants from various industries and businesses that support dry cleaning, as well as a tour of local Affiliate Z Cleaners’ new production facility and a dinner hosted by Frank Dubasik of Metalprogetti.

Speakers included Nicholas Regine, technical design and application specialist from Swarovski Crystals, who discussed the latest trends in fashion embellishments and application techniques. He also talked about how Swarovski supports ABC Affiliates across the country and applied a custom ABC’s crystal transfer to a shirt owned by ABC’s executive director, Christopher White.

ALBANY, Ga. — Equinox Chemicals has announced that it has acquired Adco Cleaning Products, based in Sedalia, Mo. Terms of the acquisition were not announced.

Equinox will move Adco’s manufacturing operations to its state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Albany, according to Yalda Harris, Equinox’s executive vice president for Global Product Management. Dr. Jim Schreiner, Adco’s chief product technology officer, will also be relocating, she says.

Customer-service and order-taking staff will remain in Sedalia, and there will be no changes to the way customers or distributors order from Adco, Harris adds. The national sales team will remain the same.

Nine operator jobs and one office employee have been relocated to Albany, with many key employees receiving relocation package offers, according to Harris.

Equinox is a specialty chemical manufacturer with specialty research, innovation, product development and commercialization capabilities that reach markets spanning the globe, the company says.

DENVER, N.C. — Leonard Frushtick, founder of Leonard Automatics, died Monday at age 80, the company reports.

Frushtick started his career selling buttons to the garment manufacturing industry, and later expanded the business to include a variety of machinery.

In 1969, he moved his family to North Carolina to be closer to the garment industry and founded Leonard Automatics. As garment manufacturing began to decline in the mid-’80s, Frushtick migrated to the laundry industry. His creativity gave him the ability to develop new technologies involved with garment finishing, and has lent itself to promoting an atmosphere of creativity and innovation at Leonard Automatics that exists to this day, the company says.

Frushtick became a prolific painter after his retirement, and he and his wife, Phyllis, traveled extensively, providing a wealth of experiences for him to express on canvas.

A private memorial service for Frushtick is scheduled for Friday in Bluffton, S.C. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hospice Care of the Low Country, 119 Palmetto Way, Bluffton, SC 29910.

JOLIET, Ill. — John and Stephanie Conway, formerly of Suede Products, announced that they have purchased the Leather Master and American Weaving companies. The sale took place in May, and operations have now been integrated into KC Leather Cleaners Inc. in Joliet.

RIPON, Wis. — IPSO recently honored two of its leading distributors, D&M Equipment and Laundry Equipment Services (LES), with its Award of Excellence. The awards were presented based on sales growth, commitment to the IPSO brand, customer service and after-sale support, the equipment manufacturer says.

BERKLEY, Mich. — For the fourth year in a row, Inc. magazine named the Certified Restoration Drycleaning Network (CRDN) one of America’s 5,000 fastest-growing private companies. Founded in 2001, CRDN has reported double-digit revenue growth every year.

WASHINGTON — The United States Chamber of Commerce honored Knoxville, Tenn.-based Prestige Cleaners with the Community Excellence Award at America’s Small Business Summit 2010. Prestige won the prize by gaining over 1,500 online votes in recognition of its exemplary business practices in employee development, community involvement, customer service and strategy.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. — The Libertyville Rotary Sunrise chapter, in cooperation with Zengeler Cleaners’ two Libertyville, Ill., stores, collected more than 3,200 winter coats, gloves, scarves and other winter apparel for local veterans as part of the “Coats for Vets” program.

CINCINNATI — Zoots Corp. has sold Widmer’s Cleaners, the large Cincinnati-based chain it bought out in 1999, to the operation’s management team. Last week, Zoot’s sold or closed nine Connecticut stores, and appears to be consolidating nationwide.

Widmer’s changed ownership early this month, says Steve Carico, managing member, after about six months of talks. Newton, Mass.-based Zoots purchased Widmer’s shortly after startup to learn the business, in hopes of becoming a nationwide drycleaning brand.