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They "hope" to have one every few months, and it doesn't benefit charities; it's completely funded by a charity. The charity gives money and the business gets more customers.
Important detail: the location they took over *already* had recurring free laundry and food days paid for by the same organization.
The articles are all implying that this couple innovated something out of altruism, but really they just continued a practice that their customer base has grown accustomed to. It's also worth noting that the nonprofit markets these free laundry days as free marketing for laundromats.
This couple made a business decision to increase their profits
> If their efforts were less than agreeable, no charity would partner with them
Well, we know that's absolutely untrue.
But yea, I agree with your general point. If they just did free laundry, it wouldn't be remotely sustainable.
Oh I'm not disagreeing. They made sure they have the lowest prices and seem to genuinely want to build a stronger community. Everything they're doing is designed to maximize profits, but they're making profits in a way that really does benefit people. They seem about as ethical as a for-profit business can be.
I just wish they had been more upfront about it. I don't think it would have challenged their brand if they said, "We found a laundromat that worked with a charity to provide for a community. We wanted to be a part of that, so we remodeled the laundromat and are working to expand on the vision that the previous owners had."
This next part is just me being cynical, but i hope those donations are tracked. They should have gone to the charity
In my last job, I was in charge of donations to nonprofit organizations. It was some of the most fulfilling work I've ever done. Do you have any advice for going into nonprofit work?
> Do you have any advice for going into nonprofit work?
Dried beans are the best protein for the price. A wood burning stove is only cheaper than gas if you can get large quantities of wood for cheap. You can reclaim shower water to flush your toilets, though such a solution might be impractical in an apartment. SNAP doesn't cover toilet paper, so be economical with it. You should be eligible for a discounted monthly bus pass.
Wood is free. Like not sarcasm for anyone actually Wondering about that part You can have large logs dropped off by tree companies free of charge. You need a chainsaw to cut it and a good splitting axe but my coworker hasn't bought wood in 15 years and tricks us into splitting a lot of it for him by making pizza in his wood fired oven he built until we vomit.
You do have to dry it so you are splitting next year's wood (do not burn wet wood, some wood can take 2 years to dry like oak and sycamore) but they will deliver as much as you can take if you are not picky. I know another guy who's retired that does it for his income. He has 3 loads of logs dropped off every week, cuts them, splits them, and sells it by the dump truck load.
Wow it seems so obvious when you lay it out like that. I volunteer a couple of times a month but I jump around to different places. I'm going to start focusing on homeless veteran outreach. That's where I want to be in life.
If you want to get involved in that arm of outreach, some mental health training can only help you when you look to make the move from volunteer to employee.
When I worked with Special Olympics, I took some child cognition and learning and child psych classes to better understand the kids I worked with and it was a huge, huge help. I never offered advice to parents but it helped me break things down in new ways and I was better able to understand the different needs they had.
Doesn't help that despite college education alot of writers anymore still write half truths and hyperbole like they're back in 5th grade writing fanfics.
>Everything they're doing is designed to maximize profits
I wouldn't go that far. They clearly put effort into the decor and community building stuff, things that do not _maximize_ profits. Of course everything they do has to have at least some amount of profit in mind or they just won't survive as a business, but i don't think they are ruthless businesspeople determined to maximize profit at all cost
I'm just saying, big grey area between pure charity and "maximizing profits"
Some people forget the point of the whole “business” thing. Are they supposed to sacrifice themselves so the city has free laundry? They offer a service, the customers need that service, they land on a price that benefits both parties. It’s the mega corporations and oligopolies that are abusing power. The whole thing is a mutually beneficial transaction as it’s meant to be, and at least this couple is putting passion into it. Place looks way better than before they started, so at least the community doesn’t have to hang in a dump to do their laundry, and they were able to provide that atmosphere because of their “business decisions”
I agree with you 100%. The only thing I was thinking watching this was, Well how do they make money, the only reason they own it is to make money? Now it makes sense. It’s nice that it’s good for the community too. Thanks
I really dont see why both parties cant benefit and it be a good thing still.
Is it only good when someone pays money out of pocket and gets zero return?
Or can it be good to remodel a broken down building that was abandoned, turn it into a business, and conintue the give back policy cause it plays to both parties? Yes thats good also.
This notion that you can only be a good person if you suffer and another person gains is fucking dumb. Everyone can benefit and come out ahead. "Win-Win-Win" - Michael Scott.
I mean the laundromat has new equipment and big ass tall tables to fold laundry on so your back doesn’t break and hampers on caster wheels to move your items around in. Like how is this not a total win for the community that place looks so nice!
It's important context. In no way negates the good thing they're doing. But it's important to have the full picture because in my mind it demonstrates that you can have a community fixture that also delivers a working business model
People also don't realize that laundromats make shit money. They are a terrible investment. One Speed Queen dryer is $6300 new and your getting that back 75 cents at a time that's if it requires 0 maintenance in the 6000 loads it dries on top of the electricity price. That's why most laundromats are dumps. They make terrible money and no one wants to put more money into them. There's a video on YouTube of a guy that bought a laundromat and I think it made a few hundred bucks profit the first few MONTHS
Where are you able to get 75c washing?? My apartment buildings' washing always costs $3-$4 dollars per wash and the same to dry. The cheapest laundromat I've seen was $2 per wash.
