After spending the majority of his professional life as a\n high school teacher and football coach, Mickey Mitchell reached \nretirement. During this time of transition, Mickey saw an opportunity to\n pursue another interest he\u2019d always kept in the back of his mind to \ngenerate additional income \u2013 investing in a small business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shortly after he retired, Mickey formed an ownership group with four \nother investors \u2013 Billy Neace, Mickey Owens, Tary Anthony and Steve Fine\n \u2013 and sought out a business investment. After doing some initial \nresearch, the team quickly saw that their small town of Monahans, Texas \u2013\n with just over 7,000 residents \u2013 was lacking sufficient laundry \nservices. With only one small laundromat to serve the entire town, \nMickey and his team recognized a great investment opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pairing the unmet need in their small town with the potential to \nquickly achieve a return on their investment, the team decided to open a\n vended laundry business. Because none of the investors had previous \nexperience in laundry, they began to investigate potential manufacturers\n and distributors, comparing the quality of different machines and the \nvarying levels of support and experience available. After three years of\n thoroughly evaluating their options, Mickey and his team decided to \npartner with Speed Queen\u00ae because of their reputation as an industry \nleader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEach time we looked into another product, our minds drifted back to \nSpeed Queen,\u201d Mickey says. \u201cSpeed Queen has the most impressive \nstate-of-the-art equipment and the most knowledgeable distributor \nsupport team. Simply put, Speed Queen is the best product on the \nmarket.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After researching the market, Mickey and his team were confident in \ntheir decision to build a brand new laundromat. They would open their \nstore, Texas Wash Tub, with Speed Queen machines, working with their \ndistributor partner, Martin-Ray Laundry Systems Inc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The store was built from the ground up, which required careful \npreparation and thoughtful planning. Because the ownership group had \nmuch to consider, they partnered with Martin-Ray Laundry Systems Inc., \nwho provided them with expertise and insights on the layout and \nconstruction of the store. They assisted in designing a trough system, \nensuring proper drainage, and encouraged the ownership group to \nconstruct extra troughs, leaving room for future expansion. While the \nTexas Wash Tub would open with 34 washers and 37 dryers, these \nadditional troughs would accomodate up to eight additional washers and \nthree dryers should they choose to expand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt has been a pleasure to work with a top notch distributor like \nMartin-Ray who works as a true business partner that is dedicated to \ntheir customer\u2019s success,\u201d Mickey says. \u201cIt\u2019s a great feeling when you \nknow your distributor is with you every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team also relied on Speed Queen Financial Services (SQFS) to \nfinance their new project. They chose SQFS over another financial \ninstitution because of their flexible loan structures and competitive \nrates. Additionally, SQFS was familiar with the specific details of the \nbusiness such as industry trends, ancillary services and pricing \nknowledge. These were all things that a commercial bank simply could not\n offer them, and further validated their decision to work with SQFS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause our team did not have previous laundry experience, we wanted\n to finance with a partner that understood the value of laundry and \ncould provide us insight into operating a successful laundromat,\u201d Mickey\n says. \u201cMost importantly, their flexible loan structure that offers \ndiscounted payments for the first few months of business allowed us to \nopen the laundromat and begin to generate a revenue stream before \nbeginning to pay back our loan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Texas Wash Tub opened its doors for business in November of 2014. \nSince then, Mickey has been able to take full advantage of the \ntechnology and services his Speed Queen machines offer. Specifically, \nMickey uses Speed Queen\u2019s Quantum\u2122 Gold networking system to track usage\n trends and establish marketing strategies. For instance, he implements \ntime-of-day pricing that increases pricing on busier days like Sundays \nand decreases pricing on slower days like Tuesdays and Wednesdays in \norder to increase the store\u2019s revenue based on customer behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, with Quantum controls, Mickey is able to monitor cash \nflow and profitability at any point in time. He can then generate \nfinancial reports and provide them to members of his ownership group, a \nluxury that has been a key to the group\u2019s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith a team of five investors, it is important to be in constant \ncommunication,\u201d Mickey says. \u201cQuantum controls allow me to easily access\n and share important store information from my personal computer with my\n team such as machine activity and revenue generated at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they recognized an unmet need in their community, the owners \nof Texas Wash Tub have been able to establish a lucrative business. With\n the help of Quantum technologies, industry-leading Speed Queen \nequipment and a strategic store design, Mickey and the rest of the \nownership group saw a return on their investment within one month of the\n store\u2019s opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe always knew we wanted to create a space that was large, clean and\n comfortable,\u201d Mickey recalls. \u201cIn the end, our laundromat has exceeded \nour expectations and has come to be a perfect example of a modern \nlaundromat where customers enjoy their experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team is approaching the one-year anniversary of laundry \noperation, and while Mickey hopes to spend a little time with his \ngranddaughter before taking on another business, he and his team hope to\n expand the business and pursue another store in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He adds, \u201cWe will continue to rely on Speed Queen for all of our \nfuture laundry business endeavors because it is the best equipment in \nthe industry and the business support provided is incomparable to other \nlaundry manufacturers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Global Public Relations Manager, Alliance Laundry Systems<\/p>\n\n\n\n