Cleaner Conversations

What would a new competitor do to take customers from your business?

Justin Kane, co-founder of Cleaner Marketing, breaks down the six moves he would make within his first 90 days in a new market. From dominating local search and generating reviews to building trust, staying top of mind, and tracking every marketing dollar, this presentation shows where established dry cleaners are most vulnerable.

You’ll learn how customers evaluate your business before ever speaking with you, why the best-known cleaner often beats the best cleaner, and the practical steps you can take to strengthen your online presence and protect your market.

Topics covered:

Ranking higher on Google and in the local map pack
Improving your Google Business Profile
Generating and responding to customer reviews
Building trust through your online presence
Tracking new customers and marketing revenue
Preparing your business for AI-powered search
Using a 10-point checklist to evaluate your local visibility

Learn more about Cleaner Marketing or request a free marketing audit.

This week on Cleaner Conversations, we talked with Chris Schrader from Best & New Brand Cleaners in Nashville, Tennessee, Joel and Heather from New Process Cleaners in Johnstown, New York, and Matt Simon from Columbus Cleaners in Columbus, Ohio.

Recorded at the Maverick Dry Cleaners event in Wichita, Kansas, these conversations bring together three operators working through different stages of growth. Chris is approaching 30 years in business with a wedding gown focus, Joel and Heather are navigating the challenges of a rural market, and Matt is focused on building the leadership and marketing systems needed for his company’s next season.

In this episode, we get into working on the business instead of staying trapped inside it, building stronger leadership teams, improving company culture, creating more consistent marketing, expanding pickup and delivery, and finding new revenue opportunities.

We also talk about Chris growing sales by 145%, building a strong customer base inside an affluent neighborhood, and creating a profitable wedding gown niche. Joel and Heather share the importance of relationships, community, and fresh perspectives, while Matt explains why customer awareness may be one of the industry’s biggest opportunities.

This is a conversation about getting unstuck, learning from other operators, developing your people, and building a business that can grow beyond the owner.

Topics Covered:
• Working on the business instead of inside it
• Building leadership teams and improving company culture
• Creating a consistent marketing strategy
• How Chris grew sales by 145%
• Building strong neighborhood adoption
• Growing a wedding gown cleaning niche
• Pickup and delivery and the future of convenience
• Creating new services and revenue opportunities
• Increasing awareness of what garment care businesses offer
• Learning through industry events and relationships
• What to do when your business feels stuck
• The future of the dry cleaning industry

Subscribe for more conversations with operators, founders, and leaders across the garment care industry.

Cleaner Conversations is built to highlight the people, stories, and ideas moving the garment care industry forward. If you’re also looking for support with marketing strategy, customer growth, websites, SEO, paid ads, reviews, or retention, Cleaner Marketing is a full-service 40+ employee agency built specifically to serve the garment care industry.

Learn more here: https://api.cleaner.marketing/widget/bookings/cleanermarketingstrategymeeting

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This week on Cleaner Conversations, we talked with Glen Gould from Dry Cleaning Connection in Peachtree City, Georgia.

Glen is an entrepreneur, professional speaker, author, business coach, and the owner of Dry Cleaning Connection, a garment care business that operates almost entirely through pickup and delivery. Before entering the dry cleaning industry, Glen pursued professional golf, worked at TPC Sawgrass, built businesses with his brother, and served as director of small to mid-sized business for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. He has also spoken for organizations including Subway, Walmart, and Coca-Cola.

In this episode, we get into Glen’s unconventional path into the dry cleaning industry and how he built a route-focused business around premium service, strong communication, clear positioning, and a willingness to operate differently from the competition.
We talk about customer experience, pickup and delivery, route growth, pricing, lifetime value, leadership, communication, business resilience, customer relationships, building a production plant, surviving difficult seasons, and what it takes to become the only option for the customer you are trying to serve.

This is a practical conversation about building a differentiated business, charging enough to deliver exceptional service, leading with purpose, and staying committed when you do not yet know exactly how everything will work out.