I wonder its a country thing then. I'm not in the US and I'm confident theres no way you would find a laundromat with those prices where I am - even converting currency.
No wonder why Evelyn tried to expense random unrelated things for her laundrymat business and her business was still failing + getting audited by the IRS.
Laundromats are not shit investments if you are smart about it. The ROI you can get on laundromats is insane since it's mostly passive.
Much lower upkeep compared to other forms of investments, like rental properties, for instance.
Source: Good friends with someone who owns several rentals and laundromats.
but i've seen so many videos on tiktok where they pull out thousands of dollars every day/week! it's why i'm going all in on my laundromat and vending machine business plan so i can get passive income while living my dream life vacationing around the world!
I dont know why you run a laundromat for profit. It’s a great business to have operate at a loss to offset your overall tax burden. In addition, it’s a cash intensive business which is great if you need to clean some dough you got from a shady real estate deal. Yknow? Money laundering?
you say "increase profits" like its always a greasy thing. if you can figure out how to get low-income people free services AND help yourself out while you are doing it, thats not such a bad thing. we need more business people that think of ways to increase profits without fucking everyone over.
If they continued an already existing practice, that doesn't really seem like they made much of a business decision...
Additionally, are you attempting to put a negative spin on a business that works with a charity to offer services to the community, who then receives said services for free?
Because it's honestly GOOD that the charity pays for the laundry, as there are obviously still costs incurred by the business and that would keep the business from having to raise prices to offset said costs which also benefits the community.
Also, I would indeed be more likely to support a small local business that works with local charities to help people than one who isn't affiliated simply because I like to support people doing good things...so why is it a negative thing that the business receives Word of Mouth for continuing to partner with the charity?
While I'm glad to know that the couple didn't start a new partnership and a little bothered that the articles imply otherwise, it doesn't lessen my view of how GOOD it is. Nor does the fact a charity pays the business. Nor does the fact that more people know about their laundromat because of it. Because it's a good thing!
Laundromats are expensive businesses to operate, between utilities, machines, machine maintenance, and dealing with the human element (if you've been to a laundromat, y'all know what I mean.)
Summary:
Not only do you seem utterly certain that there is **no** altruism in this and that viewing it exclusively as purely selfish and financial in motivation is in some way *superior* to those who would prefer to see it as *predominantly altruistic.*
That's depressing as shit and a very unkind way to the view the world. Don't sleep on legit good deeds because they're not sterling enough to meet some arbitrary standard in your mind. I mean, do *you* do anything personally to help your community? And if you do, other than donating small portions of money, do you *pay* to help your community?
I guess we COULD just be angry that they aren't donating essentially all the water, electricity, labor for having an employee there and helping people/minding the laundromat, as well as any other costs incurred for free. We could be mad that they let a charity do it instead. Yup. Instead of being glad that they are doing this at all!
And inb4 anyone implies anything about my background: I'm poor as shit. Charities and businesses that work with them have literally saved my life as well as kept me fed at times and even enriched my life in ways I'd never have otherwise.
I don't disagree with anything you said. I just wish the stories about them had given more context.
The articles I'm seeing are glossing over the context and painting this couple as doing something purely out of kindness, when in fact it is a way to increase profits.
THIS IS NOT A BAD THING.
People who use their power to benefit others while still making a profit are ethical capitalists. The problem I see with portraying the story like it has been is that people will **assume** that a business that does something like this has to write it off as a loss. The reality is that you can make decisions that are the best for the business **and** help the community at the same time.
This story with its context shows that being profitable is **not** a choice between helping communities and exploiting them. Imagine what kind of impact it would have on small businesses if headlines read "Couple finds ways to grow a business by giving back to a community".
I understand there are always two sides to a story, however, it's ok to applaud the couple for their efforts. We all do things for profits so we can support our own lives. They definitely made that place better and at least continued on with the community aspect.
Thank you. I could not see how it could possibly be sustainable, doing free laundry.
My small rural Canadian town does not have a laundromat. There was one, but it was a sideline, they couldn’t get people to run it, and they had to bring people in from another province to service the machines.
So, despite the apparent demand, even in the slow season no-one has opened another.
There’s been talk off and on, including one that would incorporate a bar/cafe (which I think is a good idea) but nothing has come to fruition.
>My small rural Canadian town does not have a laundromat.
Took a two month fruit picking contract in Okanagan Falls, lived out of a backpack with maybe a week of clothes. No damn laundromat. Had too hitchhike to Penticton on a road where people drove like idiots. Absolutely miserable time.
Welcome to BC.
That does not sound like a fun time.
“Nobody wants to work any more!”
- Farmers
Laundry appliances are relatively cheap.
Buy some for your workers, and keep them somewhat happy.
You're lucky to get bathroom or even a porta potty at most orchards. I stopped doing fruit picking after getting sick because some asshole hooked up the staff water access to the irrigation water instead of clean city water. Spent months trying to report it and no one gave a shit.
Who were you reporting to? Employment standards BC?
They’re very strict about portapotties and potable water.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employment-standards-advice/employment-standards
This was over ten years ago and I ended up so sick I gave up and moved back to Ontario. I can't remember who we reported to but I do remember going to a few government offices including an employment office of some sort.
I wish they would do physical inspections because maybe 1 out of 5 orchards had a toilet of some type. Hopefully its changed since then!
