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Dynamic Leadership Unites Old Rivals But first, some information about Barrie. This community, located north of Toronto, is one of the fastest-growing areas in Ontario. From a population of 35,000 a few years ago to 125,000 today, it is attracting many Torontonians who want to leave the big city. While it is within commuting distance of Toronto, it is also the gateway to the recreation and vacation areas of northern Ontario. INTRODUCTION TO DRY CLEANING When asked how difficult it was to move into a new industry and within a matter of a two years operate a central plant, six stores, two routes and 22 agents, John Seltleski said, "Compared to my last job it's a cinch." His last position was as manager of a fullservice car wash, which was a major challenge to lteep staffed and operating. He was fortunate in having George Cairns, the previous owner of Wright Cleaners, spend three months teaching him how to operate the dry cleaning plant. What's more, George and his wife Karen still drop into the plant frequently. This plant is located in a Wright building, but equipped with presses from the Cotty's plant. The Cotty's location had been purchased by developers, because of its attractive waterfront location, before John purchased the dry cleaning business. MAJOR CHALLENGES As he describes it, "Both companies had different systems, all delivery routes and agents had to be combined. It was very difficult to get everyone to adapt to the changes, which were being made on a daily basis, to improve productivity and quality. I want to pay tribute to all the people who bought into my way of doing things and stayed with us through these difficult times." As a newcomer to the industry, John was aware of his lack of background in selecting which staff to retain. However, this gave him a clear view of each person's abilities and work ethic, which would not have been possible if he had worked with them for many years. In the end, the majority of staff was retained. INCREASING PROFITABILITY Another immediate challengewas to enhance each location with additional services to make it more profitable. One innovation was the addition of becoming the Sears Catalogue and package distribution centre. This brought traffic to the stores and helped pay the overhead. In addition a washdry- fold service was offered in all stores. Where laundry equipment was on-site, this service was offered for the same day - otherwise it was for the next day. Store staff also handled the assembly and bagging of all their orders to maximize productivity. EQUIPPING THE PLANT A major reorientation was necessary to prepare the Wright plant to handle the increased volume that was anticipated with the amalgamation of two businesses. A 60-lb. Union perc cleaning machine was added to the recently purchased 50-lb. , Union, also using perc, and a Zero Waste water treatment system was purchased. John is very conscious of environmental concerns and, along with two members of his staff, has taken the environmental certification course required by the province of Ontario. NEXT STEP: MARKETING The first question after acquiring Cotty's, as well as Wright Cleaners, was: one entity or two? John Seltleski opted for keeping two separate marketing entities, shown together only on the front of the plant. The stores retain their original Wright or Cotty's name and continue to serve the market that each company developed over the years. The Cotty's stores remain traditional dry cleaning depots with the addition of next-day wash-dry-fold service being offered. Two Wrights locations are what Sekleski describes as hybrids. During normal business hours, these locations are coin laundries with a busy dry cleaning counter. In the evening the dry cleaning from Wrights counter% locked off from the coin store, which remains open until 11 :00 p.m. The door is locked and the lights are turned off by remote control. The store is under constant surveillance through closed-circuit TV. At 6:00 a.m.the door is opened by remote control and the lights and other utilities are activated. The counter is staffed at 7:30. Incidentally,all sales locations are linked by the Internet and orders dropped off at one location may be picked up at any location that the customer requests. An interesting feature of these stores is their company owned ATM machines. They dispense only $10 bills, which may be changed into coins by the bill changer. By not dispensingn $20 bills, the coin changer is able to operate for a longer time before being refilled. The hybrid store I visited had a drop-off chute for after-hours dry cleaning deposit. It was equipped with two Wascomat triple-loaders, two Wascomat double-loaders and 12 Maytag top-loaders. One Cotty's location has an interesting service mixture. It is located in an upscale strip mall, next door to a Starbucks store.It has the appearance of a dry cleaning depot, but behind a curtain there is laundry equipment. The store provides same day wash-dry-fold service to its customers, maximizing the productivity of the store attendant. Another Cotty's location has a busy tailoring department in it as well as a dry cleaning counter, to bring added value to the locations. Sekleski keeps an eagle eye on sales from all locations, and if one store slumps, he launches an aggressive advertising campaign,saturating the area with radio and newspaper ads. The offer is a whopping 70% off regular prices. Although skeptics may shake their heads at such drastic reductions, he reports that within three months he triples his market share and recoups the costs of the campaign. Store prices are consistent throughout the company and are posted on the company's website www.wrightcleaners.ca. Two-piece suits start at $13.95, shirts at $2.56 (folded, $3.55), pants at $6.35 (lined, $6.95), and dresses at $13.95. Coupons may be downloaded from the web site - giving $2off any order under $30, $5 off any order from $30 to $50, and10% off any order over $50. In addition, if at least $10 worth of cleaning is brought in with an order of shirts, there is a discount of 30¢ per shirt. A Frequent Cleaner card is stamped for every $5 spent.When the card is filled ($100) the bearer receives $10 off his or her next order. The company uses Suede master for its specialty items,such as wedding dresses and duvets."We can't produce their quality," explained John Sekleski in discussing the use of an outside service. "The boxed wedding gowns are particularly popular with our customers." And what about Kim Sekleski? She is a vivacious person whose training and expertise is in specialized social work. She manages the people side of the business, from associates to customers, with the same skill that John shows for the mechanical, technical and marketing side. She made local news recently when she aided the Cancer Society in its drive for volunteers,by stapling their message onto outgoing dry cleaning orders. From watching her inaction, I would say that Kim adds the fun to the fundamentals , that her husband has put into place. Today the combined operation has 36 employees, whose total experience adds up to more than 137 years. It operates two routes daily and provides the industry with excellent examples of building on existing organizations to maximize their profitability. Anyone who feels that there's no money to be made in dry cleaning today should consider the innovations described here. |
For over 60 years, Wright Cleaners and Cotty's Cleaners have
competed to dominate the Barrie, Ont. market. Today both are owned
by John and Kim Sekleski, newcomers to the industry. This couple
is without the baggage of I-tried-that-and-it-didn't-work, which
prevents many entrepreneurs from reaching their goals. Their story
proves that dry cleaning is a viable investment today for those
with the management skills to make a success of it.
Imagine
being a relative newcomer to the industry and acquiring two companies
within two years. The major challenges facing John Sekleski included
combining the plants and sorting out two work forces, and also
the much more subtle job of melding two very different corporate
cultures and operating styles.