BRONX, N.Y. — Princeton Laundry closed Wednesday on the purchase of an old textile mill in Paterson, N.J., that will become the company’s new base of operations later this year.
The third-generation company that cleans linen and uniforms for upscale New York City hotels and clubs paid roughly $4.2 million for the 93,000-square-foot building after deciding it had outgrown its 30,000-square-foot New York location, according to Michael Garlasco, Princeton Laundry’s vice president.
The company will build out the Paterson site and start operations there this spring — with about 50,000 square feet devoted to production — while maintaining its Bronx facility. Once things are running smoothly in Paterson, the company will move its full operation, according to Garlasco, who runs the business with his brothers John and Kevin.
Princeton Laundry produces 60,000 pounds daily running two shifts in a space that was designed for 35,000 pounds a day.
“We intend to do a lot more and in one shift,” he says. “We’ll start offering a lot more hand work. … We’re looking at 100,000 pounds a day, seven days a week. It’s going to take some time.”
The company plans to add a third Pellerin Milnor tunnel washer, along with feeders, ironers and folders from Chicago Dryer Co.
It employs 110 people at present and could see its work force grow to 200. Princeton Laundry received a $177,000 grant tied to job creation under the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s Business Employment Incentive Program.
It also got a $500,000 loan from Paterson’s Urban Enterprise Zone loan program and $4.7 million in low-interest loans from Zion Bank of Pennsylvania and the federal Small Business Administration. The laundry moved into the Bronx a decade ago backed by a federal low-interest loan.
Christie B. Garlasco, an Italian immigrant who worked in the laundry of a high-end Manhattan hotel, founded Princeton Laundry in 1918.
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