Competition: What does it mean for Small Store?

 

So a new 3,000 sq ft laundromat is moving into an already crowded area of town and near your small 1,000 sq ft store. What does that mean for you? 

-Less marketshare and less revenue are two outcomes

-Less problems with machines because they aren't being used as much and fewer problem customers because they are trying another location are two others. However if you are following the four rules of laundromat ownership correctly, there is another possible outcome and one that I've seen happen time and again:
You'll get more business!  

I think ultimately new stores will bring MORE customers to the area. A new store will no doubt do their usual grand openings and there will be the usual press and buzz about it. After the first month I think it is interesting but ultimately the affect on your store should be minimal if everything else is the same. My experience has been in most circumstances 80% of a laundromat's customers will try a new mat, however if the four rules of running a laundromat are being obeyed then the original mat will get 80% of those customers back.
4-rules-of-laundromat-ownership-success.html

Here is why:
-the new mat probably doesn't doesn't use small chassis washers and the size of your store probably dictates you have small chassis washers so most of your customers are small chassis customers

-small chassis customers are not going to pay $4-$5 per load when the same size is $3 or less at your mat. This was proven when I had a new mat open 10 blocks from my location. At first they had a few small chassis machines, but they moved to all large chassis machines. Originally I got the extra customers who came to the new store for small washers but couldn't get one because there wasn't enough around. Then I got them all the customers when they got rid of their small machines.
This competitor and I have co-existed for 13 years in a healthy symbiotic relationship 

-the sizzle of a new mat is off set by the higher prices. A competitor might be $9 on 60lb washers. Your side of town might be more price sensitive compared to other parts of town. Your 60lb washers are $7.50. Once again people are not going to pay lots more when they don't have to. When a big new mat opened eight blocks from my second store my customers tried the new place but came back because I kept my prices lower. It was only 50 cents lower but that was enough for most customers

-pretend the new laundromat spent $2M to build with the land. That usually means they have a large monthly payment. If you bought your mat for $300K and financed 100% over a 20 year mortgage it is a much less monthly payment that is needed to be made back before profit each month than a $2M build

-the map in this article represents almost all of the laundromats in a 3 mile radius of my first store, there are lots of them, but there is also a huge population density. Remember, you don’t need to attract everybody to come to the mat. You only need enough to have the machines spin an average of 2 1/2 to 3 times a day. With a small mat that is a lot easier to do than a large mat. Remember it only takes 3-5 customers at one time to completely fill up all the washers and dryers at a small mat. Larger stores will need more than that

-some customers like a smaller store because it is usually quieter. They might not like the music or sounds of video games 

-smaller stores make it easier for people to see who is inside or who is coming in for those worried about being bothered by panhandlers and others not doing wash

-a new competitor will bring in more customers from a different side of town. While most will stay at the new store, all mats in the area will benefit when customers want to try other stores nearby for any of the previously mentioned reasons

-some neighborhood residents don't drive and they walk to their neighborhood mat 

-sometimes in cities people will drive 20-30 minutes and go miles out of their way for stores as long as there is a fast street or expressway to get there but they won't drive a mile on city streets to get somewhere. If you are on a "fast street" people will come to you

-similar to above reason is the street patterns of the neighborhoodsaround your mat. Diagonal streets, multiple corners, highways, parkways, can all be barriers to keep customers of different mats from trying other stores and act like natural barriers like rivers or lakes

-many new stores tend to be card only or mostly cards. People that want to spend coins are going to want to go somewhere

-is the new store open 24 hours? Police or city officials might see an uptick in crime or perceived crime and they are not  going to want that and will be watching that closely because they are not going to want more crime so if there is trouble the new mat might have to cut back hours and or get some bad press

-You can use the excuse to do a facelift of your store or change equipment

-Find something unique to your store. My first store was the only one to offer top load washers. There wasn't many but for those who wanted them the nearest ones were 3 miles away

-your mat might have been there for years. That doesn't mean it still will be if you don't follow the laundromat rules of success, but peoples habits are hard to break and they will come to your mat

-I bet there are still people in your area that don't know you are there. That means there are new audiences to find you. New people move into the apartments and houses all the time so why would  they go a few miles out of their way when they can go a few blocks to you so spend some advertising money!

