If you’re dragging on a Wednesday during the fall, that’s not uncommon for a laundry owner, according to our Wire survey. Operators were asked about the best and the worst things at their store. POPULAR WASHERSThirty-three percent of respondents say 40-50-pound front loaders are the most popular washer, followed by 18-25-pound front loaders (17.5 percent) and 27-35-pound front loaders (15.8 percent). Identical numbers (10.5 percent) chose top loaders and 70-pound-plus front loaders as the most popular washer.SLOWEST DAY, BEST SEASONWednesday is the slowest business day (32.8 percent), edging out Thursdays (31 percent) and Tuesdays (24 percent). Winter is the best revenue-generating month (41.4 percent), followed by summer (24.1 percent), spring (19 percent), and fall (15.5 percent).THIRSTY CUSTOMERSSoft drinks, by far, are the best-selling food/drink item at laundries. Seventy percent of respondents say soft drinks are the No. 1 seller, followed by snack chips (14.3 percent) and water (10.7 percent).TASKS TO AVOIDDoing repair/maintenance work (31 percent) is the least favorite task for owners, closely followed by “supervising employees” (24 percent) and “cleaning” (15.5 percent). Only 8.6 percent selected “collecting” as their least favorite task.CUSTOMER TROUBLERespondents were asked what the worst thing a customer has done at their laundry. As you might expect, there were a variety of answers. A good number of respondents said “theft” (in some form) was a big problem. Somewhat surprising, a good number of operators reported bathroom-related woes (vandalism, spreading feces on walls and fixtures, etc.). Equipment damage got its fair share of votes. One operator said an angry customer vented his frustration by yanking the agitator out of a top loader and smashing it to bits. Another operator simply replied “too many to list” when asked about customer problems.While the American Coin-Op Wire survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific.Subscribers to the Wire e-mails — distributed weekly — are invited to participate in an industry survey each month. Click here and follow the menu instructions to sign up for the free e-mail service.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].