A Look Ahead: Tomorrow’s Laundries

1. A Look Ahead: Tomorrow’s Laundries Presented by: Brian Wallace, President/CEO Coin Laundry Association www.coinlaundry.org www.planetlaundry.com @brian_wallace

2. “Everyone…will recognize it as a conspicuous failure” Henry Morton of Stevens Institute of Technology speaking of Thomas Edison’s light bulb in 1880

3. “We don’t like their sound – guitar music is on the way out.” Decca Recording Co. upon rejecting The Beatles recording contract in 1962

4. “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken Olsen, president/chair of DEC – maker of mainframe computers – arguing against the PC in 1977

5. Tomorrow’s Laundries • Operations & Management • Facilities & Equipment • Marketing & Vend Price

6. Operations & Management

7. Operations & Management • Tomorrow’s owners will further leverage technology to maximize efficiency of managerial timeand utility consumption: • Remote access of store performance data and real-time video • Greater use of technology to reduce collection time and to improve accuracy and security • New technology to streamline employee management and training • Less time on operations and repairs; more time on marketing and growth • Understanding that only the most utility efficient stores will remain profitable

8. Operations & Management • Owners will face steep increases in cost of water and sewer • Owners will be more likely to control real estate • The best owners will be focused on controlling utility costs and marketing their stores • Ultimately, I believe that future laundry owners have the potential to be more profitable than those of today because of the technology available to them

9. Facilities & Equipment

10. Facilities & Equipment • Rehab & Re-Equip • Some the best opportunities will be finding run-down laundries placed in great locations: • As many as 10,000 run-down laundries many of which are on good to great locations • Remodeling and re-equipping these stores may deliver enormous return-on-investment • Anecdotally, these rehab and re-equip projects have resulted in revenue increases from 2x to 5x • Demographic analysis, a strong distributor relationship, experience in the industry and the ability to only pay what these locations are truly worth are the keys to success

11. Facilities & Equipment • Larger Capacity Machines • The decades-long trend toward larger capacity washers and dryers will only accelerate in the future • Customer demand and greater profitability make larger machines a win-win proposition • Larger machines are key to our ability to distinguish ourselves from the competition • Other laundries • Apartment laundries • Home laundry

12. Facilities & Equipment • Alternative Payment Systems • I predict that very few stores will operate on a “quarters-only” system in the next several years • Today’s alternative payment systems enhance management capabilities, streamline collections, improve customer convenience and offer better vend price options: • Latest versions of traditional card systems • Credit card acceptance • Hybrid systems • Central payment systems • Quarter/dollar coin, tokens

13. Facilities & Equipment • Diversity of Services • I predict that with the exception of “A-plus” demographics and rural locations, very few stores will survive offering self-service laundry only • The current trend toward creating profitable commercial account businesses is certain to grow in the near future • Entrepreneurial creativity will continue to mix new products and services in with traditional laundry services

14. Facilities & Equipment • “Destination” Laundries • I predict we will continue to see more very large laundries placed in “non-traditional” locations • Large stores with the largest equipment can draw customers from a wider trading area • These stores are more likely to be in “class-A” spaces alongside major retailers • Busy retail areas with high traffic volume will be favored over traditional low-income renter neighborhoods • These destination laundries will not represent a large proportion of the total stores, but will grow in number

15. Marketing & Vend Price

16. Marketing & Vend Price • Tomorrow’s laundry entrepreneurs will be squarely focused on marketing and advertising: • We will no longer be able to rely on our location and our exterior sign to promote our laundries • Those who devote more time and resources to marketing and advertising will have the most success • Consumers will continue to search for retailers via the web and social media - - only the laundries who have invested in marketing will benefit from this trend • I believe that this is the single most important element for future success!

17. Marketing & Vend Price • Our single best value proposition is our ability to save consumers time while tackling a disliked chore • We must understand that we are selling time-savings and convenience • Consumers have more choice when it comes to laundry than ever before; they will choose options that save time and/or spare them the chore of doing laundry • Price-based marketing is a dead end; marketing messages focused on time-savings and convenience will have resonance

18. Marketing & Vend Price • Tomorrow’s laundries will ‘break from the pack” and demand much higher vend prices • Not all laundries are the same; those offering a higher quality wash day experience will charge accordingly • I predict a further polarization between low-price and higher-priced laundries • I will be nearly impossible for the “discount” laundry to survive • The transition to alternative payment systems will be highlighted by a wholesale move away from single-quarter dryer pricing

19. Tomorrow’s Laundries • Tomorrow’s laundries will look a lot like the best stores being built today • Tomorrow’s laundries have the potential to be more profitable than those of today • The best days for our industry are ahead of us!