Topics Covered:
• Glen’s journey from golf and corporate roles led into dry cleaning
• Lessons from TPC Sawgrass about customer experience and service
• How Dry Cleaning Connection became a 99% pickup and delivery business
• Positioning your company as the only option in your market
• Premium pricing and the importance of delivering premium value
• Why Glen views his company as a marketing business first
• Route growth, density, average order value, and customer lifetime value
• Why communication is critical for pickup and delivery retention
• Raising prices with confidence and explaining the value behind them
• Moving from working in the business to leading the business
• Creating vision, accountability, and purpose for your team
• What separates growing cleaners from cleaners who feel stuck
• Glen’s outlook on consolidation and the future of the industry
• Staying committed through financial pressure and uncertainty
• The meaning behind “I don’t know how, I just know we will”
• Off-the-clock stories about unusual items and customer experiences

Subscribe for more conversations with operators, founders, and leaders across the garment care industry.
Cleaner Conversations is built to highlight the people, stories, and ideas moving the garment care industry forward. If you’re also looking for support with marketing strategy, customer growth, websites, SEO, paid ads, reviews, or retention, Cleaner Marketing is a full-service 40+ employee agency built specifically to serve the garment care industry.

Learn more here: https://api.cleaner.marketing/widget/bookings/cleanermarketingstrategymeeting

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This week on Cleaner Conversations, we talked with Chris White from America’s Best Cleaners.

Chris is the owner and executive director of America’s Best Cleaners, one of the most recognized certification, consulting, and business development organizations in the garment care industry. Through ABC’s Couture Care certification, annual audits, secret shopping, accelerator calls, affiliate meetings, and decades of collected industry knowledge, Chris works closely with some of the top dry cleaners in the country.
In this episode, we get into Chris’s perspective on what separates cleaners who are growing from cleaners who feel stuck.

We talk about leadership development, accountability, labor, productivity, data, AI, CINET’s Roadmap 2050, consolidation, sustainability, resale, alterations, and why the future of garment care still has a lot of opportunity for operators who are willing to adapt.
This is a thoughtful, practical conversation about quality, leadership, people, technology, and what it will take to build stronger dry cleaning businesses in a changing industry.

Topics Covered:
• What America’s Best Cleaners does for the garment care industry
• The story behind ABC’s creation and Couture Care certification
• Why quality, audits, secret shopping, and customer experience matter
• How ABC supports affiliates through business development and peer learning
• What separates cleaners who are growing from cleaners who are stuck
• Why owners cannot do everything themselves forever
• Developing the next layer of leadership inside a dry cleaning business
• Why clear roles, KPIs, and accountability matter
• The difference between coaching and supervising
• Why labor challenges are often both people issues and systems issues
• How owners can use data without getting overwhelmed by it
• Why technology alone does not solve operational problems
• The importance of coaching employees in real time
• Why accountability should feel like care, not punishment
• The “Superman vs. Yoda” leadership concept
• Why many owners get distracted before change fully sticks
• How to simplify operations and get back to the fundamentals
• Where AI can help dry cleaners first
• Why AI should be viewed as a competitive advantage
• Using AI for brand clarity, marketing strategy, operations, and customer communication
• How phone call analysis and customer sentiment tools could impact the industry
• What CINET is and why Roadmap 2050 matters
• What the dry cleaning industry may look like over the next 25 years
• How consolidation is reshaping local and regional markets
• Why Chris is still optimistic about the future of garment care
• The opportunity around resale, textile recycling, and sustainability
• How cleaners can become apparel asset managers
• Why alterations may become an even bigger opportunity
• The impact of GLP-1 weight loss drugs on alteration demand
• Why trade associations and peer groups are so important
• Chris’s advice for owners who feel isolated, overwhelmed, or stuck
• Why getting around other operators can help owners rediscover momentum

Cleaner Conversations is built to highlight the people, stories, and ideas moving the garment care industry forward. If you’re also looking for support with marketing strategy, customer growth, websites, SEO, paid ads, reviews, or retention, Cleaner Marketing is a full-service 40+ employee agency built specifically to serve the garment care industry.

Learn more here: https://api.cleaner.marketing/widget/bookings/cleanermarketingstrategymeeting


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This week on Cleaner Conversations, we talked with Ryan Fish from Red Hanger Cleaners in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ryan bought his first dry cleaning business at 23 years old with no background in the industry. Since then, he has built routes, sold a business, bought back in, led through COVID, expanded into restoration, and become one of the most respected voices in garment care.

In this episode, we get into Ryan’s journey from a young owner learning dry cleaning by fire to leading one of the defining dry cleaning brands in northern Utah. We talk about pickup and delivery, route density, scaling a team, restoration, buying and selling businesses, closing stores, rebuilding stronger, and why improvement matters more than growth at all costs.

This is a practical, honest conversation about ownership, leadership, failure, resilience, and what it really takes to build a stronger dry cleaning business in a changing industry.

