A new, 9,000-square-foot laundry recently opened in Rockford, Ill., bringing a high-rental, low-income area renewed vitality and customers a quicker, more pleasant laundry experience. Kevin and Cindy Olson, who own three 24/7 Laundromats, went bigger and better on their newest store by investing in soft-mount over hard-mount washers, adding ozone, maximizing store efficiency and customer rotation rates, and tripling square footage.
The Olsons, who opened their first laundry in 2015, also own eight gaming cafés, a construction company and several properties. Through the years, their portfolio has included gun and pawn shops, gas stations, restaurants and pack and ship businesses, among others.
Renovating a Public Library Building
Doing their own construction on these projects is par for the course. To house their newest 24/7 Laundromat, they renovated an old public library in a dilapidated Rockford neighborhood. It’s much improved over its predecessors thanks to careful research and due diligence. “My wife and I were looking for something better,” said Kevin Olson. “We try to find better ways to build using more efficient products so our businesses takes less energy and labor to operate after construction.”
The fully attended laundry, which is open around the clock, also offers full-service wash/dry/fold, drop-off dry cleaning and alterations, and amenities including free WIFI, large-screen televisions, vending machines and a children’s area.
Choosing Genius Washers — Soft-Mount, High-Speed Machines
This time around, they ditched the hard-mount washers for soft-mount Continental Girbau Genius® Washers in 23-, 30-, 45-, 60- and 80-pound capacities and ExpressWash® Washers in 90- and 130-pound capacities. The large-load ExpressWash machines feature automatic chemical injection to eliminate the need to lug and load detergent. Thirty-three ExpressDry® 45-pound capacity stack dryers round out the store’s equipment mix.
Features that Set 24/7 Laundry Apart
The Genius Washers feature the industry’s largest touchscreen user interface and a 360° Vision Corner Status Light. The touchscreen offers customizable programs, Extra Wash and Extra Rinse options, and allows owners to upload their own advertising, photos or logos.
“I like the fact that as I get more into this, I can put promotional pictures or ads on-screen,” said Olson. “Customers also like that they can select an Extra Wash or Extra Rinse, which vends for an added 24-50 cents, depending on the machine.”
The corner status lights illuminate in different colors to match load status. “Customers can be located across the laundry and easily see when their laundry is done,” said Olson.
The Genius machines and ozone work together to set 24/7 Laundromat apart. “We have five or six laundries within a two-mile radius of us,” added Olson, “but none of them compare.”
CCI Laundry Card Payment System
Making things easy and convenient is important, so the Olsons stayed with their Card Concepts Inc. Laundry Card payment system. At in-store kiosks, customers load value onto loyalty cards using cash, debit/credit, ApplePay/AndroidPay or Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT). They start machines using the cards and can take advantage of in-store promotions.
Meet the Distributor
Laundry Concepts, founded in 1999, has over 35 years’ experience in the laundry industry and have built over 400 new stores in the Chicagoland area. With relentless work ethic and extensive experience, the team ensures clients success in their new business ventures. The Laundry Concepts philosophy is simple: provide your customers with the best products available, stand behind your work and keep your word.