Content about consultant

OXFORD, Miss. — Herron Rowland really didn’t want to sell the corner location his Rainbow Cleaners occupied. For months he politely declined the inquiries of a real estate developer representing a major drug store chain. The chain kept looking for a suitable site in Oxford but always came back to Rainbow’s corner. Eventually, Rowland agreed to sell the property and relocate his business.

He promptly set into motion a plan to build a better plant. Having seen his business operate out of what once had been a steakhouse, Rowland was excited to take advantage of the opportunity to build new.

He invested in excess of $1 million to design and develop a 5,000-square-foot “building that’s purpose was to function as a dry cleaning operation.” That high-visibility plant, located just seven blocks from Rainbow’s previous location, earned the Grand Prize for Best Plant Design in the 52nd Annual American Drycleaner Plant Design Awards.

BURBANK, Calif. — When Milt Chortkoff retired from dry cleaning in 1983, he was an old hand at it. Having started out at his father’s plant, Hollyway Laundry & Dry Cleaners in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, in 1939, he had already spent more than 40 years in the trade. It was, he thought, time for rest and relaxation. And so Chortkoff and his wife, Edie, retired to travel the world.

And after just a couple of years, “I got very bored,” he says.

Powerless against the pull of the business he grew up in, and eager to champion the service credos he had learned throughout the years, Chortkoff re-entered dry cleaning as a consultant. And soon enough, he found himself consulting at a plant that he could buy and run as his own. “I love the action,” he says. “After all, I’ve worked in a cleaners since I was 10 years old. I just love the business.”

TAMPA, Fla. — Members of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists met here last month to celebrate the group’s 25th anniversary, elect new officers, and participate in presentations with wedding industry experts.

The nonprofit trade group, with members located in the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico and South Africa, specializes in gown cleaning and preservation.

A highlight of the conference was the presentation of the annual Jack Barth Memorial Award of Excellence. Initiated by Linda Stokes-Barth in remembrance of her late husband’s achievements in the drycleaning industry, the award recognizes a member for outstanding contributions and service to the association and its members.

This year’s honoree, Ken Grippi of Dependable Cleaners in Boston, began his career 45 years ago with his father at Beacon Cleaners. Beacon merged with Dependable Cleaners in 1972, and Grippi is currently Dependable’s technical training consultant and preservation and restoration expert. A member of the association since 2003, Grippi serves as national training director.

CHICAGO — Drycleaning is usually a cash business. But if you offer commercial or retail accounts, you’re also in the collections business. By my estimate, about half of all operators do some of this non-cash volume, on account.

On a recent plant visit, I got an earful about problems collecting money in a depressed economy. “My accounts are such pains,” the operator said. “They just don’t pay until you threaten to cut them off.

For those who have never met Richard Ehrenreich, let me introduce you: Ehrenreich is president of Olney, Md.-based Ehrenreich & Associates, and an industry guru. He has spent most of his life in the drycleaning business. For the last 40 years, he has assessed, valued and sold drycleaning plants, and now is a pre-eminent broker and evaluator of business worth in the industry.

CHICAGO — American Drycleaner is pleased to announce that it has added a new columnist, Martin Young Jr., to its stable of industry experts. Young will take over the long-running Spotting Tips column, which has been penned by Norm Oehlke for the last 10 years.