MILES CITY, Mont. — Craving personal service and a 60-minute wash and dry, families, singles, professionals and pets frequent the Express Laundry Center – a high-speed, 2,400-square-foot coin laundry in Miles City, Mont. Complete with Sage’s Dog Wash, the one-stop laundry not only delivers a quick wash and Fido-cleaning, it offers an array of amenities and time-saving drop-off services, including wash/dry/fold, load and leave, and dry cleaning.
Owners Shane and Rebecca McKinney relish their laundry just as much as customers relish its cleanliness, convenience and personal service. The couple purchased and renovated a Subway store anchored by the popular fast-food restaurant McDonald’s. “We bought the building and converted it to an Express Laundry Center,” says Shane. “We felt like it was a fabulous location across from McDonald’s. We love this business and can’t wait to get to the laundry every morning. Our customers say it is hands down the nicest laundry they’ve ever been in.”
Laundry clients are privy to comfy leather recliners, soap and snack vending machines, video games, free Wi-Fi, flat-screen televisions, high-speed laundry equipment, and the adjoining Sage’s Dog Wash. Open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, the Express Laundry Center is attended 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.
DROP-OFF SERVICES BOLSTER BOTTOM LINE
The Express Laundry Center delivers timesaving convenience, which extends to the drop-off services customers crave.
“Our drop-off service is really big. We market to everyone, from homeowners and professionals, to people who rent and don’t have washers at home. People are busy and want to save time,” says Shane. The laundry caters to truck drivers, business owners, families, motels, restaurants and care homes – anyone needing a hand with laundry.
“Our city had a dry cleaner that closed down, so we contract with a dry cleaner out of town and provide drop-off dry cleaning,” he adds. “We have a lot of satisfied customers who were desperate for that service.”
“We keep one of the 20-pound-capacity washers and one of the 30-pound stack dryers in the back reserved for heavily soiled wash/dry/fold,” Shane adds. The Express Laundry Center generates 40% of its revenue through drop-off services.
In total, the laundry boasts 22 ExpressWash™ Washers, including 16 20-pounders, three 30-pounders, and three 40-pounders; two Continental 75-pound-capacity PowerLoad Washer-Extractors; two 75-pound-capacity, single-pocket dryers; and two 45- and eight 30-pound-capacity dual-pocket stack dryers.
“We have a customer who has used our laundry from day one,” says Shane. “She has five kids with no washer or dryer at home. On Sunday, she brings about 28 loads of laundry to the store. She told us it used to take six to seven hours and 90 bucks to finish her laundry. Now, using our store, she does it for $35 in two or two-and-a-half hours.”
How does she do it? “She uses the big washers, which cost less per pound and saves money on the dryers,” says Shane.
Simplifying life further for customers, the McKinneys placed dual-coin acceptors on the laundry’s bigger machines. Thus, the change machine is a double-service coin changer that dispenses dollar coins or quarters. “This saves customers time, and they don’t have to lug tons of quarters around. Instead, they can use a few dollar coins,” says Shane.
SAGE’S DOG WASH
Complementing the Express Laundry Center is Sage’s Dog Wash – the first and only coin-operated self-service dog wash in Miles City.
In its own corner of the laundry, separated by a glass partition, pets undergo the ultimate washing experience as laundry customers look on. Sage’s Dog Wash features a separate entrance for simple access.
“Our laundry customers can see the dog wash and visa versa,” says Shane. “It’s good marketing. They complement each other.”
Pets are dried using the built-in blow dryer, or by hand with towels, which are provided.
A one-stop solution, the Express Laundry Center provides customers a 60-minute wash/dry; a place to wash pets without the mess; and convenient drop-off services that save time.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].