Jose Almonte Lavanderia New York, NY

Jose Almonte is a champion of the laundry business. As owner of Lavanderia Express, a growing chain of laundromats in New York City, he believes that laundry ownership can provide a meaningful, productive and well-balanced life.

Jose started his career in the grocery business working at his family’s bodega in Brooklyn, East New York. He didn’t get into the laundry business until 1992 when he purchased a property with a grocery store. Since there was another grocer only a few buildings away, Jose thought that his new building would be better utilized by providing the neighborhood with a different service. After attending a seminar on the laundry business, Jose decided to gut the grocery and convert the building into a coin laundry.

Since that first store opened, Jose’s enterprise has expanded to five laundries. A sixth store is under construction and a lease for the seventh is currently in negotiation. Jose’s business model is grounded in real estate. Acquiring the right property is critical to a store’s success and to an eventual exit strategy. Jose selects properties based on potential, competition and convenience.

He currently has three coin stores and two card stores