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Going Green: Power of the Pedal

PHILADELPHIA — Maintaining profitability for drop-off-service work or commercial accounts has been challenging during these economically challenging times. And if your Laundromat picks up and delivers, the skyrocketing gasoline prices have to be wreaking havoc with your bottom line.Gabe Mandujano’s Wash Cycle Laundry puts a different spin on traditional drop-off service. His three-person operation picks up and delivers laundry on a bicycle. The orders are washed, dried and folded at the South Street Coin Wash, according to the Philadelphia Weekly Press.Wash Cycle serves small businesses like cafés, a gym and a massage studio. The company is better able to cater to these businesses because its deliveries are within a small geographic radius, meaning it can pick up loads at unscheduled and varied times.Wash Cycle took its work to the South Street Coin Wash after Mandujano and the store owner met and talked about the possibility of the store switching over to more-energy-efficient equipment. The transition took place, and Wash Cycle employees use the Laundromat Monday through Friday, leaving the weekends for the store’s traditional customers.Mandujano stresses the environmental importance of his laundry business avoiding the three major components of the delivery and manufacturing industry: trucks, parking lots and loading docks.He believes his business has a bright future because the vibrant downtown area is home to urban professionals who demand local and high-quality goods and services.

Bicycles.

Bicycles. (Photo: ©iStockphoto.com/maikid)

Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].