DRY CLEANING COMPANY BRINGING STORES TO ABQ
Albuquerque will soon be home to a new national chain of dry cleaners, one that claims a business model designed to disrupt a static industry.
Customers drop off clothing at a ZIPS Dry Cleaners location. The dry cleaning company offers same-day pickup for all clothing dropped off by 9 a.m. (Courtesy of Zips Dry Cleaners)
ZIPS Dry Cleaners, which operates franchise locations in 10 states and Washington D.C., has reached a development agreement with Patel Cleaners LLC, a group of Albuquerque-based businessmen, to open at least five locations in Albuquerque and Santa Fe over the next several years. Pranav Patel, one of the partners on the project, said ZIPS appealed to him because the company has addressed some of the common annoyances that go along with taking shirts and pants to the cleaners.
“We’re frustrated by the model,” Patel said.
Rick Rozelle cleans the windows at 616 Lomas NW, a new Downtown Albuquerque retail space. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal)
Patel said he and his partners, who own and operate several other retail franchises around the city, said the idea to establish a chain of dry cleaners occurred to them during their own experiences going to the cleaners, where they grew frustrated by some stores not posting prices online or in a convenient place in storefronts.
“That’s really no way to transact anything these days,” Patel said.
Rather than use a tiered pricing system where different items are cleaned for different prices, Patel said, ZIPS dry-cleans every garment it receives, from dress shirts to wedding dresses, for the same price: $2.49.
Additionally, ZIPS offers same-day pickup for any item dropped off by 9 a.m.
“You need those clothes back; you can’t wait a week for them,” Patel said.
The New Mexico stores will also feature an area where customers can drop clothes off while the store is closed.
Patel declined to give specific locations for the new stores but said his group is considering space in the Northeast Heights for a full-service location and is looking to add a drop-off location along Coors. The group’s first store is expected to open by the middle of the year.
Longer term, Patel said he hopes to have four or five locations in Metro Albuquerque and one or two in Santa Fe in the next two or three years.
“We want to be in every major trade area,” he said.