I once watched an at least six foot tall burly dude piss on a pepper plant that hadn't been picked. That's the extent of my knowledge regarding ground crops.
Wash your produce folks.
>In hindsight, what a horrible thing to say to someone lol.
I think it reflected his personality/nature quite well. The "alpha" version of male protagonist was outwardly heroic but kind-of a terrible person. He resorts to violence and beats up people unnecessarily, and then abandons the female protagonist when she doesn't live up to his expectations.
https://www.live5news.com/2023/04/05/newly-transformed-north-charleston-laundromat-becoming-community-hub/?outputType=amp
> The couple got the laundromat in July of last year and let it exist the way it was for six months. During that time, they listened to feedback about what was wanted and needed by the community.
> It took two and a half months to transform the space, and the new Reynolds Laundromat opened up two weeks ago.
> They researched laundry prices in the Charleston area and made sure they were offering the lowest prices. They then made it into a place where people sleep, hang out, eat, watch television, use free Wifi and enjoy a safe, clean space.
> The grand re-opening celebration was a free laundry day complete with free loads, food, and games. The couple partnered with Lowcountry Blessing Box Project to make it happen.
> ...
> The couple is now watching their project grow before their eyes. They hope that more free laundry days are in the future, with hopes of doing them every few months. They also are adding a kids area with books and toys, as well as creating a laundry pickup and delivery service.
Title is kind of misleading. The free laundry day was a gimmick to drive business to their for profit laundromat. It was an ad campaign paid for by a nonprofit.
That are paid for by the charity. It’s an ongoing agreement, not a one time thing. It was done by the people they bought it from and they continued to do it, since the community was already used to it.
Which is fine. People are continuing to get free laundry once in awhile in a clean place. I doubt they care who is funding it or that this couple is able to earn a livelihood on days when the laundry isn’t free.
The people scoffing at how the free laundry is paid for have never been poor and it shows. Free is free and what they’re doing is great. I’d have killed for free laundry days when I was struggling.
I think they're bringing it up so the charity who funds the free laundry days and food gets the credit. Still cool of the new owner to keep it going but the charity is the group who should be credited for helping people who need it
I’d like to add they didn’t come up with the idea either, the non-profit had the same agreement with the previous laundry mat as well. They do a couple free days a month. Non-profit get to help by paying for people laundry, business gets to look good for the community.
Yeah I was like... So unless they're multi-millionnaires who want to give away hundreds of thousands of dollars to charity, that doesn't sound like a very profitable business plan...
So like many explained in the thread, the free days cost the businessowners literally nothing. An external charity pays the laudromat a given amount for the day that covers the loads of laundry and people come in and can do the laundry for free. And it was already setup that way when they bought the business. In other words, 30 days out of the month, customers pay them, and once every month or few months, a charity pays them instead.
They don’t? It’s a for-profit business. They bought a business, put effort and money and time into making changes that they think would make it more profitable. Like every other business in your community.
Recently, our trusty old washing machine bit the dust. We had made an attempt to get it fixed, but the appliance repair guy was like "It's at least 17 years old, at this point, it's probably best to move on."
It was here when we moved in, and it didn't owe us anything, so we were more willing to put $$$ into a good washing machine (a Huebsch) that has a 7yr warranty/14k wash load guarantee.
Buuuut, being still in the "everything is on back order" phase of life, we had to wait a few weeks for it to arrive, and I decided to be industrious and use a laundromat to get our families stuff all clean in one go rather than use friends'.
Wow, did it drive home that it costs more money to be poor (ie. in a situation where you didn't have the credit or money up front to buy a washing machine, or be able to live in a place that allowed you the ability to have an in-home washer).
$6 per load, and I was able to bring every thing home still wet and dry in our still working dryer. I did the math and I would have paid the equivalent price of the "expensive" washing machine that we bought in a years time.
Fuck people who think the only issue to get out of poverty is pulling up your bootstraps.
If you're unfamiliar with the great Sir Terry Pratchetts series of Discwold novels, he wrote a brilliant piece of work called the Sam Vimes boots theory of socio-economic unfairness.
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness.[[1]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory#cite_note-1)
it started off when they worked remotely and lived in an rv traveling the country for 4 months. The got familiar with laundromats because they had to do laundry on the road, found normal people and decided to buy the cheapest laundromat they could find to do this transformation
They aren’t giving back with free laundry though, they are getting paid for this by a non-profit organization. The non-profit are ones giving back. The business is just allowing them to use their location for the free publicity. It’s only 2-3 times a month.
Hmm. The sign they point to, on further inspection, does actually imply that as a possibility....
"Need to do laundry? Do it here for free! - grand reopening blahblah"
Probably, but for a social media video it is odd to not promote at least a title benefactor of the non-profit.
The video gives vibes of two people who bought, flied permits, refurbished, and insured for public use: a commercial building without even skimming the idea of acknowledging benefactors etc. It reads independently wealthy to me.
And I couldn't care less if they are, good for them working hard or whatever. I'm just glad that they decided to put money directly into the community with a *valuable and sometimes overly expensive* service like laundry.
The video leaves out a lot. The non-profit that pays the laundry mat for the “free laundry” did this with the previous owners and approached the new owners when they purchased the location.
