Product News
by Martin Saxton
FABRICARE The Global Picture
Planiform V-Rail System moves
Multiple Trolleys Designed for operations needing to move large quantities of gar- ments on hangers through a sys- tem. Garments are moved through the V-rail system by using trolleys in a trolley train, made by linking several trolleys together. Can be installed at worker level, or at the ceiling, using a motorized booster conveyor. Planiform Conveyors states that
a guaranteed turnkey project can be delivered to your doorstep. For more information call 866-904- 9292 or visit
www.planiform.com.
Hamilton Engineering’s Compact Water Heater
Called the EVO Companion, these water heaters are compact, with only a minimal footprint. Accord- ing to the manufacturer they are over 99% efficient. They have no flow restriction and are said not to limit the hot water supplied, as tankless water heaters do. They are warrantied for 10 years. To determine which is the right
heater for your laundry, call 800- 968-5530 or contact sales@hamil-
tonengineering.co.
IPSO® Cygnus UltraPro
Control System This system allows on-premise laundry managers to have com- plete control of their equipment to achieve peak efficiency. Operators can maintain efficient laundry operat ions by modi fying al l parameters of the wash program: temperature, time, water level and speed. They can do this at any time, even while the machine is running. Thanks to infrared con- nectivity, the program can be managed from a laptop computer. For more information, call 800- USA-IPSO or visit
IPSO.com.
“The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.” – William Gibson, The Economist, December 4, 2003
A business owner always wants to know what changes are coming in his or her industry, but when trying to divine the future of the fabricare industry in Canada, there are confus- ing signals. Some cleaners are doing well, others are closing; some are successfully embracing new technology, others are working on the basis that ‘if it ain’t broke…’, concentrating on getting the best from tried and tested equipment. I thought that I would take a look at some other countries to see if there is anything happening around the world that could give clues as to where the Canadian market is going.
UNITED STATES The superficial cultural and economic similarities with our ‘big brother’ to the south often mask profound differences between the U.S. and Canada, and the fabricare industry is no exception. One noticeable difference is the growth of dry cleaning chains in large urban areas. The industry is becom- ing divided between large chains and very small ‘mom and pop’ stores. The big kahuna is DryClean USA, a publicly trad- ed chain of franchises in the U.S. and Central and South America with over 400 locations; but other chains such as Zips, Tide and OXXO are expanding aggressively. Overall, the shift away from ‘dry-clean-only’ clothing is
having an impact, with revenue for the industry as a whole falling by 13% in the last five years. A report on the industry by the Environmental Protection Agency dryly notes that “Commercial dry cleaning is not a high-profit business, and many dry cleaners are barely able to stay in business.” Overall, the technology used by cleaners in the U.S. is
much the same as in Canada, except the striking use of social media. Although by no means ubiquitous, many cleaners south of the border are using Facebook and Twitter to stay in contact with their customers, with the most advanced send- ing a text to tell them when their clothes are ready. Americans also lead the way in taking the business to the
customer. On-demand pickup and drop-off from the cus- tomer’s home or office is very common, and there are many ‘dry cleaners’ who concentrate on this element of the service, sub-contracting the cleaning to someone else. Given that Americans are accustomed to doing everything in their cars from banking to buying, it is no surprise that ‘drive-through’ services are popular.
EUROPE Europe is home to some of the biggest dry cleaning chains in the world, including 5aSec from France (which has franchises in 31 countries), and Pressto from Spain. In general, store rents are high, and anyone who has driven in a major Euro- pean city will understand why the pickup and delivery model is not popular, so European cleaners have tended to opt for compact stores. Marco Niccolini, sales director at Renzacci S.p.A, is upbeat about the industry, “The adoption of new environmentally friendly solvents has revived interest in dry
30 FABRICARE CANADA July/August 2014
cleaning in the last three years.” According to Mr. Nic- colini, hydrocarbon is the most popular choice, representing around 90% of new machines in Italy, and some wet cleaners are swi tching back to dry cleaning to take advantage of the capabilities of the solvents. Not surprisingly, economic problems on the continent are putting a brake on investment, but he feels that family-owned businesses remain strong.
U.K. Across the channel, the market for dry cleaning is seeing a slow but steady decline in rev- enue. I spoke to Tim Grice, who is a consultant to the industry and former business services director at Johnsons Cleaners. He bemoaned the lack of technological innova- tion. Johnsons (with over 10% of the market) and Morrisons (a major supermarket chain) dominate the market. After a period of retrenchment that saw hundreds of stores close, the main area of growth involves Johnsons Cleaners installing drop-off counters in around 150 locations of the Waitrose supermarket chain. Johnsons has signed an exclu- sive agreement with Green- Earth, which leaves independ- ent cleaners wi th l imi ted alternatives. Tim commented that “K4 has come and gone,” and with only about 3% of stores using wet cleaning, most cleaners who are switching from perc are moving to hydro- carbon.
AUSTRALIA Ken Rogers (president of DCL Australia) told me that the industry there is quiet at the moment, mainly because the economy has slowed signifi- cantly after a long boom. Not surprisingly, the result is a reduction in investment in new equipment. Perc continues to be popular, helped in par t because an efficient waste dis- posal system has reduced en - vironmental concerns, with hydrocarbon as the most com- mon alternative. Generally the market resem-
bles the U.S., with large plants servicing multiple drop-stores, and 24-hour drop-off and pick- up being adopted where the location allows it.
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