Dry Cleaning Businesses... Still Profitable?

I definitely don't use them as much as I did pre-covid.

I use dry cleaning not as often. Several dry cleaners around have gone out of business. As long as not too much competition and good client base you could do it. However, don’t forget to factor your own salary or manager salary

My family was in the dry cleaning business for ages. My great-grandfather started it, my grandfather continued it by opening his own plant in a different city, and my father worked there for a large portion of his life before doing something else.

My grandfather made good money several decades ago, and expanded into a higher-end men's clothing store as the margins were better there. He made some ill advised business decisions and shut down the clothing store and focused on the cleaning business. He worked there until he was 81, but it is what he knew and loved.

During my conversations with him, he always lamented the fact that business casual killed the dry cleaning business. People just don't wear clothing that needs dry cleaning as much as they used too. Part of that is due to more informal standards in the work place, and the other part is due to advances in clothing technology (i.e., Brooks Brothers has dress shirts that can be washed/dried and are non-wrinkle coming out of the dryer, there's no point in taking those clothing pieces to the cleaners). He retired before COVID, but I would assume work from home and tech's influence on an even more informal dress code has further reduced the demand for dry cleaners. Plus, I'm sure there have been even more advancements in clothing technology.

If one were to do open/purchase a dry cleaning business, I think you have to adopt a hub/spoke model. The spokes are small store fronts that collect items that need dry cleaning, and hold cleaned items. The hub would be your actual plant, and would be placed in a cost-efficient location (no need to locate the plant in expensive, middle of city locations since they are not customer facing). I'd be interested in a cost/benefit analysis of going entirely spokelesss, and using pick-up/delivery vehicles to transport clothes to/from the plant. You could develop a simple app to schedule pick-ups and deliveries.



Side note about my gradfather since it has been right at a year since his passing and I'm reminiscing... He lived another 11 years until age 92. He was exceptionally active and sharp for a person that age, which I attribute to him standing at the counter 12 hours a day for most of his life, retrieving clothes, and taking them out to customers cars. Even during his final year of life, he was "diving" (it was more of a belly flop) into the water at the family vacation home he bought when he was making good money. By chance, I went home the week before he died for an engagement party and visited with him, and he was just as sharp as ever and no one would have expected he would be dead one week later. I even facetimed him the day he died (we knew it was the end) when he was in the hospital, and he was still very much with it up until the end. Literally, on his death bed, he asked me for advice.
How does one give advice to a dying man?!?! As the palliative drugs were administered, he quipped to the family members in the room "Ok, meeting is over". I miss him dearly.

He sounds like he was a fantastic man who lived a very full life. Loved that story.

I knew of a long standing family business of dry cleaners that closed after COVID cause they couldn’t get enough workers. They had several locations.

I do think there is still a demand in big cities though. The ones I’ve gone to in big cities seem to stay busy.

Check out StripMallGuy on twitter. Absolutely avoid a dry cleaning business even a mall that once had a certain type. There's a chemical the world can't figure out how to clean and a tiny amount comtaminates a wide area, not just the dry cleaning store.

This is completely anecdotal and just based on an observation.

A few of the dry cleaners around here now go to each of their locations and pick up the clothes and dry clean off site at a centralized location. Once cleaned they return it to the original location for pickup.

I’m sure there is some cost savings in there for them, but to me that says that there might not be enough business for 1 location to be a completely self sufficient money maker.