Aside, being the one to climb down into the bulkheads in a laundromat is a good inventive to go to college.
I agree the laundry business is changing and probably declining overall, but I think 2005 is a bad baseline.
In the late '90s some laundry equiptment manufacturers put together unreasonable financing deals for building or renovating laundromats. If you see a laundromat from that time that has Maytag or Speed Queen signs out front it was probably built using one of those packages
The financing was sold with revenue or utility saving estimates that were completely out of line with reality, and many of those stores ended up collapsing under the debt and closing within 5-10 years of being built, and so probably had a peak number of them around 2005.
I saw this first hand having helped build then disassemble more than one store in Wisconsin and Illinois.
After we had our first child there was a stretch where my wife and I were both sick for about 2 weeks and the laundry ended up building up significantly. We had probably 10 loads worth to catch up on and it was going to take all of at least one day, maybe two.
Threw it all in the car, went to the laundromat and had it done in 2 hours.
Laundromat's are now how I explain "the cloud" to non-technical people.
A guy I know who used to manage cloud development at RedHat mentioned to me that one of his developers quit, bought a laundromat which eventually became several laundromats, and now makes more money running his laundromats than he ever did developing cloud software at RedHat.
I believe the laundromats are in Raleigh, NC and he does his own maintenance. Those factors may help quite a bit compared to the businesses described in the article.
That is quite brilliant analogy. I always used "printing something off at Staples/Fedex" - no need to own a printer, deal with buying reams of paper and ink cartridges if you do not print often, you use the cloud printer of the Fedex locale to get the single spot job done.
They provide lots of services to make your life easier, like heating and AC. And they handle the maintenance: if the parking lot needs to be re-striped, they will take care of it. You get to concentrate on just running your business.
It's scalable in the sense that you can rent a bigger suite if you need more space.
Some people are concerned with having all their juicy business secrets on someone else's server, but it's not all that different from your landlord having physical access to your offices with filing cabinets in them.
:P :)
Borrowing from your analogy, I have large on-prem servers so I don't need the scalability of the cloud.
10 loads total.
1. Put 3 loads in washer. Wait for cycle. 7 loads waiting to start.
2. Move 3 loads to dryer. Put 3 new loads in washer. 4 loads waiting to start.
3. Move 3 loads out of dryer and fold, move 3 loads from washer into dryer, put 3 new loads in washer. 1 load waiting to start.
4. Move 3 loads out of dryer and fold, move 3 loads from washer into dryer, put 1 remaining load in washer. 0 loads waiting to start.
5. Move 3 loads out of dryer and fold, move 1 load from washer to dryer.
6. Move 1 load out of dryer and fold.
Total run time, 5 cycles.
10 loads at laundromat
1. Put 10 loads in 10 washers.
2. Move 10 loads from 10 washers to 10 dryers.
3. Move 10 loads out of dryers and fold.
Total run time, 2 cycles.
Compounding variables are overfilled dryers that may result in clothes not getting entirely dry or a very busy laundromat with limited available capacity. At the laundromat, you begin folding while adding time to any load that needs it. At the home dryer, the entire line cycle is blocked for the additional time needed by each blocking dryer.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not advocating for letting laundry build up just so you can go do it at a laundromat. The convenience of having it in your home is well worth it - but if for some reason you do have a huge build up it's a great way to buy back your day / weekend if you want to be able to leave the house.
"So you put the load from the washer into the dryer, but if you have a second load you don't wait for the first load to finish drying before you put the second load in the washer, do you?"
Probably doesn't work as well in countries where people mostly buy the all-in-one units.
I will steal that explanation. Thanks !
I too would prefer to just go spend 2 hours to Get It Done(tm) and cross it off the mental checklist. Plus in this particular instance it's a snowball effect for me on productivity - as I see progress and my house gets cleaner I feel mentally better and am able to more easily focus.
Humans are strange.
It still won't compare to the laundromat, but chewing through a backlog 100% faster would make a big difference.
Not much to add.. just felt like professing my love for that Sunday arvo ritual.
I'll frequently grab a bite while doing my laundry, and the "comedy" is a useful inspiration to get it done earlier in the day, so I don't have to listen to it. (It is really, truly awful.)
Thought it was the best idea I've ever seen implemented.
There's urine in the train stations (either visible or smellable), elevators shut down by faeces, people shouting, yelling and preaching in the streets, also, toilets, often even in private restaurants, are disgusting.
I don't mean to say that things are always like this, all the time or in all cities and I understand that it's a minority of people who cause these problems but the problems are far from uncommon.
With a place like a public bath in particular, cleanliness is extremely important and I just can't see it working. It only takes one inconsiderate person relieving them self in the water to ruin it for everyone and I find it hard to believe that in a day in an average US city you wouldn't find such a person. My impression is that it works in Japan because the society is extremely communal and you're far, far less likely to find such an inconsiderate person.
I can kind of see it working in smaller US communities where people know and respect each other though. In small communities, everyone knows each other and people are much less likely to be inconsiderate towards friends and acquaintances than they are towards strangers.
http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Sex_Panic_Closes_Bath...
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/26/nyregion/state-permits-clo...
http://articles.latimes.com/1987-05-08/news/mn-2810_1_gay-ba...
Sentos (public baths in Japan) certainly don't have any kind of rep like that AFAIK
In reality the total number of incidents of unsavory rendezvous in the bathhouses were probably not much higher than in countries with more extensive public bath house culture, but the percentage of patrons who went there for other reasons was considerably higher.
