Demographics
I am sure that you already understand that putting a coin or card laundry in the middle of the desert would not be a very good choice for a location. So what is a good choice? How would you make that determination?
At ADL Consulting Services, we start with an Analysis of the surrounding community. After building and remodeling over 400 Coin Laundries or Card Laundries, we have a very solid understanding of the basic criteria for success in any given area.
First of all, industry wide, at least 80% of your business is going to come from an area of about 1.5 miles radius from your store. That means that unless you are in a very unusual demographic situation the major part of your clientele is within 1.5 miles of your store. That does not mean that people are not going to travel further to go to a well-run coin or card laundry (or Laundromat). It simply means that whether or not you are going to make it financially in your business is going to depend on what is going on within that radius. Most of the balance of your business is going to come from approximately one mile beyond the 1.5 mile radius (2.5 miles).
Unless you are going into a power shopping center with many high traffic national tenants, what is going on beyond that initial two and one half miles of your front door is not going to be of major importance. A popular supermarket, either American or ethnic (being a reflection of the local population’s ethnicity) within your shopping center will often give you an added bonus towards your success. Even if there are super-markets in other shopping centers in the area, the customer base of one who caters to your market is usually sufficient to help make your business more successful.
In certain instances, being in a shopping center, with national tenants, or an anchor store is not important. Just being a well run and equipped, modern, comfortable, clean and easily accessible Laundromat in the right location is all that may be required.
When we request a demographic study of your area, we already understand the important criteria that must be present for your business to work.
Statistics regarding the population, age range, children per household, median and per capita income, education, types of jobs, number of people within your community who are either single or married, renters, homeowners, and many other demographic measurements all create a picture that will spell out the degree of risk with your investment. These important measurements will help us to determine whether to build a new store or how to help you grow with an existing one.
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