-build on your stores existing strengths and uniqueness, or find something quick and advertise it. Maybe it is a card payment system, a particular brand or type of machine, some customer amenities, or whatever your customers say make your store a good place for them to go to

To sum up, the new store is always something to keep an eye on, but advertise my last point above, and keep following the four rules of successful laundromat ownership and ultimately I think your laundromat will thrive rather than just survive a new competitor. I've made it happen.

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

Get A Laundromat That Fits You

 

If you are serious about getting a laundromat or a second laundromat (or third or tenth or whatever number) get one that fits your lifestyle and business plan. Don’t be dazzled by only new large stores. A small neighborhood store might be what you are looking for.

I’ve directly sold, or connected the seller and buyer, for 19 laundromat sales.
In one recent transaction there were some new potential owners looking at a property. They had visited and even were customers of the mat before looking to buy it. Unlike a lot of people that “kick the tires” of getting into the laundromat business they had started to talk to distributors and even researched other stores in the area, and studied resources like the CLA website. I happened to be there with the owner when these new potential owners came in for another visit. They had told him it was to make him an offer on the business. The owner had worked with these people on previous visits and was fully expecting to negotiate a deal with them that visit. Since the equipment was a brand I sold, the owner thought it would be nice if I was there to answer specific questions on the equipment.  Instead of an offer, the potential new owners told the current owner that the store was too small and they were advised by a distributor they contacted that they should get a 3,000 sq ft store rather than a 1,400 sq ft store and they were no longer interested. The owner was very disappointed as he had spent a lot of time working with these prospective owners and educating them on the laundromat business and his store in particular.

Since there was no longer a chance for a sale, I asked them some questions just out of curiosity.
Their answers were interesting:
-they had about 35K to invest in a store
-both never ran, owned, or worked in a laundromat
-wanted a business they could work themselves or maybe with one employee
-had several small kids and hoping to work a business flexible around their schedules and school time
-wanted reliable equipment they wouldn’t have to fix as much in the beginning until they were used to it
-make somewhere between $20K-$50K

I listened and asked if they had found a 3,000 sq ft laundromat to buy, property to build one, or made contact with an owner who was selling or even researched what a larger mat might entail.
They said no.
The salesman for the distributor they were working with convinced them that scale of business was the same for a large store as it was for a small store so why not take the bigger store and work for higher returns.

I asked if they were prepared to spend $1M-$2M on a new mat, or spend $750K on an existing mat if they found one for sale, have employees, or are willing to wait for a year before they open when you take into planning and financing if they built new. They said no.
I then asked what makes them think they will even like the laundromat business to begin with.
They said being customers of this location they enjoyed doing their laundry there and thought it would be a fun business to try.
I asked if they had fun being customers then wouldn’t it be better to start in the industry by owning something that was familiar and fit into their present life style and the goals they wanted rather than take a chance on something bigger that they might not find,
have to spend a lot more time and money to build,
and with no guarantee they would like the business or even be good at running a store?
They agreed my logic was sound but they had made up their mind about this store already. 

I asked them if it was okay if I kept in touch as I found stores for sale.
They said they would appreciate that and I did exactly that.
Each time I found a 3,000 sq ft store it was too expensive. They couldn’t get funding for building.
They passed up all smaller stores.
Eventually they told me they had given up on the laundromat idea and were no longer interested.
A lost opportunity.
They had a chance to get a store and learn the ropes, have fun, make some money, and set themselves up for future growth but never pursued it.
They were so  excited to get into the business and have nothing to show for it.
It is true that a larger store does give you the potential for more money, but it also gives you the potential for more headaches and responsibilities.
Look at the numbers of the existing store your are considering purchasing. Do the math.
What is the 15%, 20%, 25% 35% profit margin of that store.
Is that amount of money worth it to you for a part-time job or income?
If it is, grab that store!

