CHICAGO — For more than one-third of coin laundry owners polled in this month’s American Coin-Op Wire survey, they spend more time managing their properties each week than the average full-time employee.
A large share of owners and operators—34.9%—spend 21 to 40 hours on site, another 28.6% spend 20 hours of less, and less than 2% spend no time at their stores. But for the remaining 34.9%, they are on site 41 to 50 hours (11.1%), 51 to 60 hours (14.3%) or more than 60 hours a week (9.5%).
Most respondents—82.5%—spend at least part of their weekends on work-related tasks, while 66.7% spend some nights tending to their store(s).
Roughly 45% spend at least part of their days off on work-related tasks, while 34.9% spend a portion of their holidays. Twenty-seven percent acknowledged spending some “family time” on work. Only 11.1% report they do not work at or for their stores during any of these times.
Nearly 70% of respondents do not employ a laundry manager, and some 52% say they never spend a week or more away from their store(s). Nearly 59% believe their presence at their store(s) improves business; 36.5% say they’re not sure, and 4.8% say their presence doesn’t improve business.
More than three-quarters of respondents (77.4%) have surveillance equipment installed in their store(s), and 63.5% says this equipment allows them to monitor store activity remotely.
While the Wire survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific.
Subscribers to Wire e-mails—distributed twice weekly—are invited to take a brief industry survey anonymously online each month. All self-service laundry owners and operators are encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define operator opinions and industry trends.
To sign up for the Wire, click the “Subscriptions” button at the top right-hand corner of this page and follow the instructions.
