Tips from an Owner Who Visited 25 Stores First
John Abbott never planned to get into the laundromat business. A broken washer and a bad visit to a run-down store changed that. Before building Johnny Rabbit’s Laundromat in Pelham, Alabama, he spent more than a year and a half in 25 laundromats around Birmingham with a legal pad.
On the latest episode of the Laundry Nerd podcast, host Randy Radtke talks with John in Part 1 of a three-part series about what he learned and what he built.
Starting a Laundromat Business Begins with Research
In every store, John noted pricing, spacing, decor, flooring and ease of entry. Three problems kept showing up: black mold in soap dispensers, missing doors on equipment and bare concrete floors.
When it came time to build, he reached out to Alliance Laundry Systems and credits his distributor team with help on layout, lease terms and location selection.
Coin Operated Laundry Machines and a Laundry App Can Share One Store
John says most stores he visited had dropped quarters. He kept them, pairing his coin-operated laundry machines with a laundry app, which he says keeps him tied to his numbers without counting every quarter.
John built the rewards around loyalty. He says customers who add more funds to the app earn more in rewards, and he is willing to take a smaller margin per customer if it keeps that customer coming back for years. He thinks about it as the long game:
“I think five years down the road, I want that guy still coming back to me. I don’t want him for three months. I want him for the rest of his life, as long as he’s willing and able to bring us his dirty laundry.” John Abbott, Johnny Rabbit’s Laundromat owner
Listen Now
Listen to the latest Laundry Nerd episode 64, “Johnny Rabbit’s: The Apple Store of Laundromats: High-Tech, High-Touch in Pelham Part 1,” on Podbean, or find the Laundry Nerd podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Part 1 ends on a cliffhanger, so you will want to come back for Part 2.