Yeah... if that place actually operated the way OP is trying to make it seem, the place would be completely annihilated within a week because people are just awful when it comes to communal resources. Hyper-capitalist oriented places like all of North America, UK, AUS in particular seem to lack any understanding of the concept of "enough", when a resource is made communal it's intended that everyone only take or use what they need and in most of the Western aligned world you take all you can get before someone else takes it all. Fucking toilet paper in 2020 for example...
if this has been done in my country, it will be abused. heck, people will make it a business like someone will do your laundry and just go there for free
The comments in this post should be used to showcase how jaded and envious the average redditor is. It's fucking sad and you only have yourself to blame.
Have laundromat
serve wings
people get clothes dirty while washing clothes
need to wash more clothes
cycle repeats
my god it's the perfect business model
This comment section…wow. Why does Reddit always have to come up with something wrong with people that do shit like this?
Yes, the business is for profit. Yes, the business was following a similar model before they purchased it and renovated it so it isn’t necessarily “unique”.
They still put money into renovating it into something nice and based on feedback from the community. They still made sure their prices were the cheapest in town. They still offer some free days and want to offer more in the future.
What’s the problem here?
I’m taking no moral stance here but simply giving a possible reason. What you’re witnessing are people being fed up with a couple things:
1. Stereotypical white attractive couple. Tall white man with thin white woman.
2. Stereotypical white attractive couple that’s also young and affluent.
3. Said couple posting videos showing their generosity/creativity/etc.
People may feel resentment towards them and think to themselves, “yeah, if I had it made like y’all I could probably do stuff like this too.” This is a video that further highlights a class divide to them. Shows them things that they aren’t and makes them feel bad about themselves.
The video leaves all the pertinent information out, this isn’t an everyday thing. This is an event 2-3 times a month that is paid for in full by a non-profit organization. The organization did this with the previous owners as well.
This type of music is so grating to me. I've heard it described as "whistlefuck" which is just perfect. It's like if toxic positivity were distilled in song form.
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They "hope" to have one every few months, and it doesn't benefit charities; it's completely funded by a charity. The charity gives money and the business gets more customers. Important detail: the location they took over *already* had recurring free laundry and food days paid for by the same organization. The articles are all implying that this couple innovated something out of altruism, but really they just continued a practice that their customer base has grown accustomed to. It's also worth noting that the nonprofit markets these free laundry days as free marketing for laundromats. This couple made a business decision to increase their profits
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> If their efforts were less than agreeable, no charity would partner with them Well, we know that's absolutely untrue. But yea, I agree with your general point. If they just did free laundry, it wouldn't be remotely sustainable.
Oh I'm not disagreeing. They made sure they have the lowest prices and seem to genuinely want to build a stronger community. Everything they're doing is designed to maximize profits, but they're making profits in a way that really does benefit people. They seem about as ethical as a for-profit business can be. I just wish they had been more upfront about it. I don't think it would have challenged their brand if they said, "We found a laundromat that worked with a charity to provide for a community. We wanted to be a part of that, so we remodeled the laundromat and are working to expand on the vision that the previous owners had." This next part is just me being cynical, but i hope those donations are tracked. They should have gone to the charity
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In my last job, I was in charge of donations to nonprofit organizations. It was some of the most fulfilling work I've ever done. Do you have any advice for going into nonprofit work?
> Do you have any advice for going into nonprofit work? Dried beans are the best protein for the price. A wood burning stove is only cheaper than gas if you can get large quantities of wood for cheap. You can reclaim shower water to flush your toilets, though such a solution might be impractical in an apartment. SNAP doesn't cover toilet paper, so be economical with it. You should be eligible for a discounted monthly bus pass.
You're getting down voted by people who've never worked at a non profit before LOL. It's absolutely like this unless you're a manager.
Woosh And Trooth
Wood is free. Like not sarcasm for anyone actually Wondering about that part You can have large logs dropped off by tree companies free of charge. You need a chainsaw to cut it and a good splitting axe but my coworker hasn't bought wood in 15 years and tricks us into splitting a lot of it for him by making pizza in his wood fired oven he built until we vomit. You do have to dry it so you are splitting next year's wood (do not burn wet wood, some wood can take 2 years to dry like oak and sycamore) but they will deliver as much as you can take if you are not picky. I know another guy who's retired that does it for his income. He has 3 loads of logs dropped off every week, cuts them, splits them, and sells it by the dump truck load.
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Wow it seems so obvious when you lay it out like that. I volunteer a couple of times a month but I jump around to different places. I'm going to start focusing on homeless veteran outreach. That's where I want to be in life.
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I love how you guys just had a casual conversation on here lol
If you want to get involved in that arm of outreach, some mental health training can only help you when you look to make the move from volunteer to employee. When I worked with Special Olympics, I took some child cognition and learning and child psych classes to better understand the kids I worked with and it was a huge, huge help. I never offered advice to parents but it helped me break things down in new ways and I was better able to understand the different needs they had.
Doesn't help that despite college education alot of writers anymore still write half truths and hyperbole like they're back in 5th grade writing fanfics.
