CHICAGO — The laundry and linen services industry provides textile services for key markets across the country.
From healthcare to food and beverage (F&B), from hotels to manufacturing, staying ahead of the curve is vital to the success of a laundry operation that serves one or more of these markets.
That’s why American Laundry News communicated with two industry insiders to share what they’re seeing now and into 2025 for key markets served by laundry and linen service operators.
OPERATOR INSIGHTS
Lace House Linen in Petaluma, California, services the hotel and F&B markets. Owner Phoebe Ellis has tracked how each market has performed in her area over the past five years.
“Hotels and F&B obviously had steep declines during COVID, but there’s been a steady increase in business during the past two years, especially growth in the more rural, resort areas such as Napa Valley,” she shares.
“The larger restaurants in cosmopolitan areas like San Francisco have been slower to rebound. Many restaurants have cut back on lunch service and days of operation.”
Ellis says the hotel market is challenging right now because they are seeing a trend where consulting companies are running some of the hotels as they struggle to maintain employees, inventories and financial solvency.
However, F&B is strong, and she is seeing many new restaurants with new owners opening, especially outside of the cities.
The biggest concern for the hotel market in the coming year for Ellis was properties not investing in their inventories (customer-owned goods) because it is not a priority and is not glamorous to buy new linen.
For F&B, the concern is increasing costs of food and labor and ensuring a solid labor pool.
However, there are positives for each market now and into next year.
“For the hotel market, businesses are starting to travel again, scheduling more conferences and holding off-site meetings,” Ellis shares.
“On the F&B side, restaurant spaces became available after COVID, so many new restaurants and chefs are opening businesses.”
Bottom line, the hotel market is stagnant while F&B is rising, Ellis says.
“Many chefs and owners are interested in the (F&B) industry because they can be creative, run their own business, specializing in regional foods and farm-to-table opportunities,” Ellis says.
“(Laundry operators can) offer specialty napkins at a lower rate to increase usage, educate owners of the sustainable part of their linen and encourage/promote partnership by supporting their businesses.
“We offer assistance to our hotel partners with inventories, extra service and splitting costs to increase their pars with extended contracts.”
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ellis says that she sees owners/managers interested in reducing costs where they can, and they are always willing to work with customers on pricing and delivery schedules—if they can sign extended contracts.
“Owners/managers are definitely re-focused on service/quality and consistent relationships, so we are doing our best to meet these demands and assist them as they re-open, grow or start a new business,” she says.
President and CEO Joseph Ricci says that he has led TRSA for more than a decade and believes more strongly today than ever before that this will remain one of the most consistently successful industries in the U.S. economy.
“We are, by and large, a family-oriented industry,” he says. “In fact, if you look at the personal story of our new board chair—Randy Bartsch with Ecotex—his personal story is like so many other personal stories in our industry.
“What can begin as a small mom-and-pop shop can grow into a multinational enterprise. And right now, Randy is transferring that legacy to his own children.
“We’re job creators. We’re community leaders. And every day, our members are in the business of providing vital services to important parts of our economy, from the food we eat to the hotels we stay in and the healthcare facilities we rely on for medical care we need.
“Every industry confronts its own unique challenges, but I am confident that this industry will continue to thrive because of the people who work in it.”
Click HERE to read Part 1 with association member insights.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
