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Wash Happenin' Laundry

The Simple Life: Mother, Daughter Embrace Laundry Technology to Streamline Their Business Operations

Spring 2007 | Download case study as a PDF

wash happenin laundromat When Helen and Celia Feinsod decided to build their second self-service laundry in Snyder, Texas, they knew exactly what they didn't want.

Namely, more hassle in their already hectic business lives. Themother-and-daughter tandem—who also own and operate the Purple SageMotel in Snyder, not tomention their first laundromat, which preceded the second store by a few years—have enough stress, thank you very much.

By purposely designing their second laundry for hassle-free management, the Feinsods eliminated several of the challenges that many coin laundry owners face. Their year-old showplace—WashHappenin'—features exclusively frontload equipment, a state-of-the-art security system, energy-efficient water heaters, cable Internet access, easy-to-clean cement floors and, above all, a card system.

The laundry boasts all of today's bells and whistles—and no toploaders, no televisions and no coin boxes.

“It's not fun counting quarters,” saidHelen, who clearly prefers the card technology over coin collection. “And there are no toploaders in this new laundry. They are what people are used to, but toploaders are not efficient.”

wash happenin laundromat The two women learned these lessons the hard way, as hands-on operators at their first store—which is coin operated and equipped with both topload and frontload washers. As a result, they quickly discovered from experience that emptying coin boxes and counting coins can become tedious, time-consuming business. That's the main reason why they carefully planned their second laundry facility—and why they chose to consult an expert who knew the self-service laundry business, as well as the Snyder marketplace.

That expert was Arthur Wechsler of Ed Brown Distributors in Dallas.

“Arthur helped us with the design, which saved us a lot of time,” Helen explained. “He plotted the space, figured out what equipment we needed and laid it out for the contractor.”

Of course, when it came to outfitting their second laundromat, the Feinsods also did their homework, attending Clean '05 in Orlando, Fla., so that they could compare the products they were interested in, up close and side-by-side.

The result of all this planning and research?

“We took an ugly building and turned it into something nice,” said Helen, of the former John Deere dealership that she and her daughter bought and renovated into today's 2,000-square-foot Wash Happenin', along with its adjacent meeting space.

“The building was empty,” added Celia, discussing the $400,000 renovation. “But it was well built and had nice glass windows in the front. We divided the front section into halves, building the laundromat in one half. The other half is a meeting facility for the public.” Not that the approximately nine-month process went off without any snags.

“We found out that we couldn't hook onto the city's sewer line, which ran across the street,” Celia explained. “Also, we discovered that it was going to cost $60,000 to hook onto the city's natural gas line. Needless to say, we opted for propane.”

wash happenin laundromat Also needless to say, the public flocked this state-of-the-art operation once it opened its doors just over a year ago.

Snyder, a community of 12,000 located between Lubbock and Abilene, boasts a number of industries, including oil exploration and wind energy. In addition, it is home toWestern Texas College.

As a result, the equipment mix and services at Wash Happenin' need to cater to commercial accounts, college students, transient oil workers, professionals, and large and small families alike.

“We've got workmen,” Celia noted. “We've got families, a few companies. Our customers are mainly Hispanic and white.”

To serve such a wide range of customers, Wash Happenin' features a careful mix of equipment—seven 18-pound-capacity double-load washers, six 30-pound-capacity tripleload washers, six 40-pound-capacity washers, four 50-pounder frontloaders and a 75-pounder.

The 24 washers are partnered with 13 30-pound stack dryers and one 80-pound-capacity tumbler.

In fact, the store's 75-pound washer is the biggest in Snyder. It handles bulky items and heavy loads with ease, according to Helen Feinsod.

“People bring in big items like quilts from 45 miles away,” she added.

The new, high-efficiency frontload washers make management easier, Celia said, because there are fewer repairs and maintenance issues. Not having to deal with repairing homestyle washing machines means that the Feinsods have more time for growing their businesses, including a local hotel.

At the laundry, customers enter through a convenient automatic door and can enjoy cable Internet access, vendingmachines, arcade-style games, magazines and a children's play area, while waiting for their clothes to wash and dry. In addition, attendants on duty make coffee available to customers, sell snacks over the counter and provide wash-dry-fold services to drop-off clients.

In fact, thanks to the laundry's wash-dry-fold service, the store's machines rarely sit idle for long, enablingWash Happenin' to capture just thatmuchmore revenue. Despite being open since just February 2006, the business' wash-dry-fold service, which costs 95 cents per pound, contributes at least 5 percent to the laundry's bottom line.

wash happenin laundromat But, like their walk-in business, wash-dry-fold customers also are expected to utilize Wash Happenin's card technology.

“Our drop-off laundry service has been very well received,” said Celia, who employs two full-time attendants and three part-time staffers. “However, some people don't expect to use a card for this service. So, if they don't want to use the card, we just send themdown the street to our other, coin-operated laundromat.”

Wash Happenin'—which is open from 8 a.m. to midnight daily—also has a growing commercial business, seeking business from all corners of Snyder—the local college, a nearby hospital, area restaurants, oil companies and more.

Integrating nearly every element of the laundry is a card system that simplifies life for both the owners and customers. Two self-service kiosks sell and dispense cards to new customers via a touch-screen display. Using the kiosks, customers can check the balance on, or add value to, their cards.

Similarly, the system benefits laundry owners. The Feinsods can track usage and revenue by machine, detail customer contact information, and initiate promotions, time-of-day pricing andmarketing programs through the card system. The store's technology eliminates the time and headaches associated with coin collection and makes information available via computer anywhere Helen or Celia have Internet access—at home, at work, on vacation…wherever.

And the Feinsods reward customers for using their cards through a “Wash to Win” marketing campaign. Laundromat customers can earn “wash points” with each card use. Once they reach 500 points, they are automatically credited $5 toward future services at the laundry.

Since the Feinsods oversee several ventures, the two business-savvy women installed a security surveillance system to view the store and meeting area from remote locations using a laptop. Video cameras record all of the store's activities.

Visual access to Wash Happenin' means the Feinsods can view the laundry to check on how things are going without making any unnecessary visits to the store—thus, saving time and energy. Moreover, they can sleep easy knowing that their investment is well protected.

Thanks to earlier business lessons learned, a little bit of planning and, of course, today's latest technology and equipment, the Feinsods can manageWash Happenin' more conveniently and more effectively—even when they are off-site. By eliminating equipment and operational procedures that they felt muddied their particular management style, life is simpler for them, and their customers.

Is a third laundromat in the offing for this dynamic mom/daughter duo?

“Maybe,” Celia allowed, adding that, if so, it most definitely will be a card-operated store. “Counting coins quickly looses its appeal.”

But making money never does.