The Power of Hosting Community Events (Part 1)

CHICAGO — For generations, the self-service laundry has been an essential but rarely celebrated storefront in any neighborhood. Customers come, load their machines, sit, wait, fold, and leave. But around the country, a growing number of laundromat owners are demonstrating that their stores can be much more than transactional spaces.

They can be gathering places, cultural touchpoints, even engines for local engagement, goodwill and, ultimately, growth.

Donnell and Tahra Wright, of Bubbles & Baskets in Kenilworth, New Jersey, and Rex Anderson, of The Heights Laundry Centers in Ohio and Michigan, have embraced community event hosting as a defining part of their business models.

While their approaches differ, their experiences point to a similar conclusion: well-executed community events don’t just make people feel welcome. They can reshape how customers view the laundromat experience, deepen loyalty, and contribute meaningfully to the bottom line.

MORE THAN A WASH: WHY HOST AN EVENT?

For Anderson and the Wrights, the motivation to organize community events starts with the desire to serve — not simply to promote.

Anderson, who co-owns three Heights Laundry Centers with a fourth opening soon, recalls that shortly after entering the industry in 2017, CLA’s LaundryCares Foundation approached him about hosting a free laundry day. He saw the value of offering something “positive for the community” and “building trust” with customers in each store’s neighborhood. The more people who experienced the stores, he reasoned, the more they would come to view the business as a “pillar of the community.”

Similarly, the Wrights, who took over Bubbles & Baskets in 2023, entered ownership with a clear vision: their laundromat would be more than a utilitarian space.

Long before they bought the business, they imagined using their store as a community-focused venue. For them, hosting events was not an afterthought — it was part of the brand identity they intended to create.

“It is really one of the last true gathering places where strangers come together,” says Tahra Wright. Their mission was to amplify that role and give back to a tight-knit town of fewer than 9,000 residents.

In both cases, community service was the starting point. Any marketing benefits, both say, flowed naturally afterward.

THE WILD WORLD OF IN-STORE EVENTS

Event styles can vary widely depending on the market, the owners’ goals, available space, and the local culture. Across the two businesses, examples include:

Free Laundry Days and Educational Partnerships — At The Heights Laundry Centers, LaundryCares events have been a cornerstone of community engagement. Anderson has partnered with the nonprofit at three stores, offering free laundry, children’s reading centers, book giveaways, and in one standout example, a full hands-on science exhibit. The Great Lakes Science Center set up three stations featuring simple experiments involving activities kids could recreate at home.

Beyond LaundryCares, Anderson’s team has experimented with themed free laundry days, including a “Tax Day” event in which vend pricing was deeply discounted under the tagline, “Ease the burden of Tax Day with free laundry.” These programs attracted families, engaged children, and reinforced the idea that the laundromat was a community asset — not merely a business.

Cultural Nights, Mixers, Parties and Pop-Ups — The Wrights have taken a different path, building a calendar of quarterly events designed to draw both customers and non-customers.

Their lineup has included a holiday mix and mingle (with a local DJ and food sourced from nearby restaurants), karaoke night (run by an outside entertainment group), jazz night (featuring live music in their store transformed into a lounge-like atmosphere), cat art gallery (showcasing the work of a local yoga-studio owner turned artist), an ice cream social with a pop-up freezer cart from a neighboring business, and a pizza-themed reading and activity event featuring a local author and Guinness World Record holder for her pizza memorabilia collection.

Every event is free and open to the public. Guests receive raffle tickets, refreshments, and — in many cases—a fully reimagined laundromat environment complete with cocktail tables, dimmed lights, strobe effects, and décor tailored to the theme.

“It even amazes us,” says Donnell, “once you see it in a different appearance.”

PLANNING AND EXECUTING COMMUNITY EVENTS

While both operators stress that events require work, they are also quick to note that the effort is manageable — and gets easier over time.

Anderson estimates that Heights’ larger events require six to eight staff hours, mostly spent securing sponsors, organizing vendors, and coordinating logistics. For openings or ribbon-cuttings, there’s the added task of scheduling city officials to attend. Operationally, he schedules events on slower days (generally Wednesdays), sections off parking areas as needed, and keeps a service technician on standby.

By contrast, the Wrights devote much more hands-on time to their events, especially because their laundromat also remains closed on Wednesdays, allowing them to use the entire day for setup. They often remove shelving, shift tables, install rental décor, arrange food, and prepare lighting. Setup typically runs from early morning until mid-afternoon, leaving just enough time for the owners to go home, get ready, and return for a 6 p.m. start. Breakdown happens that night, with repairs or reinstallation handled the next morning before the store opens.

The Wrights estimate they spend “a couple thousand dollars” per event — significant, but increasingly predictable now that they’ve invested in reusable décor and understand how much food to order. Anderson’s free laundry days through LaundryCares require managing machine access, staffing, and promotional activity but are less costly to him.

Timing matters. Anderson emphasizes the importance of properly aligning events. An early summer event advertised through local schools failed to reach families because classes had already ended, he says. The event was successful, he adds, but could have reached more people.

The Wrights, meanwhile, rely heavily on social media, where posts showcasing past events generate anticipation for the next one. Photos of karaoke nights and jazz nights — not something most people expect to see at a laundromat — regularly spark comments such as, “Let me know when the next event is!” Newspapers and local organizations also help spread the word.

Check back Thursday for the conclusion