Laundrette in Germany outside large towns

[cookiemonster]

Hi

Im thinking of opening a laundette in Germany. It would be in a fairly rich area with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Germany. This town has a population of approx 40,000 in the local 5 mile area. This town is the center for all the near villages.
It has a large international airport and numerous hotels.
At present there is no laundrettes in this area but numerous drycleaners of which I know two offer W-D-F but not in a heavily promoted way.

The problems are that Germans are 80% appartment dwellers but I know most have washing facilities. I believe I can provide a service for the hotel guests and contract workers in the complete area. To wash comforters/duvets would be probably all I could do for the locals. There are lots of immigrants but I am unsure of there laundry habits.

As this is untested outside of cities here I am a little unsure. The nearest city of 2 million has over 15 launderettes.

My goal is to provide internet cafe with cold food and drinks with an attached laundry to cater for about 10 people at once.
I would provide W-D-F and chase commercial contracts hotels,restaurants etc. I would like to have drop off dry cleaning to use a wholesaler. I would provide a delivery service so as to capture the market.

Can anyone provide advice as Im unsure that I can provide much of a launderette service to the immediate locals.

By the way car wash bays and fast tanning are working excellent here, but there fully catered for.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Hi!
I am from Romania, Bucharest and I am looking to build a laundrette here in my country.
You mentioned some hotels there. Is there a turistic area? If so could work the WDF option.
The imigrants usual live in rented apartments, it is very possible they have not too many washing options. It is possible they prefer handwash but with some marketing actions you could drow them into your store. I am sure the imigrants are there to make money for a better living. Offer them better living.
In the conclusion the hotels and imigrants are your core target find out everithing about them.
Have you decided what type of equipment will you use?

Teodor

[TotoMongo]

The problems are that Germans are 80% appartment dwellers but I know most have washing facilities.

Please dont make this a barrier in your mind. Here in the states many people who own washing machines use laundromats weekly. Apartment dwellers use them because their machines are too small to wash a weekly load. In the case where the apartment machine is communal, people use mats because the building has a limited number of machines and too many people waiting to use them.

Home owners - even home owners with a housewife (or househusband) - use laundromats weekly for many of the same reasons. Many home machines aren't large enough for a large family's laundry or are too small for comforters, numerous towels, and rugs.

The other main reason people do laundry away from thier homes is because they simply hate doing or are too busy to do laundry themselves. There is a need for WDF everywhere.

You may want to actually take an unscientific poll. If the apartment building has a doorman or a superintendent, ask them how many people take their laundry out. You would be quite surprised how much they know about the personal habits of the people in the building. Or if you have access to the building's laundry room (are there communal laundry rooms in German apt. buildings?) ask in the friendliest, conversational way why people are using it. What do you have to lose?

Your idea to acquire commercial laundry acounts is an excellent one. Good luck!

Toto

[gjnic]

Hi CookieMonster,

I lived in Geilenkerchen Germany for four years (no base housing). In your marketing, target the local military bases and communities. I know I would have loved to have someone pick up and deliver my laundry. Eventhough we had washers and dryers, and a 10 machine Mat on the base, there was rarely enough time to do the laundry properly, considering the time spent commuting back and forth to work and the fact that they were always full. One idea is to have a central drop off and pick up point outside or near the base gates.

Good luck to you.

[BWJR]

To whom it may concern,

My daughter lived in Germany for a year, and absolutely loved it. She really enjoyed experiencing German culture, and visiting different German cities. We are, therefore, curious to know where you are looking to put your laundrette.
When talking with my daughter, she informed me that German environmental laws are extremely strict, which, of course affects how people do their wash. Wash is not done very often, and both the washers and dryers are extremely small. She also said that while staying in a university town for a month, a laundromat opened, and almost all of the other customers to use it were the Americans with whom she was living.

Good Luck,

BWJR

[cookiemonster]

Thanks everybody for your replies.

At the moment I have no idea really what make of equipment to use. I contacted a manufacturer/distributor over 10 days ago but have not heard a reply yet.

The idea of a military base is great because there is 1 a 10 minute walk from the town centre. It would be no problem to pick/drop off.

As for a tourist area well it is close to Munich airport, I have seen the sterotypical Japanese with their cameras and some Americans. Also there is the untapped contract worker market. As the location has only 2% unemployment it really is attracting fresh renters. There is also a second hand furniture/clothing store nearby, this place is full of junk and you would have to pay me to take something, even once the women said on the phone no we dont give credit. Must be a bonus.

I asked the girlfriends mother what she thought and she said it would be a good idea, as she had thought twice before that there should be one. Who better to ask than a mother of three.There is no appartment attendant here.

As for washing habits well there are no appartment wash rooms in my location although they exist in Munich.
Sometimes you'll find 10 washers in the basement one for each renter.LOL.

Dont know about the enviromental issues, although Germany is heavily regulated and bureaucratic.

Most home washers are in the 12 pound range similiar for dryers. So the parents are always washing.

As for not doing wash very often, well maybe I misunderstand. We do put clothes back on a second time but thats as far as it goes!!LOL.

Any suggestions for motivating the girlfriend she hates it when I get fixated on something like this?

My plan is not to work there myself as I can make a better return from my profession. I presume I should be there at the start though to solve any problems.

Once again thanks for your replies.

Cookiemonster