Remember when you get into the laundromat business, get the store that fits you and your family and your goals, and not the goals of the distributor or the equipment salesperson. You and your family will have a happier ownership experience for it.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

You Have to Work with What You Have

 

Its easy to walk into a newly built or remodeled laundromat and find your mat very lacking in looks, equipment, or modern conveniences. It’s natural.

Look around and take notes and explore and educate yourself, but remember…you can only work with what you have!
If you have 36 inch doors and the 100lb washer a competitor has is 41.5 inches wide, if you or your landlord isn’t willing or able to make a bigger door opening or take a window out you aren’t getting that 100lb washer into your store!
Don’t fret what you can’t have but concentrate on making the most of what you DO HAVE.
In one of my stores I remodeled and took out three 35lb Milnor washers and replaced them with one 60lb Maytag washer and three 40lb Maytag washers. I only had room for four large chassis washers.
That combination worked great for many years.
Over time customers started asking for more 60lb washers because the one I had was always filled.

I explored adding more reinforcement to the floors and creating another large chassis area but the cost was around $40K which was half of the revenue the store made for a year and wasn’t practical. This wasn’t even taking into account the changes in power, drainage, and water I would need to bring to the store additional large chassis machines.
To give the customers what they wanted I took out the 40s and replaced all three with 60s.
I had the room and was able to charge a higher vend. All four machines are busy.
I also raised the prices on my small chassis washers so there wasn’t so much of a price discrepancy and over time have replaced some of the smaller washers with larger capacity small chassis washers like Huebsch or LG that have allowed me to charge a higher vend, give customers a larger machine, and create a price tier between my small chassis and large chassis washers that is comfortable for a group of customers.

In any store you will only have a certain amount of space, specific way the bulkheads or walls were constructed, or a certain way the utilities were put in. More importantly YOU PROBABLY HAVE A FINITE AMOUNT OF MONEY that a complete gutting and rebuilding of your mat isn’t in the cards. Make use of what you have and keep notes for if you ever do a remodel or new build of a different store.

When you can’t do something a new store can do, Remember to follow the four rules of owning a laundromat and you’ll have a successful store no matter the size or age:
Keep it Clean
Keep it well lit
Keep it safe
Keep machines running

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

4 Rules of Laundromat Ownership Success

 I've managed 51 laundromats for two companies and owned four of my own as well as advised hundreds of other laundromat owners.

The successful stores and owners follow the same four rules.

I call them the four “K’s” of successful laundromat ownership:

Keep it Clean

Keep it well lit

Keep it safe

Keep machines running

Anything you do for the laundry should fit in these four rules.
If it does fit, then do it. If it doesn't fit then don't do it.

As told by a 5^th “K” as in me,
Ev Kamikawa

A Heck of A Nice Guy

DeCoding Primus Washer & Dryer Serial Numbers

(Photos of me in a German laundromat featuring Primus equipment summer 2024)
 

Primus is a leading brand of washers and dryers in Europe that previously made machines for Maytag before being aquired by Alliance Laundry Systems. Machines that were made during the "Maytag period" my have a date code system used by Maytag branded machines at the time. So if you have a Primus and want to know how old it is here is at least a starting point.
The information I listed below is from an AI compiled article on the web.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

To determine the manufacturing date of a Primus washer, you need to locate the serial number on the appliance's rating plate. The last two characters of the serial number indicate the year and month of manufacture, using specific letter codes provided by Alliance Laundry Systems, the parent company of Primus. 

Locating the Serial Number

The rating plate is typically a sticker or metal plate found in one of the following locations: 

• Inside the door frame
• On the back of the machine
• On the side of the machine, near the bottom

Decoding the Serial Number

Once you find the serial number, identify the last two characters (e.g., DK in the example 520I000001DK). The first of these two characters represents the year, and the second character represents the month. 

Year Codes (Example: for years 2009-2020) 

• P: 2009
• R: 2010
• T: 2011
• V: 2012
• X: 2013
• B: 2014
• D: 2015
• F: 2016
• H: 2017
• K: 2018
• M: 2019
• Q: 2020

Month Codes 

• A: January
• B: February
• C: March
• D: April
• E: May
• F: June
• G: July
• H: August
• I: September
• J: October
• K: November
• L: December 

For example, a serial number ending in DK was manufactured in May 2015. 

