How to Price Laundromat Services and Promotions That Customers Favor

In the competitive landscape of laundromats, pricing services is a critical art that goes beyond setting a simple rate per load.

Laundromat owners in the U.S. are sharing their strategies for pricing services in today’s competitive market.

From setting rates for self-service washes to offering premium detergent options and pricing wash-and-fold services, each decision can impact a laundry’s operations and financial health.

To gain insight into how today’s self-service owners approach the task, American Coin-Op interviewed 10 of them from around the country, serving differing customer bases. Here’s more of what they had to say.

PRICING ALERT

Do you alert your customers to price changes? If so, how?

“We alert customers to price changes on our website and with signage in our storefronts,” says Todd Ofsink, of New York City-based Todd Layne Cleaners & Laundromat.

“For retail, no notice is given,” says Travis Unema, who owns Brio Laundry in Bellingham, Washington. “Some customers will ask why, some will be frustrated, but most understand! If a customer is set up with a business account or a business agreement, then I will inform them ahead of time.”

“We let our customers know via email (if we have their email address) and with signage,” says Kristyn Van Ostern, who co-owns Manchester, New Hampshire’s Wash Street laundromat. “If the promotion is available via [our payment system], we advertise it in-app as well.”

“I say nothing when I raise prices,” states Patrick Dreis, who owns three Southern California laundromats and a commercial plant.

“Our pricing announcement strategies are as follows: For any service that is prepay, they are notified before their next service,” describes Dave Menz, who owns and operates the Queen City Laundry chain of four full-service centers in the Cincinnati area. “For us, that’s self-serve, drop-off service, vending and really anything but pickup and delivery. For pickup and delivery, we notify customers of price increases both two weeks out, and again one week out.”

“I don’t alert clients,” says Jan Barlow, whose Jan’s Professional Dry Cleaners in Clio, Michigan, includes an on-site laundromat. “Typically, we may have a promotion to help cushion the increase. The present economy and the overall media has been explaining costs, so we really don’t have much to add to the discussion.”

“Our pricing is noted on our machines, and we really don’t change them often at all,” says James (Clark) Sowers, who co-owns four laundromats and two drycleaning plants in South Dakota.

“Generally no. I don’t mention it, and the customers seldom comment on the change,” says Sharon Sager of her Sierra Madre (Calif.) Laundry. “I did, however, feel it was important to explain why I raised dryer prices during the gas utility price crisis in 2022-23.”

“The last price increase we had (about a year ago), we posted a general notice on our major cost increases (natural gas, electric and water/sewer utilities), showing the rate of increase we were experiencing,” explains James Radovic, who owns Jupiter (Fla.) Laundry. “I felt our customers were seeing the same thing personally and could relate to the reasons. We had very little customer pushback on this, once we shared our rationale.”

MOST PALATABLE PROMOTION

What type of pricing promotion do you think customers favor most?

“Customers love free wash days where all washers are free for a limited time,” Menz says. “This could be a customer appreciation day, or a grand opening. For card system and loyalty app stores, they also love ‘double your money’ promotions.

“We also recently installed [a] direct injection system for self-serve customers. After install, we offered the service with free detergent and softener for the first 60 days and that was a huge hit! We attracted many new customers that stayed after the promo and were able to accelerate adoption of these new cycle modifiers as well.”

“What I like to do is to buy customers a wash when I am in the store,” Sowers offers. “It’s personal and an opportunity to have a face-to-face relationship with them.”

Wash Street’s customers tend to favor promotions that provide immediate savings or added value, according to Van Ostern.

“This includes discounts during off-peak hours, loyalty programs that offer free washes after a certain number of visits, and bundled services such as discounts on wash-and-fold services when combined with self-service washes,” she describes. “Promotions that are easy to understand and use are also highly favored.”

“We have had to navigate the delicate balance of a booming commercial and WDF business with the needs of our self-service customers,” says Kelly Castillo. With a partner, she operates Bubbles Laundry Service in Anaheim, California. “We do not

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