Drycleaning's future

1 May 2005




The challenges faced by the international drycleaning industry come to the fore in LCNI this month.

The route ahead will be addressed in two conferences. In June Cinet Europe’s umbrella organisation holds a one day conference which will suggest a possible agenda for the industry over the next five years. Though details are still to be finalised, topics are likely to include ways to turn round the drycleaning business, lobbying the EU and environmental legislation.

Such themes underline the need for change and collective long-term thinking. The industry cannot afford to be complacent. Drycleaners face changes and challenges from every angle – the methods they use, the fabrics and clothes that provide their livelihood and increasing legislation that seeks to regulate not just traditional solvents but also the more recent alternatives. Such pressures fall on top of the day-to-day matters that businesses face individually.

The opportunity to meet and discuss such challenges should prove invaluable. This journal plans to attend and will report on the conclusions.

At the end of June, the IDC convention in Orlando will discuss similar themes. Introducing the programme, IDC’s executive director Chris Tebbs raises the problem of the industry’s vulnerability. Some see drycleaning as a soft target, he says. Solvents are constantly under the microscope. Garments are becoming more complex and often designers and makers seem to give little thought to how garments are to be cleaned.

The industry’s outside image is not good. Finding employees with the right skills is becoming more difficult, and at the same time it is more urgent.

The convention will also suggest some solutions, with two possible options for diversification, and discussions on marketing, building customer relationships, and increasing the value of a business.

The approach of this conference will be different, but again individual businesses can gain from the opportunity to exchange ideas and find what they can do to help both themselves and the industry.

The continual problem of pricing is addressed in a feature by Chris Tebbs. How do drycleaners set a price level that reflects the value of their work and at the same time remain competitive and avoid deterring customers?

On the whole the industry charges too little for its services, argues Tebbs. The levels in drycleaning have fallen well below those for other businesses. Many may be reluctant to raise prices for fear of losing customers, but if they do not there will be little scope for investing in the future of the business.

Such businesses should consider the quoted example given by the president of the Saskatchewan Professional Drycleaners Association. Just a small increase in prices can produce a significant increase in profits, even taking into account the fact that any rise may drive some customers away.

So tackle the pricing problem now.

Janet Taylor (jtaylor@wilmington.co.uk)




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