CHICAGO — Year-over-year coin laundry sales in the Midwest were up 8.0% last month, the highest among all regions, according to results of this month’s American Coin-Op StatShot survey.
Store owners in the West and South also reported strong November year-over-year sales, up 6.4% and 5.3%, respectively, while those in the Northeast saw sales dip slightly, down 0.2%.
Northeast operators posted the lowest average available wash price for a front-loader among all regions in November at $2.17. Lowest prices there ranged from $1.50 to $3.00. The majority of operators there (89.0%) say these prices are unchanged from the same time last year, while 11% say the prices are higher.
The average highest available wash price for a front-loader in November in the Northeast was $5.58, with highest prices ranging from $3.75 to $8.25. All respondents there say these prices are unchanged from the same time last year.
The average lowest available wash price for a front-loader in the Midwest last month was $2.25, with lowest prices there ranging from $1.25 to $3. Roughly 70% of operators there say these prices are unchanged from the same period year, while close to 29% say these prices are higher. No respondents said these prices are lower.
The average highest available wash price for a front-loader in the Midwest last month was $6.18, with highest prices ranging from $3.75 to $9.25. The majority (85.7%) say these prices are unchanged from the same time last year, while 14.3% say these prices are higher. No respondents say the prices are lower than the same time last year.
Average lowest available wash price for a front-loader in the West in November was $2.72, with lowest prices ranging from $1.25 to $5.25. The majority (67.0%) say these prices are unchanged, while 22.2% say they are higher than the same time last year. Only 11.1% report these prices as being lower than the same time last year.
The average highest available wash price for a front-loader in the West last month was $6.08, with highest prices ranging from $1.25 to $8.75. Close to 78% of respondents say these prices are unchanged from the same time last year. Roughly 11% say these prices are higher than last year, while another 11.1% say these prices are lower.
Average lowest available wash price for a front-loader in the South was $2.42 last month, with lowest prices ranging from $2 to $3. An even 70% of respondents there say these prices are unchanged from the same time last year, while 30% say the prices are higher.
The average highest available wash price for a front-loader in the South last month was $7.37, the highest among all regions. Highest prices there ranged from $5 to $15.50, with an even 90% of respondents saying these prices are unchanged from the same time last year. Only 10% say these prices are higher.
“Unattended stores in my markets have very low prices. I make sure that I am the highest priced and nicest store in the area,” says a Southern operator. “A clean and attended store with working equipment beats an unattended store anytime.”
An operator from the Midwest says the rain in his/her region has “reduced customers.”
Other operators are facing new competition, with one from the Northeast saying that his/her competitor is “cutting into [his/her] store’s volume.”
“One new Laundromat opened two weeks ago, and everyone is trying it,” says an operator from the West. “[Another] laundry one block away from us put his prices 25 cents less of my prices.”
The unscientific StatShot survey includes information on sales, wages, costs or other financial data based on survey information provided anonymously by vended laundry store owners.
American Coin-Op audience members are invited via e-mail to participate in the surveys, which are conducted online via AmericanCoinOp.com. All self-service laundry owners/operators are encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define industry trends.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].