Laundry Facilities & Dry Cleaning Services

Brief Excerpt from Industry Overview Chapter:

Companies in this industry operate coin-operated, self-service laundry facilities or provide dry cleaning, specialty cleaning and full-service laundering services. Major US companies include Coinmach Service, DRYCLEAN USA, Mac-Gray, and Martin Franchises.

The US laundry facilities and dry cleaning services industry includes about 30,000 companies with combined annual revenue of about $10 billion. The industry includes about 20,000 companies that provide retail laundry and dry cleaning services and account for about 70 percent of industry revenue, and about 10,000 companies that provide coin-operated laundromats and account for the remaining 30 percent of revenue. The industry is expected to grow at a moderate rate in the next two years, driven by consumer spending habits and expanding cleaning services.

Commercial and industrial laundry services are covered in the Linen and Uniform Supply Services industry profile.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is related to growth in consumer income. The profitability of individual companies depends on efficient operations and favorable store locations. Large dry cleaning companies can achieve economies of scale by using centralized cleaning operations to serve multiple retail locations. Small companies can compete successfully by owning favorable locations or providing special services. The dry cleaning segment is highly fragmented: the 50 largest firms generate less than 10 percent of revenue. The coin-laundry segment is fragmented: the 50 largest firms generate about 40 percent of revenue.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Major products are retail dry cleaning services and coin-operated laundry services. Other sources of revenue include shoe...