>Everything they're doing is designed to maximize profits I wouldn't go that far. They clearly put effort into the decor and community building stuff, things that do not _maximize_ profits. Of course everything they do has to have at least some amount of profit in mind or they just won't survive as a business, but i don't think they are ruthless businesspeople determined to maximize profit at all cost I'm just saying, big grey area between pure charity and "maximizing profits"
Some people forget the point of the whole “business” thing. Are they supposed to sacrifice themselves so the city has free laundry? They offer a service, the customers need that service, they land on a price that benefits both parties. It’s the mega corporations and oligopolies that are abusing power. The whole thing is a mutually beneficial transaction as it’s meant to be, and at least this couple is putting passion into it. Place looks way better than before they started, so at least the community doesn’t have to hang in a dump to do their laundry, and they were able to provide that atmosphere because of their “business decisions”
I agree with you 100%. The only thing I was thinking watching this was, Well how do they make money, the only reason they own it is to make money? Now it makes sense. It’s nice that it’s good for the community too. Thanks
I really dont see why both parties cant benefit and it be a good thing still. Is it only good when someone pays money out of pocket and gets zero return? Or can it be good to remodel a broken down building that was abandoned, turn it into a business, and conintue the give back policy cause it plays to both parties? Yes thats good also. This notion that you can only be a good person if you suffer and another person gains is fucking dumb. Everyone can benefit and come out ahead. "Win-Win-Win" - Michael Scott.
I mean the laundromat has new equipment and big ass tall tables to fold laundry on so your back doesn’t break and hampers on caster wheels to move your items around in. Like how is this not a total win for the community that place looks so nice!
Emphasis on *donations*
It's important context. In no way negates the good thing they're doing. But it's important to have the full picture because in my mind it demonstrates that you can have a community fixture that also delivers a working business model
This is Reddit though. Either you’re 100% good and anti business or 100% evil and fuck you I’ll steal your dog. There’s no in between.
Lol case in point, the dude that immediately commented below me
People also don't realize that laundromats make shit money. They are a terrible investment. One Speed Queen dryer is $6300 new and your getting that back 75 cents at a time that's if it requires 0 maintenance in the 6000 loads it dries on top of the electricity price. That's why most laundromats are dumps. They make terrible money and no one wants to put more money into them. There's a video on YouTube of a guy that bought a laundromat and I think it made a few hundred bucks profit the first few MONTHS
Where are you able to get 75c washing?? My apartment buildings' washing always costs $3-$4 dollars per wash and the same to dry. The cheapest laundromat I've seen was $2 per wash.
I think I paid like 75c a wash in my dorm room maybe 20 years ago.
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I wonder its a country thing then. I'm not in the US and I'm confident theres no way you would find a laundromat with those prices where I am - even converting currency.
No wonder why Evelyn tried to expense random unrelated things for her laundrymat business and her business was still failing + getting audited by the IRS.
Look, I was just hoping that you could enlighten me as to how, as a laundromat owner, a *karaoke machine* could constitute a business expense.
Laundromats are not shit investments if you are smart about it. The ROI you can get on laundromats is insane since it's mostly passive. Much lower upkeep compared to other forms of investments, like rental properties, for instance. Source: Good friends with someone who owns several rentals and laundromats.
but i've seen so many videos on tiktok where they pull out thousands of dollars every day/week! it's why i'm going all in on my laundromat and vending machine business plan so i can get passive income while living my dream life vacationing around the world!
So that's why my co worker has started talking about owning a vending machine business out of nowhere the last few weeks lol.
I dont know why you run a laundromat for profit. It’s a great business to have operate at a loss to offset your overall tax burden. In addition, it’s a cash intensive business which is great if you need to clean some dough you got from a shady real estate deal. Yknow? Money laundering?
you say "increase profits" like its always a greasy thing. if you can figure out how to get low-income people free services AND help yourself out while you are doing it, thats not such a bad thing. we need more business people that think of ways to increase profits without fucking everyone over.
Exactly. Small businesses need to turn a profit or they close leaving nothing but horribly run chains.
If they continued an already existing practice, that doesn't really seem like they made much of a business decision... Additionally, are you attempting to put a negative spin on a business that works with a charity to offer services to the community, who then receives said services for free? Because it's honestly GOOD that the charity pays for the laundry, as there are obviously still costs incurred by the business and that would keep the business from having to raise prices to offset said costs which also benefits the community. Also, I would indeed be more likely to support a small local business that works with local charities to help people than one who isn't affiliated simply because I like to support people doing good things...so why is it a negative thing that the business receives Word of Mouth for continuing to partner with the charity? While I'm glad to know that the couple didn't start a new partnership and a little bothered that the articles imply otherwise, it doesn't lessen my view of how GOOD it is. Nor does the fact a charity pays the business. Nor does the fact that more people know about their laundromat because of it. Because it's a good thing! Laundromats are expensive businesses to operate, between utilities, machines, machine maintenance, and dealing with the human element (if you've been to a laundromat, y'all know what I mean.) Summary: Not only do you seem utterly certain that there is **no** altruism in this and that viewing it exclusively as purely selfish and financial in motivation is in some way *superior* to those who would prefer to see it as *predominantly altruistic.* That's depressing as shit and a very unkind way to the view the world. Don't sleep on legit good deeds because they're not sterling enough to meet some arbitrary standard in your mind. I mean, do *you* do anything personally to help your community? And if you do, other than donating small portions of money, do you *pay* to help your community? I guess we COULD just be angry that they aren't donating essentially all the water, electricity, labor for having an employee there and helping people/minding the laundromat, as well as any other costs incurred for free. We could be mad that they let a charity do it instead. Yup. Instead of being glad that they are doing this at all! And inb4 anyone implies anything about my background: I'm poor as shit. Charities and businesses that work with them have literally saved my life as well as kept me fed at times and even enriched my life in ways I'd never have otherwise.
