Serving up an espresso

Entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well just off Penny Lane, writes Marc Sansom.

Liverpool has always been widely acknowledged for the creative talents it has produced, most notably in the free-spirited rock and roll music of the Beatles.

It may seem unusual to compare a drycleaning business to the world-famous fab four, but there is one great similarity—just as the Beatles set the tune for popular musicians everywhere, so Hydro 2000 is showing drycleaners a new and potentially lucrative way to do business.

By providing a specialist cleaning service for the professional classes, Hydro 2000 has tapped into the modern day demands of today’s café society.

With the right marketing and investment, a new trend may have been started which will take drycleaning services up market, whilst at the same time capturing a new high income customer base.

Celebrity success

People said it would never work, that there would never be enough business to support a service catering for the cleaning demands of specialist textiles and fabrics.

Since opening towards the end of last year, Hydro 2000 has, however, been a remarkable success story, proving to the doubters that the designer clothing market is a vehicle for drycleaning success.

Located just two doors from an established Johnsons shop, Hydro 2000 has already attracted a host of celebrity names, including Liverpool and England footballer, Jamie Rednapp and pop star wife, Louise, members of the cast of television soap Brookside as well as barristers, solicitors and accountants.

Owner, Graham Davies, entered into the textile care business three years ago with the acquisition of an ironing centre to complement his designer clothing business. Its success led to the installation of a drycleaning machine and a cabinet to improve the shop’s range of services.

Customer feedback and demand for specialist cleaning of designer clothing led to the conception of Hydro 2000.

He says: “After opening the ironing centre, the idea came to us, based on the feedback we received, that there was a need for a high quality cleaning service for high quality garments.”

Nothing has been left to chance in the promotion and profile of the shop. Total investment in the shop cost £42 000 including: stainless steel chequer-plate walls, floor and counter; MTV satellite link-up—to give the shop a trendy and up market feel; and the most up-to-date drycleaning technology and equipment available.

Central to the sales story and, says Mr Davies, to the quality of a cleaning service for designer clothing and other delicate textiles, is the Firbimatic Ecompact 19 hydrocarbon drycleaning machine, supplied and installed by CPT.

Mr Davies says: “When it is explained to the customer that hydrocarbon is a more gentle solvent there is relief that their designer garment isn’t going to be subjected to an aggressive cleaning process.”

Since opening, Hydro 2000 has built up a client base of more than one thousand customers, of which 96%, says Mr Davies, is repeat business.

He says: “The gentle wash is the main selling point. Once a customer has had their designer garments cleaned here, they build up their trust in the process.”

Drycleaning, says Mr Davies, is however only one part of the process and delicate fabrics require extra special attention to be paid to the finishing process and to the spotting.

To meet these demands, Mr Davies installed a steam-heated and microprocessor-controlled Birbanti multi-finisher which combines a trouser topper and a jacket finisher.

Also installed is a Camptel Deluxe 212 finishing table; an Idrosmack hot and cold spotting table; and a Cissel 600 garment computer-controlled automatic conveyor.

Mr Davies places great emphasis on the the importance of developing personal relationships with his customers. “Sixty per cent of the garments we are cleaning are designer fabrics. When you are providing a specialist service the quality of that service and the personal attention given to each customer is vital.”

A key element in building loyalty to the service is the provision of a free collection and delivery service. Two vehicles, emboldened with Hydro 2000’s logo and distinctive silver colourings, are employed, and the service has a freephone number for customers to call. Also, there is no minimum number of garments required to utilise the service.

Mr Davies is lining up another shop for Liverpool’s city centre, in anticipation of further business growth. He says: “We are taking in over £3000 per week. I would expect this to peak at about £5000 per week. We are planning another shop for the city centre which we expect to be an even greater success.”