Predicting Turns in Upgrade

[CDJ]

Hi,

I'm considering replacing some of my top-loads with continental auroras and I'd like to try to predict my turns per machine.

I'll have to take out 5 maytags (I'll have 9 left) to put in 4 Auroras. Any suggestions?

cdj

[Kitty]

What is market like? Is your market geered to the smaller machines? Or could you increase your revenue and tpd by adding large capacity hard mounts instead?

[CDJ]

I know my tpd are higher on the front-loads that I have but I only have 5 of those, so I'm not sure what it means.

And I plan to ask my customers with a survey what they prefer, but I'm not really sure how to else to tell what my market is like and what the customers would prefer...

[BWJR]

What is your total mix of equipment? Big load machines do very well in most markets. Why are you set on Aurora's? What sold you?

BWJR

[CDJ]

My mix currently is:
14 maytag top-loads @1.25
3 primus doubles (18#?) @2.00
2 primus triples (35#?) @3.00

They're all about 15 years old.

I'm not sold on the Auroras, but here's why I'm considering them:
-Soft mount with Big Look
-Stainless
-Higher Vend Price (I'd do $2.)
-Water Savings

I'm considering Neptunes also -- but I'm not sure they are enough different from top-loads for my customers to pay an extra .50 for each vend.

[mike]

I would calculate what is going to bring you the most money
BEFORE you ask your clients,
and if you ask your clients, and are not prepared to go with the majority decision (not always the best choice, especially in California :-)
then you have wasted your time (and your clients time) by sampling opinion.

You will still have 9 tops, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Kitty]

Do you have many families in your market? 40's and 50's may be a costlier upfront investment but in the long run you can make more with the hardmount large capacity machines. In my market the 35lb machines do far better than any other, and the vend is higher than 2bucks a wash..

[Ken]

It depend on your market.
50# is way to go.
I have 7 -50# in each store,will add more 50# soon,they are the money maker.
If you really want small front loaders, add 18# or 35# .
I am not big fan of Primus but the new Maytag/Primus give you 5 years warranty,maybe the best warranty in biz.
Why add a different machine in your store?I tried very hard to keep all my machines the same,different machines drive me crazy!

[pete f]

unless your 18#'s are packed with money every week you are not gaining much. I would try a couple 25's and a 55# machine, or 2 50/55's. Not all stores need that many, so 1 is probably a good start. You do not have enough capacity to bring in the power washers, the Aurua won't help much. A good upgrade should boost biz 20% to 30% in a quick amount of time. I had a store similar, I ended up with 3 40's. 1 55, 1 37#, 4 25's, 2 18's 6 tops. 9 stacks. Works well. Started with 2 35's, 4 20's, 12 tops, 1 stack, 8 30# singles..

[E&R]

I have one Continental aurora (pump model). One thing I don't like about this washer is that the drain pump run significantly louder than other washers, i.e. Maytag toploaders, Wascomat WE-16. A gravity drain model would eliminate this noise.

[CDJ]

wow. This info is great. Thanks all.

Another reason I'm considering the auroras or neptunes is to replace the top-loads. They're kind of beat-up looking, although they work fine.


It seems like the consensus here is to add machines rather than replace the old ones I have...

One concern about 50#ers and other hard-mount machines: I have room for one 35# or so on the existing pad, but no more room than that.

Are there 50's sold now that soft-mount? (I heard a rumor about Continental coming out with LARGE soft-mount machines in 6 months or so.)

And again I wonder about tpd on new large machines... I'd hate to put a big one in and have it just sit there at very low tpd...

[pete f]

i had to re configure the whole store, it can be done. Think outside the box, as has been said here before.

[CDJ]

pete

thanks for the tips & ideas. i'm so glad to have found this forum for discussion...

my store is in a building that's 110 years old, with a full basement beneath it. the timber is strong, but retrofitting the place with cement pads would be excessive & would require sona tubes the whole length of the basement...

and the store is doing relatively well, but i'd like to continually upgrade

currently, i'm doing:
3.5 tpd maytags
7 tpd triple loads
4 tpd double loads

the suggestion of 50# machines is really interesting wouldn't the tpd i'd need to make up for construction costs & financing be a lot higher?

pete, when you changed your mat around, how did you decide what to do & how much to spend?

thanks again for all the tips & info

[Tom Ala.]

I don't know if this will help but just over 30 days ago I replaced 5 TL with 5 Auroras. First the customers seem to like them and the machines have been trouble free. The store is in a small town with no other laundrys within 18 miles Utilities were killing me and I wanted to take some of the load of of the 25's amd see if I could not get some of the customers that live here but travel to other places to do laundry because of lack of bigger machines. Store has wood floors and This was the cheep out.
I had;
11 TL at 2 turns ($1.25)
2 25# Dexters at 6.5 turns ($2.50)

I now have
4 TL at 2.75 turns ($1.25)
5 Auroras at 2.4 turns ($2.00)
2 25# Dexters at 5 turns ($2.50)
The over all sales have only increased about 5% or $20

[pete f]

Given the high TPD on the triples bigger machine than 18#'s is a no brainier. I have cement slab, so it would cost me less, but still had to move water/sewer lines, add electric and buy bases. The last upgrade cost me about $45k, it consisted of 1 55#, 3 40#'s, 4 stacks 2 Neptune's, and tile the floor, new sign, and dvr card and cams, and a couple a/c window units.. Biz picked up 35% quickly. Of course when the new mega mat opened across the street I lost about 20% back. Still, it was well worthwhile, and the store is a breeze to maintain. Cheap is not always a better way.
I did not want to spend the money ion the store because it is low volume, but if I tried cheap I would be in trouble now.
I also put a 55# in a store that had 1 35, 2 40's, 3 25's, 4 18's. Now that 55 # really gets the TPD. I may take out the old milnor and put another 55 in. The first store the 55# does not get TPD like I want, but the 3 40#'s do very well. The tops were all in the center, dryers on one side, folding tables on the other. I took out the tops our off the middle and put the big 40's down the side with Neptune's and 2 tops. It works very well.