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Content about Jon Meijer

December 3, 2012
Dry Cleaners Not Seeing Impact from Hanger Tariffs or Somehow Offsetting Costs: Analyst

RALEIGH, N.C. — Dry cleaners either not seeing major impact or somehow offsetting additional costs of hanger tariffs: analyst

RALEIGH, N.C. — Financial information company Sageworks reports that privately owned dry cleaners and launderers anticipating higher costs for hangers due to anti-dumping tariffs are either not yet seeing a major impact or are somehow offsetting the additional costs, based on preliminary analysis.

Trade rulings this summer regarding steel wire hangers made in Vietnam as well as similar tariffs on hangers made in Taiwan could push hanger costs higher.

“Whatever may happen to their costs going forward, our data doesn’t show that increasing costs have been much of a problem for private dry cleaners or laundry services in the past few years,” says Sageworks analyst Libby Bierman. “Profit margins have been increasing or at least holding steady for the past few years.”

There has been an emphasis on recycling programs to help alleviate cleaners’ hanger expenses. For example, members of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute have reportedly recycled 25 million hangers.

June 13, 2012
Rather Switch Than Fight? (Part 2 of 2)

CHICAGO — Recent EPA assessment, sluggish economy may grant perc reprieve from new regs

CHICAGO — In February, after 14 years of study, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) named perchloroethylene a “likely” human carcinogen in its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database. And after more than two decades of increasingly stringent regulation on the industry’s solvent of choice, the announcement seemed like the final nail in perc’s coffin.

Ironically, the decision actually protects perc’s position in dry cleaning, at least for the time being. “Everyone has the misconception that the category perc is in has changed,” says Faye Graul, executive director of the Halogenated Solvents Industry Association (HSIA). “It has not changed at all. The report says perc is safe for use in dry cleaning.”

EPA expressed no concerns about consumers wearing clothing cleaned in perc, and the IRIS report could ease the drinking-water standard required for environmental cleanups. And with a recent, recessionary lull in regulatory activity, only co-located facilities and plants in California and a few other areas see the possibility of a full phaseout ahead.

June 12, 2012
Rather Switch Than Fight? (Part 1 of 2)

CHICAGO — Recent EPA assessment, sluggish economy may grant perc reprieve from new regs

CHICAGO — In February, after 14 years of study, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) named perchloroethylene a “likely” human carcinogen in its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database. And after more than two decades of increasingly stringent regulation on the industry’s solvent of choice, the announcement seemed like the final nail in perc’s coffin.

Ironically, the decision actually protects perc’s position in dry cleaning, at least for the time being. “Everyone has the misconception that the category perc is in has changed,” says Faye Graul, executive director of the Halogenated Solvents Industry Association (HSIA). “It has not changed at all. The report says perc is safe for use in dry cleaning.”

EPA expressed no concerns about consumers wearing clothing cleaned in perc, and the IRIS report could ease the drinking-water standard required for environmental cleanups. And with a recent, recessionary lull in regulatory activity, only co-located facilities and plants in California and a few other areas see the possibility of a full phaseout ahead.

September 15, 2010
Industry Continues Fight for Perc in Philadelphia

PHILADEPHIA — Nearly 100 people including officials from the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) attended a public hearing last month in Philadelphia to address concerns surrounding a proposed regulation seeking to ban perchloroethylene use in co-commercial drycleaning facilities and impose stricter controls and recordkeeping requirements on perc operations.

May 28, 2010
Cleaners Showcase: Rustling Up Business

ARLINGTON, Texas — Although a bit smaller than usual, the 2010 Southwest Drycleaners Association (SDA) Cleaners Showcase, held in Arlington, Texas, in April, had everything an enquiring operator could want in a show: exhibits, meetings, networking, seminars and awards.

Preconvention events included a seminar with “Cowboy Cleaner” Kenny Slatten, “Production Motivation Criteria for Today’s Owners/Managers,” which covered ways to use downtime effectively while the economy recovers.

March 17, 2009
Industry Heads Off Philly Colocation Ban

PHILADELPHIA — After hearing testimony from industry associations early this month, Philadephia’s Air Pollution Control Board (APCB) declined to act on a proposal that would eliminate perc use in drycleaning plants colocated with residences or other businesses.

August 19, 2008
Industry Testimony Delays Philadelphia Perc Ban

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Air Pollution Control Board has delayed a proposed ban on perchloroethylene in all co-located facilities, thanks in large part to oral and written comments provided by members of the drycleaning industry, including the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute’s (DLI) Jon Meijer and Dale Kaplan and the Pennsylvania and Delaware Cleaners Association’s (PDCA) Carol Memberg.

January 26, 2007
California Approves Perc Ban

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted yesterday to phase out perchloroethylene use in drycleaning statewide by 2023, against the recommendations of its staff and the industry’s public comment.

Approved unanimously by the board’s seven members, the new rule includes amendments to the state’s Air Toxics Control Measure (ATCM) that will phase out all perc use in drycleaning incrementally by 2023. On Jan. 1, 2008, the purchase of perc equipment will be banned, and cleaners must mothball any perc machinery older than 15 years by July 2010.