Topics Covered:
• Ryan’s path into the dry cleaning industry
• Buying his first dry cleaner at 23 years old
• Learning the business hands-on after his partner left
• Why small business is more complex than people think
• The early grind of running a dry cleaning operation
• Building pickup and delivery routes from the ground up
• Why route density matters more than simply adding more stops
• The difference between route drivers, route managers, and route builders
• Why owners need a champion for every major project
• How Red Hanger built a strong brand across northern Utah
• The role of same-day service in Ryan’s market
• What dry cleaners need to understand before adding restoration
• The difference between wholesale restoration work and going all in
• Storage, admin, insurance, documentation, and operational challenges in restoration
• Lessons from buying, selling, and buying back into the industry
• Why many owners accidentally buy themselves a job instead of building an asset
• What changes when you go from leading 20 people to leading over 100
• Why communication becomes harder and more important as a company scales
• How culture depends on access, training, and consistent leadership
• What it was like closing stores during COVID
• Why failure can become feedback for building a healthier business
• Why Ryan believes improvement matters more than growth at all costs
• Ryan’s outlook on consolidation and the future of garment care
• Why he is still optimistic about the dry cleaning industry

Subscribe for more conversations with operators, founders, and leaders across the garment care industry.

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This week on Cleaner Conversations, we talked with Arika Williams from Curtis Cleaners in Lowell, Michigan.

Arika started by pressing pants inside a dry cleaning plant. Now, millions of people have watched her show what really happens behind the scenes in garment care.

In this episode, we get into Arika’s journey from the production floor to becoming one of the most recognizable dry cleaning professionals on social media. We talk about viral videos, production leadership, training, equipment, team culture, and why the people behind the scenes deserve a lot more respect.

This is a fun, real conversation about pride in the craft, building a career in garment care, and using social media to show the world how much skill goes into dry cleaning.

Topics Covered:
• Arika’s path into the dry cleaning industry
• Starting on the production floor and learning the business hands-on
• Going from pressing pants to millions of views online
• The TikTok video that introduced people to dry cleaning production
• Why people are fascinated by behind-the-scenes garment care content
• What customers often do not understand about dry cleaning
• The skill, detail, and timing involved in production
• Pressing, spotting, finishing, scanning, bagging, and detailing garments
• How Arika grew into a production leadership role
• Leading a team while still jumping in wherever needed
• Why production workers deserve more respect and recognition
• How social media can help educate customers and attract future employees
• The importance of training and cross-training inside the plant
• How new equipment impacts workflow, quality, and team adoption
• Why culture and pride matter in a dry cleaning operation
• The value of being willing to learn every part of the business
• How Arika thinks about change, growth, and opportunity
• Her future goals in training, education, chemistry, and industry involvement
• Why dry cleaning is a skilled trade with real career paths
• Why every role inside a cleaner matters

Subscribe for more conversations with operators, founders, and leaders across the garment care industry.

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Jan Barlow is the owner of Jan’s Professional Dry Cleaners in Clio, Michigan and one of the most respected voices in the garment care industry. With more than four decades of experience, Jan has served as president of DLI, earned international recognition, and built a small family business into a globally recognized operation while staying deeply connected to her local community.

In this episode of Cleaner Conversations, we dive into Jan’s journey from teaching and library science into dry cleaning, entrepreneurship, leadership, education, and global garment care. She shares how she built her business from the ground up, why the industry is still about people and chemistry, what owners often worry about too much, and why training, trust, curiosity, and strong relationships are critical to long-term success.

This is a practical and inspiring conversation packed with real lessons on customer service, employee training, industry leadership, caring for irreplaceable garments, staying optimistic about the future, and why no owner should try to build their business alone.

Topics Covered:
• Jan’s path from teaching into dry cleaning
• Opening Jan’s Professional Dry Cleaners in 1982
• Building a business with family support and community trust
• Why dry cleaning is still about people and chemistry
• How marketing and customer communication have changed over the years
• Why younger generations may not understand what dry cleaners do
• The importance of servant leadership, grit, and keeping the work fun
• Why owners need to be more strategic and communicate better
• The value of coaching, cost groups, mentors, and sounding boards
• Why training your people is one of the most important things you can do
• Customer service lessons from Jan’s new book, Over the Counter
• Caring for heirlooms, wedding gowns, antique garments, and irreplaceable pieces
• Setting customer expectations when handling delicate items
• Why Jan sees herself as an explorer, not a pioneer
• How to evaluate new ideas, fads, technology, and beta opportunities
• What the global garment care community has taught Jan
• Why Jan is optimistic about the future of the industry
• The importance of surrounding yourself with good people
• Why you should never try to build your business as an island


Subscribe for more conversations with operators, founders, marketers, and leaders across the garment care industry.

