Content about Social Issues

CHICAGO — It’s not unusual for a retail dry cleaner to also offer a commercial service, and hotel/motel guest dry cleaning is the most common one offered among the operators polled in this month’s AmericanDrycleaner.com Wire survey.

Sixty percent of operators that responded to the anonymous survey provide dry cleaning for hotel/motel guests. Next most popular is uniform/workwear services at 40%, followed closely by “other” at 33.3%. Services listed as “other” included police uniforms, table linen and chef jackets for catering companies, and spa linens.

Roughly 27% of respondents process healthcare linens, 20% clean restaurant/food service linens, and 13.3% process hotel/motel linens and napery.

Forty percent of respondents say they plan to add a commercial service or expand their existing commercial capacity in the next 12 months. The remainder is not planning additions or expansion.

Respondents that offer commercial services say this work accounts for, on average, 4.9% of their gross sales and 4.4% of their profits.

EVANSTON, Ill. — As we predicted here several months ago (Could The Unions Still Clean Up?), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is continuing its pro-union agenda with the same thunder as a battleship blasting a broadside.

On June 21, the NLRB published the proposed changes it wants in rules governing union representation elections. When adopted, these rules will make the jobs of union organizers easier by handcuffing management and fast-tracking representation elections in which a company’s employees vote whether or not they wish to unionize.

Following the defeat in Congress of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have allowed “card check unionization” and eliminated nearly all representation elections, union leaders are trying a different way to reach their easy organizing goals. They know “if you can’t legislate, regulate.” And the NLRB regulates labor relations in America.

CHICAGO — Runways in the world’s fashion capitals came alive for 2011’s fall season, as if to herald an end to recessionary reserve and embrace edgy elegance again.

Ultra-bright colors, extreme ruffles and riotous patterns starred in over-the-top productions featuring post-apocalyptic landscapes, manacled models and psychedelic toadstools. Only minutes elapsed between many of the designer duds’ debuts and the time they hit the streets, knocked off for the mass market under many more-affordable labels.

Some of the season’s styles—the classically tailored mid-century modern and menswear-inspired looks, for example—shouldn’t present professional dry cleaners with problems if they remember to read their care labels and steady their skill sets. But others may have the most seasoned operators at a loss for a cleaning strategy, or at risk for a claim.

And as the following four trends move from the runway to the mall, they have the potential to present the biggest challenges.

The Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) and the National Cleaners Association (NCA) are planning a co-operative winter management seminar Jan. 12-15, 2012, at the Gran Melia hotel resort in Puerto Rico. “DLI Five-Stars & NCA Brainstorming 2012” will provide an opportunity for members of both associations to unite in the sprit of unity, learning, and progress.

A healthy balance of work and play is built into the conference schedule. Seminars will run half-days only Friday though Sunday to allow guests to enjoy the hospitable climate and tropical atmosphere of a very scenic and relaxing atmosphere.

Call Mary Scalco, DLI, 800-638-2627, ext. 1102, or Nora Nealis, NCA, 800-888-1622, for more information.

ATLANTA — Southern Automatic Machinery Co. (SAMCO) has changed its name and moved into a larger, more customer-friendly location, the company says.

The company officially changed its name to the acronym that customers already use: SAMCO.

“Our company has history in the Atlanta area, and rather than lose part of our heritage by developing a new name, we decided to become more modern and use our initials,” says John Sugg, president and CEO of SAMCO.

The company has been operating as Southern Automatic Machinery Co. since the 1940s, when it was founded. SAMCO got its name because it was located in the South, and at the time, washing machines were referred to as automatic machines.

SAMCO’s new, 10,400-square-feet facility is located at 133 N. 85 Parkway in Fayetteville, Ga.

“These changes were made with the customer in mind, and we believe it will strengthen our existing relationships while helping to forge new ones,” Sugg says. “We’ll remain the company our customers have come to know and trust, and [we] look forward to continued success as we approach 2012.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Generally speaking, smaller drycleaning stores hire babysitters. Wikipedia defines babysitting as “the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child’s parents. Babysitting is commonly performed as an odd job by teenagers for extra money.”

The key words here are “temporary” and “odd job.” These characteristics may be acceptable for hiring babysitters. You have no expectations for a long-term relationship, and there is really no loyalty nor motivation on either side to learn the finite details of the household. They are unacceptable for the drycleaner hiring front-counter staff.

Temporary child-care helpers are poor substitutes for parents. Parents care and foster the successes of their children. They are involved in all important aspects of the children’s activities.

Babysitters are not “bad.” They generally provide a safe, secure environment for short periods of time. There are no expectations that they will do more. No love or compassion is required, and, generally, no long-term relationship is established.

NEW YORK — For the first time since 2006, growth has surpassed survival as the No. 1 priority for entrepreneurs, according to the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, a semiannual survey of business owners now in its 10th year. And more than one-third (35%) plan to hire, last month’s survey says, perhaps further evidence that a recovery is reaching Main Street businesses.

WASHINGTON — President Obama signed a bill into law last week repealing an unpopular reporting requirement attached to last year’s healthcare reform legislation.

Set to begin in 2012, the requirement would have asked businesses to issue an IRS 1099 form to any individual or corporation from which they purchased more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year.

Many small-business advocates had called the expanded requirement an unnecessary and unfair burden for small businesses, saying it would create a mountain of paperwork.

LAUREL, Md. — What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas, says the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI), when what happens is learning. And the association’s recent Five-Star Management Conference, held in Las Vegas last month, was a “mind-expanding” success.

Operator Dan Miller returned from the conference with a headful of ideas. “There were so many things, it’s difficult to list them all,” he says. “We definitely will be focusing on online marketing and using Facebook more effectively.”

In response to popular demand, the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) has again picked Las Vegas as the host city for its annual Five-Star Management Conference, set for Feb. 23-25 at the Wynn Resort.

The event kicks off with a welcome reception on the evening of Feb. 23. Conference activities begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24, with opening remarks from DLI CEO Bill Fisher.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance (HSIA) filed a petition last week with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to list n-Propyl Bromide (nPB), a brominated hydrocarbon, as a hazardous air pollutant under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act. Such a listing would result in regulation of significant sources of nPB emissions.