Things look up for launderers

They have reclaimed nearly half their pre-pandemic volumes and revenues

Laundry services in the city are slowly starting to pick up business again, however, things are yet to reach pre-lockdown levels.

Metrolife spoke to a few laundry service chains in the city to understand their challenges in the new normal.

Murali Krishnan, member of Dry Cleaners and Launderers Association of India (DLAI) says that the lockdown disrupted the lives of launderers owners, their employees and stakeholders, as with any other industry. Director of Cleanovo, a company that offers laundry and dry cleaning services, he says that the lockdown not only affected the ability to offer services but also procuring raw material and the logistic involved in moving garments to and from customers. “We also had issues with the availability of employees with many stuck outside the city and unable to return. During April to June 2020, we struggled with debt repayments, rent, salaries, statutory dues, etc,” he says. They were forced to lay off many employees as well.

When services resumed, many chains began to lure customers by shifting focus on door-step for pickup & delivery and no-contact modes of delivery and payment. With work from home and many being laid off, leaving them with lower disposable also resulted in a drop in demand. “The inflow of garments was as low as 20 per cent of our regular business. Thankfully, now we are seeing a gradual upward trend and have been able to regain almost 60 per cent of regular business,” he says.

New demands

Ferbin Shamsudeen, CEO and co-founder of Spin Cycles says that their sales had plunged drastically to 10-15 per cent at the start of the lockdown. “Since then, we have had a renounce and currently stand at 40-45 per cent,” she says. The upward climb has been slow owing to the IT Services population moving back to their hometown and/or the WFH mode.

Customers have become more stringent about their sanitisation expectations, not just of the store, but of the garments as well. “They expect the garments to be sanitised following stricter process. There is also a definite shift towards more environment-conscious practices,” she adds.

The company had started an anti-microbial treatment service before the lockdown, which has many takers. They started providing this free-of-cost to all customers. The situation is no different for Laundrokart, with their business reclaiming around 45 per cent of their original customer base. “In December we reached the pre-covid sales but, we have certainly lost the opportunity of growth,” says Arjun Makam, business head. They had to shut down many branches, and their plan of setting up 150 branches by the end of the year was stalled.

They even introduced a ‘Home Dis-infection’ service until October last year as a way to gain revenue in the tougher times, when customers are not ready to risk outsourcing the laundry.

Encouraging the store and pickup executive to work during these time, he says, has been yet another challenge. With the majority of the landowners remaining unwilling to waiving off or providing the discount on rents, there has been stressful on the pockets. Add to this, the cost of investing in Covid gears for the staff. Customers now expect better hygiene, an extra layer of packaging and contact-less delivery. However, at the same time, they have noticed a surge in walk-ins. “50 per cent of orders have been walk-in instead of usual 30 per cent,” he says.

No goverment support

The support provided by MSME or other government agencies didn’t reach many in the hour of need. “KEB has waived off the electric charges for MSME with a riddle on the class of customers. We have not been able to avail this because we don’t fall under some arbitrary categories. We have been requesting for waivers of charges, penalties from multiple agencies for all dry cleaners and launderers,” says Murali. The Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission was launched to face the burning issue of boosting MSMEs and other being less dependent upon foreign nations. “Even though this sector falls under the MSME ambit, the potential of the industry is still untapped,” he says. This is one of the reasons why government policies are have not taken them fully into consideration, he adds.

Iron walas in the city

Unlike the laundry chains, the roadside iron walas are still struggling. Satyanarayan, who sets up his stall at Johnson Market, says that he used to see roughly 150 customers, which has drastically reduced. “I am the only earning member in a family of seven. I used to earn Rs 600 on a daily basis, while now I earn Rs 300,” he says. Since the pandemic, the price of coal has also increased, which has further added to his expenses, he adds. A few residents in the city noted that the iron men near the homes had shut shop and disappeared over the past few months.