2024-25 State of the Industry Survey (Conclusion)

CHICAGO — Based on results from this year’s American Coin-Op annual State of the Industry survey, nearly 70% of owners and operators saw their total business improve last year.

How did your operation stack up?

The 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 polling focused on 2024-25 business conditions, vend pricing, equipment, turns per day and more.

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.

CHARGING MORE?

We asked respondents if they have raised washer and/or dryer prices in 2025, or if they plan to do so before the end of the year.

About washers, the majority of respondents (68.6%) say they have already raised prices, or intend to do so, by year’s end. Roughly 16% say they have no such plans, and the remaining 15.1% are undecided.

As for dryer prices, 30.2% say they have raised, or plan to raise, their prices this year. Roughly 48% say they have not and aren’t planning to this year. Approximately 19% are undecided. The question doesn’t apply to the 3.5% of respondents who offer free dry.

2024 EQUIPMENT PURCHASES

Roughly 51% of respondents purchased at least one piece of equipment—washer, dryer, water heater, vending machine, or other—in 2024, which is a couple percentage points below our previous annual survey.

Following is a breakdown of 2024 purchases by respondent (percentages do not total 100% because some buyers purchased equipment in multiple equipment categories):

13.7% purchased at least one top loader, with the average buy being 5.3 machines.
70.5% purchased at least one front loader, with the average buy being 13.2 machines.
36.4% purchased at least one dryer (single or stack), with the average buy being 17.6 machines.
29.5% purchased a water heater.
15.9% purchased a vending machine.

Card payment systems, coin changers, bill breakers, arcade games and ozone sanitization systems were also among the equipment listed as having been purchased.

ON THIS YEAR’S SHOPPING LIST

We also asked self-service laundry owners if they have purchased, or plan to purchase, new equipment this year.

Slightly more than 38% have acquired, or plan to acquire, some type of equipment—washer, dryer, water heater, vending machine, or other—for their mix in 2025. By comparison, last year’s percentage was 31%.

Following is a breakdown of purchases that operators have already made in 2025, or they plan to make by the end of the year (percentages do not total 100% because some buyers purchased or plan to purchase equipment from multiple categories):

6.1% of respondents have purchased, or plan to purchase, a new top loader this year.
69.7% of respondents have purchased, or plan to purchase, a new front loader this year, with the average buy being 13.8 machines.
42.4% of respondents have purchased, or plan to purchase, a new dryer (single or stack) this year, with the average buy being 11.4 machines.
15.2% of respondents have purchased, or plan to purchase, a new water heater this year.
12.1% of respondents have purchased, or plan to purchase, a new vending machine this year.

FORECAST FOR 2025

Roughly 62% of respondents are optimistic that their 2025 total business will be better than 2024’s. About 31% expect their business to be about the same, while 7.1% say their business won’t perform as well in 2025 as it did in 2024.

Miss an earlier part of this article? Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 3