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April 29, 2013
ZIPS Dry Cleaners Appoints Reid Bechtle as CEO

FAIRFAX, Va. — Has spent majority of 33-year career in senior management positions

FAIRFAX, Va. — Reid Bechtle is the newly appointed chief executive officer for ZIPS Dry Cleaners, the Mid-Atlantic dry cleaning franchise chain has announced.

This comes on the heels of the company’s recent acquisition by JPB Capital Partners, a Maryland-based private equity firm that makes control investments in lower-middle market companies located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast United States.

“ZIPS is the perfect opportunity to work with a proven franchisor and enhance a franchise network that is poised for aggressive growth,” Bechtle says. “Together with JPB Capital Partners, I look forward to moving ZIPS Dry Cleaners through its next phase of growth, including improved execution of the existing system and further geographic expansion of the concept.”

April 17, 2013
JPB Capital Partners Buys Controlling Interest in ZIPS Dry Cleaners

COLUMBIA, Md. — Three members of JPB team to take seats on ZIPS board of directors

COLUMBIA, Md. — Private equity firm JPB Capital Partners has invested in Value Drycleaners of America LLC, the parent company of ZIPS Franchising LLC (“ZIPS”), one of the largest franchisors of retail dry cleaners in the Mid-Atlantic region. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ZIPS began in 1996 with a group of eight dry cleaners in the Baltimore-Washington region and has grown to 36 franchise operations in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.

“We believe that ZIPS has created great brand awareness and a unique model within the dry cleaning industry,” says Jim Bolduc, senior managing director of JPB Capital Partners. “With this foundation in place, and the combination of our capital and our team’s knowledge and experience in both retail and franchise operations, we believe that we can move the concept through its next phase of growth including improved execution of the existing system and further geographic expansion of the concept.”

November 12, 2012
NBA’er Jeffries Looks to Score with ZIPS Dry Cleaners Franchise

GREENBELT, Md. — Pro basketball player sees parallel between franchising and sports

GREENBELT, Md. — Jared Jeffries of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, along with business partner Shawn Strader, recently joined the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Venus Williams and Drew Brees in looking to make a fortune in franchises.

Jeffries and Strader have committed to opening a ZIPS Dry Cleaners, a Mid-Atlantic-based chain that has built a brand name on its low-cost, one-price-for-any-garment model. Their franchise is expected to open in Northern Virginia by the end of the year.

“Owning a franchise was the next logical step for me and Shawn, and ZIPS provided a safe and promising way to ease into the industry,” says Jeffries, who has been business partners with Strader since the two started their own company specializing in residential real estate investment in 2007.

Jeffries also believes franchising is uniquely suited to the skill sets he has developed as a professional athlete.

October 6, 2011
MAC Members to Meet in Williamsburg for Annual Convention

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — The Mid-Atlantic Association of Cleaners (MAC) will host its Annual Convention here on Oct. 22-23 at the Holiday Inn.

MAC’s board meeting on the morning of Oct. 22 will be followed by free time so that attendees can visit the area’s attractions. Drycleaning & Laundry Institute CEO Mary Scalco will be the dinner speaker that night.

DLI President Charlie Smith will preside over the Oct. 23 Educational Conference. Scheduled educational sessions include:

  • The Most Common Employer Mistakes, by attorney Frank Kollman.
  • Conducting Your Business to Minimize Environmental Liability, by attorney Channing Martin.
  • Using Data to Provide Better Customer Experiences, by Norman Way, Puritan Cleaners.

Also on the agenda is Frank Briercheck, director of marketing for Phenix Supply and an expert on supply costs, packaging and route sales.

MAC’s allied trades organizations will also stage a tabletop trade expo that day.

July 26, 2011
ZIPS Signs Expansion Deal Targeting Mid-Atlantic Markets

GREENBELT, Md. — ZIPS, a Mid-Atlantic drycleaning franchise with more than 28 locations along the East Coast, has propelled its regional expansion plans via the signing of a 20-unit development deal.

The multi-unit deal was signed with Pilgrimage Development LLC, a Maryland-based investment and retail development group.

The agreement’s first location is slated to open in August in Pasadena, Md., and additional units planned for Greater Baltimore and Glen Burnie, Md., will open in second-quarter 2012.

November 20, 2009
Business Evaluation and Valuation (Part 1 of 2)

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.