Charlotte's first LaundroLab facility opened to the public last week.
LaundroLab is a modern laundromat franchise concept that "provides a safe, welcoming and convenient experience for customers while creating a new and exciting business opportunity for entrepreneurs across the country." It launched in January as a spinoff of Charlotte-based valet laundry and dry-cleaning service 2ULaundry, co-founded in 2016 by Alex Smereczniak and Dan D'Aquisto.
The facility, at 5618 Albemarle Road in east Charlotte, opened to coincide with "Free Laundry Day" in partnership with Illinois-based nonprofit LaundryCares Foundation.
"This year has been kind of fascinating for us," D'Aquisto said. "As we reviewed where we were in 2020, we incubated a whole new company inside our startup and brought that to life."
The facility, as are all LaundroLab facilities, is outfitted with state-of-the-art machines that D'Aquisto said can get customers in and out in an hour, mobile-pay technology and automatic detergent injection features. The facility also has an on-site employee, 24/7 security, WiFi and a play area for kids.
"It sounds really simple, but (technology) is a big driver," he said. "With our tech, customers can get notifications when their washer or dryer is done, so they can leave and come back."
D'Aquisto added, "Any time you start the machine, it locks as a security feature, and through our mobile-pay technology, they can allow the attendant to move their stuff from washer to dryer."
A franchisee has committed to building another three LaundroLab stores in the city over the next three to five years. Franchisees in Atlanta, Denver, Miami and Tampa, Florida, will add another 14 locations total in that time frame. D'Aquisto said their plans to expand beyond the Southeast are already in progress.
D'Aquisto said the broader laundry industry is a growing market that he hopes LaundroLab will have a long-term home in. Especially, he said, in areas where residents need better access.
"The wealth gap is a real thing; while we understand the broader industry of affordable housing is growing, those developers, especially in rental units, are trying to maximize space, so they get rid of the ability to hook up washers and dryers," he said. "When we’re looking at site selection, we’re looking for where there is already a concentration of laundromats and where most are run down, with old machines, because we want to uplift the community."
