A Clear Mission:
Taking time off from her career to spend with her newborn son, Lily Li and her husband Sebastian Neo were looking for a way to replace a former income with a business they could call their own. Living in the Mission District of San Francisco, the couple considered the needs of the community and combined with Li’s experience in finance and managing loans for dry cleaning businesses, they knew a coin-op laundry would be a sustainable income that met their work schedule in their new lives as parents.
A Diamond in the Rough:
While Li had a wealth of business experience, she, like many first time laundromat owners, was unfamiliar with the finer details of owning a laundry, like equipment selection, store design and site selection. She connected with Bryan Maxwell, Regional Sales Manager at Western State Design who helped Li buy a previously defunct laundromat in the neighborhood, plan renovations, and install the coin-op washers and dryers that would meet the needs of the community.
Tech Comes to San Francisco:
In the heart of an up-and-coming neighborhood in one of the most tech-saavy cities in the world, Li and Maxwell introduced the technologically advanced line of Dexter Express washers and dryers to Li and Neo’s laundromat. The washers use less water and spin at 200 g’s of force to extract more water from the clothes, making them more dry before they even enter the dryers, which use less gas and electricity to achieve the same level of dryness as similar coin-op machines. The Dexter Express washers and dryers combine to cut down the time it takes to wash and dry a load of laundry to under an hour, saving their customers valuable time in a city that moves at fiber-optic speeds. By cutting down on water usage and drying times, Li and Neo reduce their utilities, which puts more money back into their business and into their savings at the end of the day.
A Year Later:
Li and Neo opened Lily’s Laundromat in 2013. After a year in business they’re still going strong, spending only the necessary time with the laundromat , while Li continues to raise their son and run the successful laundry business. Maxwell’s assistance helped the couple build a successful business to meet their lifestyle. WSD and Dexter Laundry can help you do the same. Contact a Western State Design representative today to take the next steps in launching your successful coin-op laundromat.