Basically without the normal activity masking it, the unsavory activity stood out.
I wish there were more public baths. There's one around the block from me in Cambridge. It's a wonderful place in the middle of winter.
I personally do 80% of bathing at the gym after exercise.
Now I can put laundry in, it's OK if I don't attend to it immediately, and finally I can hang-dry my laundry at home, which is not just hugely more climate-friendly but also helps prevent shrinkage. An undeniable win all around.
If you need a quiet few hours, a walk is just as fulfilling and much less obligatory :)
I do wonder where are the differences coming from.
Even the tiniest studio apartment in the UK would come with one. You very rarely see laundromats in the UK (usually in areas with a very high concentration of students, as halls of residence provision can be poor for them).
Why don't they have them in the US? You have water and electricity, so I can't understand why this is a big deal.
For most people, going to a laundromat is a necessity, not a choice to make their children build character. One "chooses" to go to a laundromat as much as one has chosen there place to live; which, in San Francisco and New York, can be limiting.
I enjoy the old-school video games.
I enjoy the idea that a 2-hour load is not only cut in half, plus a multi-load wash is done in one hour.
But most of all, it's the last respite that I feel comfortable sitting down and doing absolutely nothing. It's generally quiet enough that I can just let my thoughts roam, watch the TV, play video games, or even take a short walk.
Maybe it's nostalgia, or that I never lived in a place with a well-functioning washer and drier, but for a short bit of do-absolutely nothing moments, I'll happily take the laundromat over the beach any day.
Laundromats’ margins are further thinning as the price of water and sewage services have risen across the country. Utilities make up by far the heftiest of Lavanderia’s expenses, costing over $100,000 each year. Add to that the roughly $30,000 Tillman spends fixing his aging washers and dryers, and the laundromat is left with about $140,000 of profit each year, a number that continues to dwindle.
For a small business that pretty much runs itself, $140k / year actually seems like a pretty good profit to me. So I guess the issue is not so much that the laundromat business is unprofitable, but rather that compared to the value of the land it is sitting on, $140k/yr is a pretty terrible ROI.
Article also didn't seem to mention cost of emplying attendants. Never seen an unattended laundromat -- people need help with jammed coins, etc. and to prevent vandalism.
Somebody did come by to close them, and there was generally a number you could call if a machine ate your quarters.
When I moved to Portland I was impressed by all the apartments with in-building washers. I quickly realized they were a necessity here since there are very few laundromats.
In the case of Lavanderia, since he is lucky to own the land, he is also mindful of the highest and best use of the land.
And if you have the extra capacity, you'll use it more often than you would if you had to go to the laundromat for the annual duvet cleaning.
Admittedly we don't really bother to separate anything (everything gets cold water, dry on low heat) - so you may be getting better results than us. :)
Unfortunately, most good deeds go unnoticed. I hope they're advertising well to the kind of people who could really use a service like that.
Helped with a pantry service for a church, so often a week would go by that no one would show up. Infuriating. Food had to be thrown out.
I don't recall seeing them in east Asia and in Western Europe you can find some here and there --but definitely not very prevalent.
Plus, it's more convenient to have a facility in each unit, or failing that, in each apartment complex. You don't have to lug your stuff blocks away and have to interact with, at least in the US, odd elements, every so often.
On the other hand I do on occasion appreciate the big-loader units.
Here's a bunch (note the page numbers at the bottom):
https://loco.yahoo.co.jp/search/?ei=UTF-8&genrecd=0412010&ar...
In my apartment hunting, I usually found that apartments which lacked a hookup were also built before it was a norm to have such a thing.
Seeing that American landry is almost entirely vented drying, a dedicated space of 30 square feet with an outside vent, sewer drain (and vent) and hot and cold spigot are nearly required. It's easy to see why so few old apartments have in-unit w/d hookup.
Do any places accept digital pay? Perhaps for a token machine. I notice may of the two buck car washes now accept electronic money.
I stopped in Klamath Falls, Oregon to do three weeks worth of filthy clothes while out traveling this summer and found a spectacular new laundromat which accepted Apple Pay! That's now my first line discriminator when looking for a laundromat on the road, if you take Apple Pay I'm picking you. That will weed out the low end mildew, lint, and mold holes that you sometimes find.
Much cheaper than paying for an apartment with a washer/dryer!
With the cost of soap and quarters for the machines etc it's almost cheaper than doing the loads yourself, definitely cheaper if you factor in the value of your time sitting around for 2 hours doing laundry.
There's a few "Uber for laundry" type startups that slap an app interface on top and charge 2-3x the price, but the old school laundries are efficient and cheap - they have your number on file so you just call and say "Pick up please" and they come. Very efficient marketplace.
You don't have a washer/dryer in your apartment in NYC unless you're a millionaire (somewhat facetious - but it's definitely a rarity due to old buildings/plumbing - many leases specifically forbid installing your own too).
Dry cleaning is per garment, though.
Calgon, take me away.
I use one and I enjoy it oddly enough-- its quick but just enough time to get some reading done or people watching.
We are near a university, so I think this works out better than say a rural or low-income area. We have a large homeless population around here who use the establishment, and can be a bit bothersome in some of their behavior when visiting (such as whore bath in the bathroom).
We have free WiFi as well.
