Bought Property and existing Laundromat

[Sunflower]

Hi to all,

We just purchased .25 acre with a rundown mat on the main drag in Twisp, WA which is also the State HWY. It's about 1200 sq ft.

12 (12lb) top loaders - 13 yrs old. (1.50 a load)

12 (stacked variety) Huebsch dryers - 13 yrs old. (.25 for 7 minutes - propane --1.89 a gallon)

3 (18lb) Wascomat W75 Juniors - 13 yrs old. (2.00 a load)

1 (50lb) W185 Wascomat frontloader - 13 yrs old. (5.00 a load)

3 showers @ $2.00 a pop for 7 minutes.

-All were under-maintained, filthy, 1/2 running and let-go.

The building is '50's - 60's --tear down would be best but we're going to "resserect" it.

This is a small town. 1,000 full time residents. Last year the records say the mat grossed $26,888. w/a $100.00 loss. Previous 5 years show about the same. Records show a sideways sprawl (hoping that the previous owner pocketed a lot of cash...)

The population here doubles - maybe triples in the summer. The last demo stats I could find are from 2000. In five years, it's changed drastically. We're near a neighboring town of Winthrop and then also Mazama. Early, early retirees. Second homes, etc.

HUGE OUTDOOR RECREATION HERE.

I am currently having a website built to bring to the visiting campers, hotel-stayers, etc.

The showers bring in a lot during tourist season. This is also a lucrative hunting area = dirty hunters who needa shower and clean clothing.

We feel the price we paid was for the property alone was worth it and the Mat was a "bonus" of sorts. Property here has been increasing by about 25% the last two years due to the early retirees and that it was underpriced for many.

The big question though.... Is how can we make more money on the mat itself? There are no colleges, 2 apartments (small) and relatively small numbers of low-income families in comparison to the upper-class moving in, vacationing or part-timing... There are a variety of B&B's so one thought is WDF service... Just don't know where to start.

We are remodeling (new sheetrock, paint, slip-resistant porcelain tile floors and showers) right now. My husband is in construction. We intend to keep the machines running consistantly and replace the top loaders with front loaders.

Also, we plan to add 2 car-vacc's and possibly a summer time carwash. There is already one in town that is pretty simple.

Thoughts, opinions anyone? Anyone know where I can get updated city stats?

Thanks, Anna

[Coinwash]

Your on the Ball and Welcome to Coinwash.com Family.

We look forward to hear about your journey in the COINWASH business;)

Thank you

Coinwash.com Staff

[pete f]

that looks like snow in the picture.
I have ZERO hands on experiance in small town mats, though I lived in a small town at one time, it had 1 mat. I think you need to gear up to larger machines. Either drop some tops, or just add them, you got plenty of dry capacity. I have a couple mats which have a vsry seasonal business swing, so better know how to save for the lean months.
Hopefully other that have more similar demo's will suggest a mix, but my off the cuff guess would be

1 50#
2 35#
2 25#
3 or 4 18# (w-74's)
6-10 tops

Thye B&B's may be more instrested if you have more capacity. The campers will want it. The locals who own a washer will want them for thier comfortors, horse blankets, small rugs, etc.
1 car vac should be enough.

Good Luck, and welcome again.

[Sunflower]

For some reason I can't get past thinking we should bypass 35 pounders and just go w/18's and two 50's. Most people here have nice machines but they don't want to put there heavy designer comforters in their machines and/or they don't want to put their horse blankets in their household machines. Viola, that's where we come in. Just trying to think of ways to get around the lack/quantity of low income residents here.

What reasons are there for going w/35 pounders as opposed to 50 pounders (other than cost)?

And let's just say, we sink 25,000 into 10 new Wasco 18 lb front loaders to replace our old GE toploaders... Maybe I'm on the wrong track but, If you think of it like an investment... the return will come eventually and surpass the principal before the machines are worn out... That's better than you can say for A LOT of stocks that you just end up losing on...

Anyone care to advise me on that one...? Am I on the wrong track?

[Sunflower]

Yes! That is snow. Disturbing isn't it????

[pete f]

For some reason I can't get past thinking we should bypass 35 pounders and just go w/18's and two 50's. Most people here have nice machines but they don't want to put there heavy designer comforters in their machines and/or they don't want to put their horse blankets in their household machines. Viola, that's where we come in. Just trying to think of ways to get around the lack/quantity of low income residents here.

What reasons are there for going w/35 pounders as opposed to 50 pounders (other than cost)?

And let's just say, we sink 25,000 into 10 new Wasco 18 lb front loaders to replace our old GE toploaders... Maybe I'm on the wrong track but, If you think of it like an investment... the return will come eventually and surpass the principal before the machines are worn out... That's better than you can say for A LOT of stocks that you just end up losing on...

Anyone care to advise me on that one...? Am I on the wrong track?


! do what you want, but I have to ask, why 10 new 18# wascos'? You might as well fix the old ones and put new decals on them save about 21k. And then why replace top loaders, the most widely used washer in the country? And you already have enough 18#'s? POINT is, 18# washers don't mean anything.They are NOT big washers. Put that same money in 35#'s, maybe even put 1/2 the money in 35#, put the rest in your pocket.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Pete .Why buy 18# machines and toploaders both. The people want the bigger machines to do large loads I have tops and 25# -40# - 55# Dexters and dont have any 18# frontloaders. Tops are the most used washer in the store then 40#. Try a nice sign on the mat too it really helps

[Sunflower]

Guys,

I don't know what I'm thinking either because I am new at this... Currently there are 12 top Loading GE's in there that are 13 years old and barely running. Of course we will be fixing what we can fix to get every bit of life out of them.

(The laundromat is closed right now for remodeling and fixing. Note the scary picture I attached in the first post.)

I've been told by service guys that Wascomat front loaders are extremely well-made and if taken care of will last 30+ years... I hear they are much more efficient on water, electricity, and clean better. I was told that top loaders while much less expensive cannot be expected to last more than 10-15 years. I've heard too that the top loaders are the most used. My thoughts on those were just that in the long run, I'd save more money by running the front loaders... and could also charge more money for them.

[Scott9876]

does anyone have an opinion on the Maytag Neptune frontloaders in place of tops? I'm looking at a mat that has about 16 tops that are in bad shape and was thinking of replacing some of them with neptunes frontloaders. I hear they are efficient and spin at 1,000 rpm so they remove alot of water. Commens appreciated!

[Sunflower]

And just to make it clear. The idea was to REPLACE the 12 pound top loaders ad they break, with 18 pound front loaders-not keep both.

[DuboisLaundry]

since you are in a recreation area, one with snow even, be sure to have enough larger front loaders so that an entire camping party can wash their sleeping bags at the same time
I have 3 18#, 1 35# and 1 25# and occasionally I've had a waiting line to wash sleeping bags, but these were exceptionally large camping groups.

[pete f]

And just to make it clear. The idea was to REPLACE the 12 pound top loaders ad they break, with 18 pound front loaders-not keep both.


replace 2 tops with 1 35/40# washer untill you have 2 or 3 of them. replacing tops with 18's is of no real value to the customer, or you.

[Sunflower]

Thanks Pete!

[Anonymous]

I see at teetersproducts.com you can buy used speedqueen toploaders for $225.

I didn't carefully read your post (sorry), but my take would be invest as little as possible to make the place presentable and workable, then see what the traffic tells you.

'Gently used' at cheap prices vs. brand new at sky-high prices is probably going to make NO difference to your customer, but will greatly impact your bottom line.

Maybe I'm just financially conservative, but before taking on a loan payment I'd like to see what the action is like.

[Sunflower]

Thanks Runchman!