2024-25 State of the Industry Survey (Part 2)

CHICAGO — Based on results from this year’s American Coin-Op annual State of the Industry survey, nearly 70% of owners and operators saw their total business improve last year.

How did your operation stack up?

The State of the Industry Survey report provides many statistics valuable to store owners and investors who wish to compare their operations to the industry average. This year’s polling focused on 2024-25 business conditions, vend pricing, equipment, turns per day and more.

The annual survey is an unscientific, online poll of American Coin-Op readers who operate stores. Some percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding or other factors.

2024 BUSINESS VS. 2023

For 2024, 69.0% of respondents say their overall self-service vended laundry business, in gross dollar volume, increased from that of 2023. By comparison, 74.6% reported increases in the 2023-24 survey.

The average 2024 business increase was 11.8%, down from 13.9% in 2023. Other past average business increases have been 13.2% (2022), 17% (2021), 7.1% (2020), 12.6% (2019), and 9.9% (2018).

Following is a breakdown of 2024 business increases (these figures relate to those reporting increases, not all respondents):

Operators with a business increase of less than 10%: 42.1%
Operators with a business increase of 10% to 14%: 24.6%
Operators with a business increase of 15% or more: 33.3%

Roughly 11% of operators polled saw their total business (in gross dollar volume) decrease in 2024, which is slightly higher than last year’s survey (8%). Results from prior years showed the following shares: 8% in 2022, 4% in 2021, 58% in 2020 (influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, no doubt), 12% in 2019, and 8% in 2018.

The average 2024 business decrease was 6.7%, compared to 9.5% reported for 2023. Other prior average decreases were 8.9% (2022), 20.0% (2021), 20.5% (2020), 7.5% (2019) and 5.0% (2018).

Among respondents who reported having experienced a business decline in 2024, the percentage was as low as 1% or as high at 16%.

Roughly 20% of respondents say their 2024 business was unchanged compared to 2023 performance.

DROP-OFF SERVICE AND PRICING

About 40% of operators surveyed reported their wash-dry-fold (WDF) service business, in gross dollar volume for both drop-off and pickup and delivery, increased in 2024. This compares to 46% in 2023, 53% in 2022, 62% in 2021, 34% in 2020, 54% in 2019 and 58% in 2018.

Last year’s average business increase was 13.3%, compared to 16.5% in 2023, 13.4% in 2022, 30.4% in 2021, 14.2% in 2020, 21.0% in 2019 and 29.8% in 2018.

Roughly 15% of respondents saw a dip in 2024 drop-off business, compared to 11% reported for 2023. In prior years, the shares of laundry owners with declining drop-off WDF business were 2.6% in 2022, 2.6% in 2021, 51% in 2020, 12% in 2019 and 10% in 2018.

Nearly 42% of respondents say their 2024 drop-off business was unchanged from the previous year. That compares to 44% for 2023, 45% for 2022, 36% for 2021, 20% for 2020, 34% for 2019 and 32% for 2018.

At present, drop-off pricing (in dollars per pound) ranges from $1.00 to $3.80, based on the survey responses.

Here’s a breakdown of the most popular drop-off service prices charged per pound, followed by the share of operators who charge them:

$1.50 (14.0%)
$1.75 (12.0%)
$1.25, $1.90 and $2.00, (8.0%, tie)

In total, 26 different drop-off prices were reported in this year’s survey.

Roughly 57% of operators who took the annual poll offer drop-off service, down from the 61% from last year’s survey.

COMMERCIAL BUSINESS

Among the laundry owners who offer commercial laundry services (the share was 65.1% in this survey), 42.9% reported that their business (in gross dollar volume) increased in 2024. The average increase was 11.8%.

Roughly 13% of respondents reported a decline in their commercial laundry business; the average was 9.6%.

Approximately 45% of respondents say their 2024 commercial business was unchanged from that of the prior year.

VENDING SALES

The share of respondents reporting their vending sales rose in 2024 was 39.5%, compared to 33.3% the previous year. The average vending sales increase last year was 9.8%

Roughly 8% reported declining vending sales in 2024, compared to 7% for 2023. The average decrease in 2024 was 8.3%.

Operators reporting no change in their 2024 vending sales business accounted for 51.3%, compared to 59.8% in the prior year’s survey.

In Part 3 coming Tuesday: Self-service wash and dry pricing, turns per day, and more

If you missed Part 1, you can read it HERE.