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.
HOW MUCH FOR A WASH?
Respondents were asked to report how much they charge for a variety of base washes.
Roughly 42% of operators surveyed, compared to 53% in last year’s poll, offer top loaders at their store(s). The price range for a top-load wash is $1 to $4.25.
Here are the trendy top-load prices, followed by the shares of respondents charging them:
1. $2.50 and $2.75 (tie, 16.7%)
3. $3 and $4 (tie, 13.9%)
5. $3.50 and $4.50 (tie, 8.3%)
The most popular prices for some of the small front loaders are:
• 18 pounds: $3.50
• 20 pounds: $4
• 25 pounds: $4.25
The lowest price reported in this group was $1 (18 pounds) while the highest price was $8 (20 pounds).
The price range for a 30-pound wash is $3.35 to $12. Following are the favored 30-pound prices, along with the percentage of operators who charge them:
1. $5 (18.9%)
2. $4 and $4.25 (tie, 11.3%)
4. $4.50 (9.4%)
Prices for a 35-pound wash currently range from $3 to $7.50, based on the survey results.
The price range for a 40-pound wash is $4 to $10. Following are the trendy 40-pound prices, along with the percentage of operators who charge them:
1. $6 (21.3%)
2. $5.50 (13.3%)
3. $6.25 (6.7%)
Prices for a 50-pound wash currently range from $5.75 to $9.75. For the 55-pounder, it’s from $4 to $11.
The price range for a 60-pound wash is $4 to $13.75. Following are the most popular 60-pound prices, along with the percentages of operators who charge them:
1. $8 (12.9%)
2. $7 (11.3%)
3. $7.50 and $7.75 (tie, 9.7%)
The price range for an 80-pound wash is $7.70 to $15.75. Following are the favored 80-pound prices, along with percentages of operators who charge them:
1. $10 (19.6%)
2. $11 (10.9%)
3. $9.75 (8.7%)
Prices charged by operators for a 90-pound basic wash today range from $10 to $16.25.
Laundry owners who respond to American Coin-Op’s unscientific survey vary year to year, which could account for the variety of prices reported. Respondents were asked to provide prices for front loaders of 14 traditional capacities, plus were given the option to list others.
Among all the washer capacities, the 60-pounder (23 prices), 40-pounder (22 prices) and 80-pounder (22 prices) have the broadest pricing among operators surveyed.
TURNS PER DAY
Turns per day refers to the number of cycles (turns) that each of a store’s machines completes daily, a useful metric for illustrating a store’s busyness and efficiency. For each machine class (top loader or front loader), you can calculate this using total cycles for a one-week period divided by the total number of machines in the class, then dividing by seven.
At present, the average turns per day for top loaders among respondents is 4.3, which is higher than the 3.5 average logged in last year’s survey.
For front loaders, the average number is 4.8 turns per day, compared to an average of 4.6 registered in 2024.
DRYER PRICES
Respondents were asked to express their current prices for their dryers as “25 cents for X minutes.” It’s commonplace for a variety of responses to be reported, and this year’s result is no different.
Most popular among this year’s respondents—at 18.6%—is 25 cents for 4 minutes. Last year’s trendiest dryer price—25 cents for 5 minutes—comes in second this year (17.5%). Third is 25 cents for 6 minutes (15.5%).
UTILITIES COST
We asked operators about their 2024 utilities cost (as a percentage of gross). The responses ranged from 4% to 40%. Collectively, respondents paid an average of 18.2%, down from 21.6% in last year’s survey.
The most common individual response—for the third year running—was 20%. Whereas 60.4% reported a utilities cost of 20% or less last year, 68.6% reported the same this year.
In Thursday’s conclusion: Raising prices, purchasing choices, and the 2025 forecast
If you missed the earlier parts of this story: Part 1 — Part 2
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].
