How We Did It: Dry cleaning business expansion succeeds
| Saturday, Aug 29 2009 01:43 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Aug 29 2009 01:43 PM
Loading Stories
Advertisement
Images:
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Jarrell Epp stands in his New City Cleaners store on 8th Street in Bakersfield.
Jarrell Epp has been in the dry cleaning business for almost his entire life.
Growing up, he worked at his grandfather’s business, New City Cleaners Inc. And as soon as he graduated from college, Epp bought the business. Now Epp, along with his wife, Amanda, own KZDC Enterprises Inc., which recently expanded to buy six Kleenerz locations. And New City Cleaners, which now has three locations in Bakersfield and one in Tehachapi, is a year away from celebrating its 100th year in operation.
We met up with Epp to talk about New City Cleaners’ history, as well has how he’s been able to expand his business.
Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What is the history behind New City Cleaners?
The business first opened in 1910 as City Cleaners, and it did pick-up and delivery service. In 1914, it expanded its delivery routes, added a call office and changed its name to New City Cleaners. Since then, it’s only kept improving.
Q: How did you first get into the dry cleaning business?
I grew up working for my grandfather, who had worked at New City Cleaners since 1929 and bought it in 1944. In 1986, right out of college, I took the business over from him. I bought New City Cleaners when I was 22. Since then, we’ve grown to include two additional locations and went from two to four delivery routes.
Q. What sets New City Cleaners apart?
I’m all about the quality work, doing the detail well. There’s such pressure in this industry to have low prices and fast service, but that pushes back the quality. And we still do a lot of draperies, crochet, dresses before and after weddings. A lot of cleaners just aren’t doing that sort of work anymore.
Q: How was your company, KZDC Enterprises Inc. able to expand buy six Kleenerz locations?
I bought the Kleenerz locations in March 2008, so it was right before the recession. And the opportunity just came to me.
Q. What is the difference between Kleenerz and New City Cleaners?
New City Cleaners is a full service specialty cleaner, so it can handle all needs. Kleenerz is more streamlined, focusing only on clothing. I’d say New City Cleaners is 5-star service while Kleenerz is 4-star service. By owning both, we can have two different niches now.
Q: Any more plans to expand in the future?
None at the moment. As the community keeps growing, there’s more opportunity for growth. It’s a challenging time for everyone, but there’s opportunities in that downtime. We need to take advantage of that and make the businesses we have stronger.