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Kermit Engh is the owner of Fashion Cleaners in Omaha and a longtime leader with Methods for Management, where he helps garment care owners and operators better understand their financials, operations, labor, and long-term business value. With experience building, buying, selling, and consulting across multiple businesses, Kermit brings a practical and straight to the point perspective on what it really takes to run a healthier company.

In this episode of Cleaner Conversations, we dive into Kermit’s journey from the corporate world into laundromats, dry cleaning, consulting, and entrepreneurship. He shares the early challenges of buying Fashion Cleaners, the importance of understanding your numbers, the common money leaks owners miss, and why labor, retention, and leadership are some of the biggest factors shaping the future of the industry.

This is a practical and encouraging conversation packed with real lessons on profitability, employee retention, data, exit planning, peer groups, and how owners can build businesses that do not depend on them for every decision.

Sections of the conversation:
• Kermit’s path from the corporate world into dry cleaning
• Buying a laundromat and eventually Fashion Cleaners
• The early grind of ownership and learning production firsthand
• Building a premium garment care brand in Omaha
• Why dry cleaners need to understand their financials
• The KPIs that matter most: labor, EBITDA, new customers, and retention
• Common money leaks inside dry cleaning businesses
• Cleaning up your P&L before trying to sell
• Labor control, time clock management, and scheduling
• The hidden cost of aged inventory
• Employee retention through tuition reimbursement and 401k programs
• Why owners become the hub for every decision
• Helping employees think and solve problems like owners
• Value drivers for dry cleaners planning to exit
• Why peer groups and industry relationships matter
• Encouragement for owners who feel burned out or stuck

Subscribe and like for more conversations with operators, founders, and leaders across the garment care industry. We enjoyed this conversation and hope you do too!

Ken Sandy is the managing partner and co-founder of Dryy Garment Care and part of FRSTeam Restoration, serving the Washington, DC metropolitan region and beyond. With a background in hospitality, real estate, technology, branding, and service, Ken brings an outsider’s perspective to an industry built on trust, relationships, and operational excellence.

In this episode of Cleaner Conversations, we dive into Ken’s journey from being laid off to building one of the most modern and recognizable garment care brands in the country. Ken shares how Dryy grew through lockers, multifamily partnerships, community involvement, restoration work, branding, storytelling, and a people-first culture that has shaped the business from the inside out.

This is a practical and inspiring conversation packed with real lessons on growth, resilience, customer experience, community trust, and why dry cleaners have a bigger role to play in their local markets than many realize.

Topics Covered:
• Ken’s path into the dry cleaning industry
• Building Dryy Garment Care in the DC market
• Why dry cleaning is really a people and trust business
• Lockers, convenience, and multifamily partnerships
• Working with properties like Greystar, Bozzuto, and Lerner
• The merger with Total Cleaners and lessons from scaling
• Why operators need control over quality and reputation
• FRSTeam Restoration and diversifying revenue
• The shrinking piece-count challenge in dry cleaning
• Culture, team buy-in, and people before profit
• Community involvement and the Dryy Run 5K
• Branding, storytelling, and content creation
• The future of dry cleaning and why operators must evolve

Subscribe for more conversations with operators, founders, marketers, and leaders across the garment care industry.

Nathaniel Dubasik has spent nearly 20 years helping dry cleaners understand automation, operations, kiosks, and the technology shaping the future of the industry. After years with Metal Progetti and firsthand experience growing up around dry cleaning, Nathaniel brings a unique perspective on what actually works inside a plant.

In this episode of Cleaner Conversations, we dive into customer communication, AI, missed calls, kiosks, team buy-in, consolidation, and why every phone call can become a make-or-break moment for a customer relationship.

This is a practical conversation packed with lessons from inside the industry, real examples from operators, and insight from someone who has seen dry cleaning from nearly every angle.

Topics Covered:
• Growing up in the dry cleaning industry
• 19 years with Metal Progetti
• Automation and team buy-in
• Kiosks and changing customer expectations
• The real cost of missed phone calls
• PhoneClarity and AI-powered communication
• Customer service and employee professionalism
• Consolidation and the future of dry cleaning
• Advice for owners navigating change and growth

Subscribe for more conversations with operators, founders, marketers, and leaders across the garment care industry.