CHICAGO — Just shy of one-third of the self-service laundry owners and operators polled in this quarter’s American Coin-Op Your Views survey say they will be attending The Clean Show in August in Orlando, Florida, that city’s first in 20 years.
Roughly 54% have decided that they will not attend Clean, last staged in Atlanta in 2022, and the remaining 13.5% were unsure at the time of our unscientific survey.
Whether they’ll be attending or not, 47.4% say the biggest factor in favor of visiting Clean is all that it has to offer: exhibits of equipment, systems and supplies; education sessions; learning from other attendees; and networking/socializing.
Among the individual factors, 31.6% point to the exhibits of equipment, systems and supplies (at present, more than 390 companies have reserved booth space). Roughly 8% say the biggest draw is the education sessions, while equal shares of 5.3% are drawn to learning from other attendees or to the networking and socializing opportunities the four-day event presents. Just 2.6% point to combining business and pleasure.
Roughly 71% say they are more likely to do business with a certain company based on information received at a trade show like Clean. About 13% say they aren’t more likely to do business based on info received at a trade show, and the remaining 15.8% are unsure.
There will be roughly 26 hours of education programming during Clean, with CLA presenting several sessions. Among them, the topic generating the most pre-show interest among survey respondents is “Top Trends in the Laundry Industry” (65.8%). Other popular topics include “From Tradition to Innovation: A Generational Shift in Laundromats” (52.6%) and “From Errors to Insights: Leveraging Mistakes for Business Success” (44.7%).
We asked store owners and operators who’ve attended Clean before to share a tip for first-timers. Here are some of their answers:
- “Make a full round of the entire show and then repeat the next day. You will be amazed at what you missed.”
- “Wear comfortable shoes. Explore different vendors in all areas of your business needs. Try to meet other laundromat owners, especially in the same geographical area but far enough away so you can share knowledge.”
- “Come with a curious mindset. What you think sometimes is very limiting.”
- “The convention center is really big! So take the time to study the map of vendors to learn where the booths of interest for you are, and plan the best route for where you want to go each day. I have found that the American Coin-Op Clean Show edition can really help in this process.”
- “Take your time and go later in the show. The representatives of equipment, services and supplies have a limited ability to talk to everyone. Going the first two days are when they are the busiest and have the least amount of time to interact.”
Among respondents who won’t be attending Clean this year, their inability to take the time to make the trip, its cost, and the choice of locations were among their reasons.
American Coin-Op’s Your Views survey presents an unscientific snapshot of the trade audience’s viewpoints at a particular moment. Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Subscribers to American Coin-Op emails are invited to participate anonymously in an industry survey each quarter. The entire trade audience is encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define owner/operator opinions and industry trends.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].
