| THERE'S AN IDEA: A New Spin
Boston needs the kind of laundromat where everybody knows your name. THE IDEA: The dreaded laundry day can become the celebrated laundry night. In towns like Chicago, Cincinnati, and Miami Beach, you'll find coin-operated Laundromats with full bars, where friends can get together for drinks and conversation while they clean their clothes. One drawback to combining these two seemingly disparate businesses is that if the booze puts your head in spin cycle you might forget to bring your clothes home with you. “It happens all the time,” says Karen Olin, owner of the Laundry Bar in Miami Beach. “People forget why they came here in the first place. The Laundry Bar gives out a numbered tag when customers fill a washer, so any abandoned clothes can be claimed the next day. WHY BOSTON NEEDS IT: Several neighborhoods have a shortage of laundromats, and those we have are hardly social destinations, providing little more than sunworn copies of TV Guide and soda machines for entertainment. Not only do we have the urban density and young professionals to support laundromat/bars, but with more than 50 colleges in the Boston area, think of the number of students (of legal drinking age only, please) who would love an alternative to the doldrums of dormitory laundry facilities. PROBABILITY: Start saving your quarters. Olin says she hopes to spin The Laundry Bar into a franchise business next year, and one of her target cities is Boston. But the venture can be costly. For Olin, opening her Miami facility meant an investment of half a million dollars. Brian Wallace, executive director of the Coin Laundry Association says Boston should have no problem supporting such a business. “I come across them most frequently in college towns or more urban markets with a lot of young people,” he says. He adds that he has also seen combinations like laundromat/diners and even Laundromats with tanning beds. We're game for any kind of good clean fun. - Patrick Gerard HealyBack |
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