For the most accurate and current codes, especially for years beyond those listed, consult the official documentation provided by Alliance Laundry Systems. 

Fixing Quarters Reading as Dollars Older Speed Queen Washers

If you have ever had a customer put a quarter into your washer or dryer and it comes up as $1, there is a setting wrong in the control board programming. On an older Speed Queen here is how you fix that problem. Click the link to go to my video: 

Fixing Quarters Reading as Dollars

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

Maytag MYRs Moving On

 The big announcement at the Clean Show 2025 from Maytag is that they are moving on from their MYR series of washers as of September 2025 and their new washers will be made by a different company (more on that later) much the same way the MXR and MFR lines were made by Primus.
Maytag designed and built the MYR line in the US roughly starting in 2015-2016.
So why are they moving on?
The machine was visually great looking.
The display was bright and easy to read from far away.
No one makes a better looking door than Maytag in terms of making a door LOOK big even if it isn't.
Easy to fix.
In MY OPINION, it can be summed up in one word: Reliability
There were three main problems in my experience working with these machines in both my own store, customers stores, and the corporate stores I managed.

The first was the ACU control board.
This board was often the cause of critical faults that shut down the machine. There was no way to clear the list of errors from the board and reset it so you didn't have  a record of what error occurred when. That made it hard to diagnose problems. Often times errors with the door lock assembly results from this board and not from the door lock itself.

The door lock was the second main area of reliability issues.
Part of the errors was the aforementioned ACU board.
The second was that it was unlike any other lock on the market. It asked the user to lightly close the door until the user heard a single click. The washer then pulled the door closed and locked it upon start up. The ACU board often failed and that caused the door not to lock.
Users often didn't understand to gently close the door or didn't hear the "click" and still insisted on slamming doors which broke the lock.
The door seals also had problems applying pressure on the door forcing it outward as if something was trying to push the door open from the inside. This caused a critical error as well.
 
The original coin drops were also unreliable. Easy to jam with coins and often times the components broke rendering no way to start the machine with coins.

The MYR line had great potential in my opinion. Too bad that Maytag couldn't iron out all the bugs in the mechanics and software because they had a potential great story about being made in the USA.
Having said this I am excited at this point to see the new machines when they are delivered in January 2026. I'll show some pictures of what they shared with us at Clean Show 2025 in another article.

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

MYR65s next to MFR30s

MYR65

MYR30s

Postscript:

Maytag announced that they will still be supplying parts and will continue to have a team working to try and iron out the problems with the MYR even when selling the new line.

They are also ending production of some of their dryers.
The machines they said are ending production are:

Washers include:

MYR 20, 25, 30, 40, 55, 65 (PD, PR, PN)

MYS 20, 30, 40, 55 (PD, PR, PN)

Dryers Include:

MDG35PDBW S or W

MDG52PDBW S or W
MDG78PDBW S or W
MLG35PDBW S or W
MLG52PDBW S or W

MDG35PNCWW
MDG52PNBWW
MDG78PNCWW

Set Price Maytag MAT24 & MAT23 Type Washers

 

If you don't know how to set the prices on Maytag topload washers, the MAT23 & MAT24 versions and similar, here is how you set them in this 79 second video!

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

Degrees vs Words Touch Screen Temperature Scale

 

Most people won't notice this, but for consistency as an owner you should look at what your touch screen washer is telling you and is it potentially going to cause confusion for a customer or lead to questions for you like "how hot is your water?" Watch this quick video to see what I'm "on about..."

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

Install PayRange on Speed Queen MDC Washer Boards

This is a quick video on installing the PayRange BK Pulse on the two different Speed Queen MDC Washer Boards. There are several different versions of this board. This video isn't going to hit all of them but should give you an idea of how to deal with the board that might be in your particular machine.

Ev

A Heck of A Nice Guy