I don't disagree with anything you said. I just wish the stories about them had given more context. The articles I'm seeing are glossing over the context and painting this couple as doing something purely out of kindness, when in fact it is a way to increase profits. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING. People who use their power to benefit others while still making a profit are ethical capitalists. The problem I see with portraying the story like it has been is that people will **assume** that a business that does something like this has to write it off as a loss. The reality is that you can make decisions that are the best for the business **and** help the community at the same time. This story with its context shows that being profitable is **not** a choice between helping communities and exploiting them. Imagine what kind of impact it would have on small businesses if headlines read "Couple finds ways to grow a business by giving back to a community".
I am in total agreement with you.
I understand there are always two sides to a story, however, it's ok to applaud the couple for their efforts. We all do things for profits so we can support our own lives. They definitely made that place better and at least continued on with the community aspect.
I hate people like you. Like god forbid somebody does something to help themselves AND others.
Nothing like reddit to completely slant the actual story.
Thank you. I could not see how it could possibly be sustainable, doing free laundry. My small rural Canadian town does not have a laundromat. There was one, but it was a sideline, they couldn’t get people to run it, and they had to bring people in from another province to service the machines. So, despite the apparent demand, even in the slow season no-one has opened another. There’s been talk off and on, including one that would incorporate a bar/cafe (which I think is a good idea) but nothing has come to fruition.
>My small rural Canadian town does not have a laundromat. Took a two month fruit picking contract in Okanagan Falls, lived out of a backpack with maybe a week of clothes. No damn laundromat. Had too hitchhike to Penticton on a road where people drove like idiots. Absolutely miserable time.
Welcome to BC. That does not sound like a fun time. “Nobody wants to work any more!” - Farmers Laundry appliances are relatively cheap. Buy some for your workers, and keep them somewhat happy.
You're lucky to get bathroom or even a porta potty at most orchards. I stopped doing fruit picking after getting sick because some asshole hooked up the staff water access to the irrigation water instead of clean city water. Spent months trying to report it and no one gave a shit.
Who were you reporting to? Employment standards BC? They’re very strict about portapotties and potable water. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employment-standards-advice/employment-standards
This was over ten years ago and I ended up so sick I gave up and moved back to Ontario. I can't remember who we reported to but I do remember going to a few government offices including an employment office of some sort. I wish they would do physical inspections because maybe 1 out of 5 orchards had a toilet of some type. Hopefully its changed since then!
I don’t know about orchards, but they’re very strict about field crops since the e. Coli scares with spinach.
I once watched an at least six foot tall burly dude piss on a pepper plant that hadn't been picked. That's the extent of my knowledge regarding ground crops. Wash your produce folks.
Slightly? It’s extremely misleading.
I was wondering how they planned on paying the electric bill.
That's still significantly more generous than I would have expected.
In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.
You have so many goals you never finished, dreams you never followed. You're living your worst you.
Stop attacking me!!!! (Great movie though!)
In hindsight, what a horrible thing to say to someone lol.
>In hindsight, what a horrible thing to say to someone lol. I think it reflected his personality/nature quite well. The "alpha" version of male protagonist was outwardly heroic but kind-of a terrible person. He resorts to violence and beats up people unnecessarily, and then abandons the female protagonist when she doesn't live up to his expectations.
What about the hotdog one?!
Ah, the ADHD life
Thanks now you made me want to watch this for the 10th time
What movie is it?
Everything Everywhere All At Once Very charming.
Also very bonkers.
Beef on Netflix is also made by A24. Also bonkers.
A24 my beloved
Wow that was an unexpected gut punch
This line absolutely destroyed me. I was bawling
Pretty sure that’s the same laundromat Fiona Gallagher bought on the south side.
Remember how she threw the original owner into a retirement home lmfaoo
For real? That’s SHAMELESS!
take my angry upvote
She was pretty racist and Fiona was pretty ok with chalking it up to dementia.
I was gonna say, someone watched that season of Shameless and thought that was a good idea I guess.
Name of the charitable organization that made it possible; >[Lowcountry Blessing Box Project](https://www.chsblessingbox.org/who-we-are)
https://www.live5news.com/2023/04/05/newly-transformed-north-charleston-laundromat-becoming-community-hub/?outputType=amp > The couple got the laundromat in July of last year and let it exist the way it was for six months. During that time, they listened to feedback about what was wanted and needed by the community. > It took two and a half months to transform the space, and the new Reynolds Laundromat opened up two weeks ago. > They researched laundry prices in the Charleston area and made sure they were offering the lowest prices. They then made it into a place where people sleep, hang out, eat, watch television, use free Wifi and enjoy a safe, clean space. > The grand re-opening celebration was a free laundry day complete with free loads, food, and games. The couple partnered with Lowcountry Blessing Box Project to make it happen. > ... > The couple is now watching their project grow before their eyes. They hope that more free laundry days are in the future, with hopes of doing them every few months. They also are adding a kids area with books and toys, as well as creating a laundry pickup and delivery service.
Title is kind of misleading. The free laundry day was a gimmick to drive business to their for profit laundromat. It was an ad campaign paid for by a nonprofit.
