CHICAGO — Further removed from the COVID-19 pandemic and having watched inflation fall over the last two years, many self-service laundry owners and operators had a strong year in 2023.
The American Coin-Op State of the Industry Survey report provides many statistics valuable to store owners and investors who wish to compare their operations to the industry average. This year’s survey focused on 2023-24 business conditions, vend pricing, equipment, turns per day and utilities cost.
When asked about their 2023 business results, respondents were given the opportunity to state whether their results were up, down or unchanged. (Surveys conducted prior to 2012 asked only if business was up or down, so keep this in mind if you’re making comparisons to results from that period.)
The annual survey is an unscientific, online poll of American Coin-Op readers who operate stores. Some percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding or other factors.
Part 1 examined the characteristics of the self-service laundry audience—store numbers/types, labor, payment types accepted—and so on. Part 2 looked at wash-dry-fold, commercial laundry and vending sales performance. Let’s continue today by looking at wash and dry vend pricing:
HOW MUCH FOR A WASH?
Respondents were asked to report how much they charge for a variety of base washes.
Roughly 53% of operators surveyed, compared to 46% in last year’s poll, offer top loaders at their store(s). The price range for a top-load wash is $1.00 to $4.50.
Here are the trendy top-load prices, followed by the shares of respondents charging them:
1. $3.00 (16.7%)
2. $2.50 (15.3%)
3. $3.50 (13.9%)
The leading price is identical to last year’s list, but the prior No. 2, $2.00, didn’t crack the top three this year. The other two prices were also on the 2023 list.
The most popular prices for some of the small front loaders are:
• 18 pounds: $2.50
• 20 pounds: $3.50
• 25 pounds: $4.50
The lowest price reported in this group was $1.50 (18 pounds) while the highest price was $7.00 (20 pounds).
The price range for a 30-pound wash is $1.75 to $7.75. Following are the favored 30-pound prices, along with the percentages of operators who charge them:
1. $5.00 (18.2%)
2. $4.00 and $4.50 (tie, 12.5%)
4. $5.50 (9.1%)
Prices for a 35-pound wash currently range from $2.50 to $8.00.
The price range for a 40-pound wash is $4.00 to $10.00. Following are the trendy 40-pound prices, along with the percentage of operators who charge them:
1. $6.00 (12.8%)
2. $5.50 (11.0%)
3. $6.50 (10.1%)
Prices for a 50-pound wash currently range from $5.50 to $9.50. For the 55-pounder, it’s from $6.00 to $11.00.
The price range for a 60-pound wash is $5.00 to $11.00. Following are the most popular 60-pound prices, along with the percentages of operators who charge them:
1. $8.00 (14.1%)
2. $7.50 (12.1%)
3. $7.00 (11.1%)
Operators who offer 75-pounders are charging between $6.50 and $11.50 per base wash.
The price range for an 80-pound wash is $7.00 to $16.50. Following are the favored 80-pound prices, along with percentages of operators who charge them:
1. $10.00 (17.5%)
2. $11.00 (14.0%)
3. $9.50 (12.3%)
Prices charged by operators for a 90-pound wash today range from $10.25 to $16.29. For a 100-pound wash, the price range is $10.25 to $15.00.
Laundry owners who respond to American Coin-Op’s unscientific survey vary year to year, which could account for the variety of prices reported. Respondents were asked to provide prices for front loaders of 14 traditional capacities, plus were given the option to list others.
Among all the washer capacities, the 60-pounder (27 prices) and the 40-pounder (25 prices) have the broadest pricing among operators surveyed.
TURNS PER DAY
Turns per day refers to the number of cycles (turns) that each of a store’s machines completes daily, a useful metric for illustrating a store’s busyness and efficiency. For each machine class (top loader or front loader), you can calculate this using total cycles for a one-week period divided by the total number of machines in the class, then dividing by seven.
At present, the average turns per day for top loaders among respondents is 3.5, which is a tick higher than the 3.3 average logged in last year’s survey.
For front loaders, the average number is 4.6 turns per day, compared to an average of 4.1 registered in 2023.
DRYER PRICES
Respondents were asked to list their current prices for their dryers as “25 cents for X minutes.” As in previous years, a variety of responses was reported.
Most popular among this year’s respondents—at 21.3%—is 25 cents for 5 minutes; it was also last year’s trendiest dryer price. Second is 25 cents for 6 minutes, at 16.0%. Coming in third was 25 cents for 7 minutes (14.0%).
UTILITIES COST
We asked operators about their 2023 utilities cost (as a percentage of gross). The responses ranged from 5% to 75%. Collectively, respondents paid an average of 21.6%, down slightly from 21.8% in last year’s survey.
The most common individual response—as it has been the last two years—was 20%. Whereas 54.2% reported a utilities cost of 20% or less last year, 60.4% reported the same this year.
CHARGING MORE?
We asked respondents if they have already raised washer and/or dryer prices in 2024, or if they plan to do so before the end of the year.
Regarding washer prices, the majority of respondents (58.1%) say they have already raised prices, or intend to do so, by year’s end. Roughly 24% say they have no such plans, and the remaining 17.6% are undecided.
As for dryer prices, 29.9% say they have raised, or plan to raise, their prices this year. Roughly 42% say they have not raised their prices and aren’t planning to this year. Roughly 24% are undecided. The question doesn’t apply to the 3.6% of respondents who offer free dry.
In Thursday’s conclusion: Purchasing choices and the 2024 forecast
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].
