Many laundromat owners and operators are struggling to stay competitive in today’s industry. They use worn down equipment, offer few services for customers to utilize and have outdated businesses. However, there is a proven method that these operators can take advantage of when trying to gain more patronage at their laundromat – retooling.
An article titled “Is it Time to Retool Your Laundromat?” in American Coin Op turns to professionals from a variety of manufacturers to determine definitions for retooling and implications of doing so. One of the industry professionals consulted was Joe Purbaugh, who works as a senior direct sales specialist for Alliance Laundry Systems.
Purbaugh defined retooling as “a partial or complete ‘upgrade’ to your Laundromat… removing old equipment and replacing it with new equipment… repainting the store and can also include [installing] a new floor and new ceiling tiles.”
Purbaugh also said that old equipment can often play a key role in an operator’s decision to retool, because old equipment is often costly to maintain, repair and operate.
“Older, mechanical timer machines use roughly 40 percent more utilities than the new, efficient, inverter driven machines,” Purbaugh said “Inverter driven motors tend to ramp up more smoothly, eliminating the amperage spikes that consume more electricity. More importantly, washer extractors are also using much less water than their inefficient predecessors due to government restrictions on water consumption and Modified Energy Factors (MEF).”
Those interested in reading “Is it Time to Retool Your Laundromat?” and other articles in American Coin Op can visit https://americancoinop.com.