Clean-Rite re-inventing the laundromat industry.

Clean Rite Centers is a dramatic example of the way one company is re-inventing an industry. Recently, Clean Rite Centers opened the largest laundromat in the New York City metropolitan area at 1250 East Tremont Avenue in The Bronx. Their latest "Laundry Service Superstore" occupies space originally built to be a car dealership.

The new facility is 9,000 square feet with a fenced and illuminated parking lot of the same size. This new store surpassed Clean Rite's own record, since the company had already built the largest stores in the area with a 7,500 square-foot site at 314 McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn, and a 8,000 square foot store at Farmers and Merrick Boulevards in Queens.

By comparison, the typical store operated by traditional owners is approximately 1,500 to 1,800 square feet. In the past two years, Clean Rite has grown to 25 stores and plans to double in size by the third quarter of 1999. According to Timothy D. King, director of Real Estate for the College Point, Queens-based firm, "We recently signed our first Manhattan site on 145th Street in Harlem and are looking at several other opportunities in that trade area, as well as other neighborhoods in Manhattan."

Customers at the new Bronx store are enjoying a spacious facility with over 150 machines, ample folding tables, six TV sets, and a Kid's play area with toys, chairs and books to keep the wee ones amused. An important customer convenience and management tool is the proprietary "Value Card" system that helps to eliminate customers having to lug bags of quarters to do their wash. Instead, all the washers and dryers use a "Metro Card" style smart card. Besides the convenience this system offers to customers, the card enables the store to function without employees having to handle any cash. As a result, it is easier for the staff to focus on helping customers and keeping the store clean.

All Clean Rile stores operate around the clock, seven days a week, and have at least two uniformed attendants on duty at all times.

The Tremont Avenue renovation took over eight months and more than $900,000 to alter into a state-of-the-art, customer-friendly, full service laundromat. "We typically spend in the range of a hundred dollars a square foot on leasehold improvements and equipment to build out a store," said King. "This is one of the many reasons landlords are anxious to have us as a tenant, since they realize we are making a substantial commitment to their location."

Clean Rite is also acting as an anchor tenant for two new construction projects in The Bronx. In both cases, the balance of the space that was available leased quickly once Clean Rite posted a "Coming Soon" sign. "Retailers have finally begun to recognize the tremendous traffic that these superstores generate," Kind said. "Many retail analysts have pointed out the continuing trend toward larger, more convenient facilities for customers. Clean Rite is setting this trend in the laundromat industry in much the same way that Blockbuster, Staples and Home Depot did in their respective fields."