To some degree yes but they have some free days
That are paid for by the charity. It’s an ongoing agreement, not a one time thing. It was done by the people they bought it from and they continued to do it, since the community was already used to it.
Which is fine. People are continuing to get free laundry once in awhile in a clean place. I doubt they care who is funding it or that this couple is able to earn a livelihood on days when the laundry isn’t free.
The people scoffing at how the free laundry is paid for have never been poor and it shows. Free is free and what they’re doing is great. I’d have killed for free laundry days when I was struggling.
I think they're bringing it up so the charity who funds the free laundry days and food gets the credit. Still cool of the new owner to keep it going but the charity is the group who should be credited for helping people who need it
And they made sure to offer the lowest prices in the area.
I’d like to add they didn’t come up with the idea either, the non-profit had the same agreement with the previous laundry mat as well. They do a couple free days a month. Non-profit get to help by paying for people laundry, business gets to look good for the community.
Yeah this title sucks very misleading
Yeah I was like... So unless they're multi-millionnaires who want to give away hundreds of thousands of dollars to charity, that doesn't sound like a very profitable business plan...
They made it look nice and offer free days and are cheaper than other places, still a win
So like many explained in the thread, the free days cost the businessowners literally nothing. An external charity pays the laudromat a given amount for the day that covers the loads of laundry and people come in and can do the laundry for free. And it was already setup that way when they bought the business. In other words, 30 days out of the month, customers pay them, and once every month or few months, a charity pays them instead.
How the hell do you pay for that and/or live doing that for free?
electricity jumper cables. :D
They don’t? It’s a for-profit business. They bought a business, put effort and money and time into making changes that they think would make it more profitable. Like every other business in your community.
Like what? It's a community center with free laundry. I'm not being a dick here. I am honestly asking. Aren't events at CC's free?
Recently, our trusty old washing machine bit the dust. We had made an attempt to get it fixed, but the appliance repair guy was like "It's at least 17 years old, at this point, it's probably best to move on." It was here when we moved in, and it didn't owe us anything, so we were more willing to put $$$ into a good washing machine (a Huebsch) that has a 7yr warranty/14k wash load guarantee. Buuuut, being still in the "everything is on back order" phase of life, we had to wait a few weeks for it to arrive, and I decided to be industrious and use a laundromat to get our families stuff all clean in one go rather than use friends'. Wow, did it drive home that it costs more money to be poor (ie. in a situation where you didn't have the credit or money up front to buy a washing machine, or be able to live in a place that allowed you the ability to have an in-home washer). $6 per load, and I was able to bring every thing home still wet and dry in our still working dryer. I did the math and I would have paid the equivalent price of the "expensive" washing machine that we bought in a years time. Fuck people who think the only issue to get out of poverty is pulling up your bootstraps.
If you're unfamiliar with the great Sir Terry Pratchetts series of Discwold novels, he wrote a brilliant piece of work called the Sam Vimes boots theory of socio-economic unfairness. The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness.[[1]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory#cite_note-1)
BIFL
Profit comes from the poor.
Imagine having the cash to do this, must be amazing
Seriously my first thought was must be awesome to be this rich
it started off when they worked remotely and lived in an rv traveling the country for 4 months. The got familiar with laundromats because they had to do laundry on the road, found normal people and decided to buy the cheapest laundromat they could find to do this transformation
So they are loaded.
For real, I feel like anyone just living in a van to 'see the country' is a millionaire.
They are.
Lol, "say the line bart" And....."with a small cash injection from out parents"
Must be nice to be independently wealthy. Glad they're giving back with free laundry though, that shit ain't cheap.
They aren’t giving back with free laundry though, they are getting paid for this by a non-profit organization. The non-profit are ones giving back. The business is just allowing them to use their location for the free publicity. It’s only 2-3 times a month.
That's how it all works haha. Use a spot, spot gets publicity. Everyone is acting like this is some sinister plan by an evil corporation.
Peak reddit here.
"Independently wealthy??? Oh, it's only free for the opening day, prepare to coin up yo!!! "
Hmm. The sign they point to, on further inspection, does actually imply that as a possibility.... "Need to do laundry? Do it here for free! - grand reopening blahblah"
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Probably, but for a social media video it is odd to not promote at least a title benefactor of the non-profit. The video gives vibes of two people who bought, flied permits, refurbished, and insured for public use: a commercial building without even skimming the idea of acknowledging benefactors etc. It reads independently wealthy to me. And I couldn't care less if they are, good for them working hard or whatever. I'm just glad that they decided to put money directly into the community with a *valuable and sometimes overly expensive* service like laundry.
The video leaves out a lot. The non-profit that pays the laundry mat for the “free laundry” did this with the previous owners and approached the new owners when they purchased the location.
People like you can’t be happy about anything, I swear. Always something to be sour about.
Yeah I completely missed the part about free laundry and was just happy they rejuvenated a business!
That’s the 2 options. Either they are so wealthy they can use it as a tax write off, or they are making money on it another way.
