Content about Natural Disaster

NEW ORLEANS — After Hurricane Katrina destroyed everything their family had worked to build since 1940, the owners of Young’s Dry Cleaning teamed with local advertising agency CPR + Partners to completely redevelop their brand.

The resulting Young’s campaign went on to be recognized in local and regional ad competitions organized by the American Advertising Federation. Next, the campaign stood toe to toe against the best advertising in the country, earning the Lakeview cleaners a 2012 national silver ADDY® award in the category of Mixed Media, Local Consumer.

The ADDY® Awards represent the true spirit of creative excellence by recognizing all forms of advertising across media of all types, creative by all sizes and entrants of all levels from anywhere in the world.

Since launching their new brand and advertising campaign less than two years ago, Young’s free pick-up and delivery business has continued to steadily increase, according to the company.

CHICAGO – The Northeast was the lone bright spot for September dry cleaning sales, posting a 1.8% gain compared to sales recorded in September 2011, according to the latest AmericanDrycleaner.com StatShot survey.

In comparing September 2012 sales to September 2011, the West saw a 0.1% decrease and the South a 3.9% decline. The Midwest was hit the hardest, with sales down 7.0% from a year earlier.

“After 10 months of year-over-year increases, the bottom seemed to fall out starting in July 2012,” reports an operator from Illinois. “August saw a slight increase, then September was way off. Still can’t get any traction or consistency in sales.”

“September was a rough month, with five Saturdays and five Sundays in one month,” says another operator from the Midwest. “We should see the rebound in October.”

The West joined the Northeast in posting better third-quarter sales compared to a year ago. Both regions posted 2.0% increases in the July-September period. Third-quarter sales were down 2.0% in the South and down 2.4% in the Midwest compared to 2011 business.

CHICAGO — Sales fell alongside the snow in February, according to this month’s StatShot survey, with heavy winter storms affecting every region in the nation.

“The first two weeks of February were decimated by snowstorms,” says the operator of a large Midwestern chain. “In my 30-plus years in the business, this is probably the worst winter from a weather and sales standpoint.”

WASHINGTON — Natural gas working inventories (underground storage quantity) at the end of October are about the same as last year’s record-setting levels, resulting in a decline in prices for the last two months, according to the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) short-term energy outlook.

Mild weather, high production and the absence of significant hurricane activity in the Gulf of Mexico also contributed to the large inventory build.

CHICAGO — Drycleaners nationwide reported subtle improvements in the business climate, according to this month's StatShot survey, but February's freak snowstorms kept year-to-year sales declines common.

Sales dropped 6.4% in the Midwest last month from February 2009. In the South, where unexpected, heavy snowfalls paralyzed major metro areas such as Atlanta and Washington, D.C., sales fell 5.4%.

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 levees protecting the city. And slowly, New Orleans — built in a “bowl” two to 12 feet below sea level — began to fill with water.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Fabric Restoration Service Team (FRSTeam) has opened a new facility in Jacksonville, Fla.

Jacqui Schaefer, who owns and oversees the FRSTeam facility in Madison Heights, Mich., also owns the new Jacksonville facility. The new facility expands FRSTeam’s ability to respond to major hurricanes, which can be a major source of business for the company in northeast Florida.

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 America’s growing middle class, and suburban wives embrace new styles of dress and décor that call for new services. A can-do spirit pervades the nation and the industry.

Q: With all of the snowstorms this year, we’ve been getting a lot of garments with salt stains. What’s the best way to remove them?

A: Rock salt (sodium chloride) and calcium chloride are both used to melt ice and snow. While it’s fairly easy to remove these salts when they’re fresh, they may damage dyes and disintegrate fabrics, especially silk and wool, when left in garments for a period of time.

NEW ORLEANS — I have visited New Orleans on several occasions, but this is the first time that I’ve seen Christmas decorations, or for that matter, Santa Claus marching in a jazz funeral. This is also the first time that I encountered weather here that wasn’t as warm as the Cajun cuisine.

HOUSTON — Authorities expanded an evacuation order for the Texas Gulf Coast to include Houston today as forecasters adjusted predictions for Hurricane Ike. The slow-moving storm is expected to make landfall early Saturday morning southwest of Galveston.

Editor’s Note: This letter was distributed to members of the Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA) last Thursday and is being reprinted here with permission.