CHICAGO — Can the industry attract more “home” washers? Eighty-one percent of respondents to the latest Wire survey believe the coin laundry industry, as well as they themselves, can do a better job of attracting people who do their laundry at home. Nineteen percent are not sure if the industry can do a better job of attracting them. However, the key question is how many, if any, of these people will try out a coin laundry.What’s the key to attracting more first-time coin laundry customers? More than 80% of survey respondents believe that better marketing would help. Slightly less than 20% of respondents are not sure if better marketing is the answer.With free time at such a premium in today’s hustle-and-bustle society, operators must be wondering why more people aren’t giving coin laundries a chance. The most common response from respondents (48%) was that people won’t try coin laundries because those people have a negative image of the industry. The No. 2 reason is “There’s no need to spend money if you have access to home washers and dryers” (32%).Slightly more than half of respondents (54%) believe the industry eventually will attract significantly more of these people. Thirty-five percent are not sure if the industry will succeed in this area, and 11% say the industry won’t be able to attract significantly more of these people.Respondents were also asked if their laundry would ever attract more “home” washers. Fifty-six percent said they would do so, 16% said they wouldn’t attract more home washers and 28% were not sure.Full survey results appear in the September issue of American Coin-Op.
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