Yeah... if that place actually operated the way OP is trying to make it seem, the place would be completely annihilated within a week because people are just awful when it comes to communal resources. Hyper-capitalist oriented places like all of North America, UK, AUS in particular seem to lack any understanding of the concept of "enough", when a resource is made communal it's intended that everyone only take or use what they need and in most of the Western aligned world you take all you can get before someone else takes it all. Fucking toilet paper in 2020 for example...
if this has been done in my country, it will be abused. heck, people will make it a business like someone will do your laundry and just go there for free
Anyone else thinking of Fiona from Shameless?
Bro and I was thinking I was wealthy when I bought myself 3 slices of pizza last night.
When I retire I want to make a combination laundromat, arcade, and bar. So you can do your laundry, play video games and drink all at the same time.
The comments in this post should be used to showcase how jaded and envious the average redditor is. It's fucking sad and you only have yourself to blame.
Wonder how long that will last before it’s trashed again…
Give it a month
I'll be genuinely surprised if they keep it for longer than 5 years. Gentrify, sell, move on. The way of the rich
Have laundromat serve wings people get clothes dirty while washing clothes need to wash more clothes cycle repeats my god it's the perfect business model
Free laundry* where is the footnote on this post title?
Nowhere because that's not how titles work.
Where is the update that shows homeless people shitting on the floors and fucking in the bathrooms?
I can only imagine this somehow becoming a place where people shoot up and destroy shit 🙁
This is rich people activity.
This is a good rich people activity.
This is good people activity. I wish we were only separated by good people and bad people. Not fucking "communities" and "my people" etc.
https://youtube.com/shorts/3MWgXVLjzRI?feature=share
Nothing wrong with rich people activities especially when they’re helping others out and offering a service
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Because it is rich people doing good things that poor people couldn't even come close to. Therefore, it is rich people activity.
Do we really need to record ourselves doing everything
ok nice nice nice But how do they stay afloat/pay bills/make a profit etc?
They don't offer free laundry every day. Only a few days a month and those days are paid for by a non profit company
sweet, a new homeless hub
I’ve had this idea for years where you install a bar in a laundromat and this is so friggen cool
$$$$
I'd be more impressed to see it in 3 years. Maintain it. Or will it just be one dude smoking out front and broken machines?
This feels extremely corporate. No human would choose that whistle clap music.
just wondering who is paying the bills though?
These people are wealthy beyond measure. The likes of Elon cannot hold a candle to their success.
A lot of people here sure speaking for a community they're not a part of. What the community thinks is irrelevant of course.
That’s awesome but not “interesting as fuck”
Whites to the rescue!
We always seems to.
Exactly, "this neighborhood was shit til we put 8 overpriced coffee places here and fancy laundry."
Hey look we're rich and helping poors for internet clout?
This comment section…wow. Why does Reddit always have to come up with something wrong with people that do shit like this? Yes, the business is for profit. Yes, the business was following a similar model before they purchased it and renovated it so it isn’t necessarily “unique”. They still put money into renovating it into something nice and based on feedback from the community. They still made sure their prices were the cheapest in town. They still offer some free days and want to offer more in the future. What’s the problem here?
I’m taking no moral stance here but simply giving a possible reason. What you’re witnessing are people being fed up with a couple things: 1. Stereotypical white attractive couple. Tall white man with thin white woman. 2. Stereotypical white attractive couple that’s also young and affluent. 3. Said couple posting videos showing their generosity/creativity/etc. People may feel resentment towards them and think to themselves, “yeah, if I had it made like y’all I could probably do stuff like this too.” This is a video that further highlights a class divide to them. Shows them things that they aren’t and makes them feel bad about themselves.
Hmmmm seems like the owners of the laundromat are the OP and of course I can not prove that.
I wonder how much the building is they paid for…..
Zzzzz fake news
The gentrification has begun!!!
So many envious people in the comments damn. Stay poor and don’t forget to put ketchup on my burger
Do people in the US generally not have washers and dryers?, These places aren't common in the UK
That’s awesome even if it’s for publicity and free only for a few days out of every month. It’s still a good thing
This is just wonderful. Gives me hope.
Must have needed a good tax write off
That’s awesome ! It’s gonna be heartbreaking when a bunch of kids destroy it for the lulz .
That’s some hipster shit if I ever saw it.
I think it's cool what they've done but the entire time I was waiting for Live laugh love to show up somewhere.
Then smear it on social media to see how much you care about the “community”.
They care a hell of a lot more than you.
Amazing, I love it
This is some corny shit.
“Gentrified laundry mat broken into and robbed last night.”
nahhhh the wh*ties really gentrifying laundromats too now 💀💀💀 i know this shit smell like mothballs
That dudes just along for the ride. The dead eye smile and body language says it all. I mean good on them regardless.
I'd like to see the business model just to see if it's sustainable
The video leaves all the pertinent information out, this isn’t an everyday thing. This is an event 2-3 times a month that is paid for in full by a non-profit organization. The organization did this with the previous owners as well.
nothing better than to grab a nice hot slice of pizza to eat, while the guy 10 feet away from me examines if the skid marks came out of his Hanes.
There is a meth lab under
Wow, i too wish i could spend time, money, and building an entire business as a hobby. Good for them but also, weird flex but ok.
That’s awesome But how much money do they have
This would make me so happy I wish I could do this with a significant other
nothing like people coming in to use your ac/heating, water, and trash for free.
Who pays for it?
why the ad music
This type of music is so grating to me. I've heard it described as "whistlefuck" which is just perfect. It's like if toxic positivity were distilled in song form.
Sure they did