Family-Owned Laundromat Learning from the Past & Moving into the Future
Ludlow, MA – “This isn’t Kansas anymore.”
That was the reaction of the very first customer of the day at The Laundry Room Ludlow on Wednesday, January 27th, after a two-week pause in business for renovations. “He explained that he’s been a longstanding customer for over 20 years and said that he’ll keep coming back. That interaction reinforced the power of a positive customer experience,” shared Liz Salvador, Co-Owner of the longstanding laundromat business.
In 1979, Alberto and Laura Tavares, Salvador’s parents, purchased the laundromat from the family that previously operated the facility. “This business has been in my family for over 40 years. I can remember my parents working at the laundromat from the time I was in Kindergarten. Growing up, after school and weekends were spent there, helping customers and assisting with cleaning as needed. That’s where I spent my childhood and teen years and learned so many life lessons from watching my dad run the business. It was a place where customers would come in and have life conversations, a place where ideas were discussed and exchanged.”
And despite the new contemporary look and operation of The Laundry Room Ludlow, Salvador continues to hold dear the values she learned from her parents. Salvador and her husband, Joe, took over the operations of the laundromat after her father suffered a stroke 8 years ago, leaving him paralyzed, and then began to deal with the challenges of dementia. The family’s primary focus for about five years following the accident was caring for her dad, however, once the necessary adjustments were made for his care, they turned their attention to either selling or reinvesting in the laundromat.
“We made the decision to reinvest and modernize the business as an opportunity to continue my dad’s legacy of hard work, valuing and serving community, and creating connections with people.”
It was out of this commitment to building lasting relationships with their customers that Salvador set out to transform the laundromat into a clean, well-equipped and modern facility, where they could continue to meet this essential need in the community.
“We worked with a contractor to redesign and reformat the space so that we are now equipped with the essential varying capacity machines to handle everything from delicate laundry to heavy duty comforters and blankets. Research shows that machines with the right efficiency level are more cost effective, especially for larger loads.”
“We closed for two weeks, and in two weeks we turned the whole facility around. It’s kind of crazy how we flipped it. We’ve updated the electrical system, updated the heating and air conditioning, added 2 new televisions, and updated all of the folding tables and added carts. We want our customers to be comfortable while they’re here. We even have free WiFi, which we didn’t have before, and we’ve updated our payment system.”
“Since reopening, we’ve met so many customers who have been coming here for years and remember my parents. The loyalty of the customers is definitely a reason we made the investment to continue running the business. The timelessness of providing a clean and convenient laundry space stands out to me. If we’re not modernizing our approaches, we’re not keeping up with the times. It’s a reinvestment in our community.” With the ongoing impacts of COVID, The Laundry Room Ludlow, is proud to offer more machines, meaning more spaces for customers to use while maintaining social distancing. Folding tables are also spaced 6 feet apart.
You can check out the updates at The Laundry Room Ludlow for yourself, when you visit 264 Fuller Street, Ludlow, MA. Hours of operation are 6 am – 9 pm, Monday to Friday, and 5 am - 9 pm on weekends, You can reach them by phone at (413) 308-0344. Stay connected with The Laundry Room Ludlow on Facebook and Instagram.
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