According to the latest report on laundries and dry cleaners carried out by the Spanish Association of Franchisors (AEF), in 2017 the number of laundries increased by almost 45%, which meant a turnover of 239 million euros, 51% more than the year previous. Such is the demand for laundry services that they have evolved into different business models such as self-service laundry franchises.
A case of this is that of the Bloomest laundries. Bloomest is the new commercial brand that Lavapiú España SL – a Miele Group company – and Miele have launched on the self-service market at a European level. In this way, they launched the concept of Smart Laundry, an idea of intelligent self-service laundry, different and innovative compared to what had existed until now, based on image, quality and technology. From Bloomest, its commercial director, Gianluca Falchi, is clear about why it came about: “An innovative idea was launched on the market at that time: a concept that did not exist, a self-service laundry for families.”
These franchises can be opened both through investors, who want to develop it as a main activity and those who want it as a secondary activity -in this case the majority-, as its commercial director assures. In addition, investors with high financial capacity – interested in opening more than one center – can also invest, an option that is having a lot of pull according to Falchi.
The franchisee model is defined as “flexible”, since no percentage of income or entry fee is charged to the franchisee. The investment of a base store is around 46,000 euros and Bloomest is committed to providing support, both at the time of opening and throughout the life of the store and the business.
Currently, the brand has recently launched various technological developments that are revolutionizing the sector: A store manager, through an app on your mobile, where you can remotely monitor the entire store without having to be physically in the laundry. As well as a platform -for the manager- that allows to have a complete vision of all the clients and to carry out specific promotional campaigns for each user, according to their behavior.
Asked how the sector is doing, Falchi assures that it is currently in a moment of enormous expansion, both at the level of investors who want to enter this business, and at the level of users who increasingly go to self-service laundries. “In ten years it is estimated that the number of self-service laundries will have tripled,” he says. In this way, among the causes that would explain it are economic and cultural reasons “On the one hand, washing a self-service duvet means spending three times less than in a regular dry cleaner and on the other, habits at a European level are changing , and have changed the daily life of users”, explains Gianluca Falchi.
To date, the brand already has 40 stores throughout the country in the areas of Madrid, Catalonia, Castilla y León, the Canary Islands, the north zone and the Levante zone and encompasses an ambitious expansion plan to reach 300 stores in five years .
freshlaundry
Another case is that of the Fresh Laundry brand. In 2012 they opened the first establishment upon detecting a lack of this service compared to other countries in the European Union, where self-service laundries had become a necessity. “This is how I decided to implement this business model in Spain, where it was barely developed. We must bear in mind that the self-service laundromat model has been a very popular trend and a benchmark in the rest of Europe and in the US throughout of recent decades”, says Roberto Haboba, CEO of the company. They currently have 62 laundries distributed in different parts of the national territory. Specifically, in Catalonia, Madrid, Navarra, the Basque Country and the Valencian Community.
Roberto Haboba, like Gianluca Falchi, agrees that there is a change in habits in society. “In recent years there has been a change in habits when it comes to washing clothes. This has caused more and more families to resort to this type of service thanks to the advantages offered by our centers. As in any other In the country, customs arrive generationally and due to the development of society.Furthermore, it must be taken into account that the current pace of life of many Spaniards -especially of the new generations- is frenetic, which provokes a search for of practical, comfortable alternatives that allow the consumer to save time”, he assures.
As for the conditions for opening a franchise, four stand out: Dispense with entry fee and royalties, that the duration of the franchise contract be extended to ten years, that the establishment be located near other nearby businesses and in a city of 10,000 inhabitants or more and finally, it is aimed at entrepreneurs who want to generate passive income. Likewise, to open a Fresh Laundry franchise, an investment of around 85,000 euros is required.
“We chose this business model because it is a model that is constantly growing and established, out of fashion. Without staff and with good profitability,” says Haboba.
The Fresh Laundry laundries have five washers of different capacities, three dryers and the Fresh Pets service – a washer specialized in our pets’ clothes that also adds a disinfectant product. In this way, all laundry services are controlled from the payment center of each establishment, offering washing machines of different capacities.
However, in the future they want to continue expanding the Fresh franchise model, as well as opening new stores for the other two lines of business that we have: Fresh Box -transportable laundry modules- and Fresh Animals -self-service spaces dedicated to care and care of pets.
Other alternatives
Finally, another option is the startup Mr Jeff. Created in 2016 by Eloi Gómez, Adrián Lorenzo and Rubén Muñoz, three Spanish entrepreneurs under the age of 25, they offer laundry and dry cleaning services at home in 7 countries. Likewise, they began to take their first steps in the world of franchises in December 2017, revolutionizing a sector as traditional and not very innovative as that of laundry. In less than a year, Mr Jeff has opened 1,000 franchises and expects to end 2019 with operations in 30 countries.
In this way, the brand seeks that users stop washing and ironing at home, to do so through monthly subscription plans or specific services, with the option of home delivery, through an app or web platform. Through the applications, the customer chooses when and where they want their order to be picked up, and in less than 48 hours they receive their clean and ironed clothes. Being a professionalized management model, the process can be planned and optimized.
“It is important to stop seeing laundries as a service for minorities. Washing in a self-service is much cheaper than doing it at home. Expenses such as the cost of electricity, detergent, water or the use of the washer and dryer end up being an important expense.And home collection is the evolution of the service, which eliminates barriers such as the laziness of having to take the clothes to another place, says Eloi Gómez.
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