PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL. — September 2026 —
America’s Best Cleaners (ABC) brought its affiliate community together September
for its Fall 2026 Accelerator Live, hosted by Rytina

Fine Cleaners and centered on the theme “Perception.” The three-day program
challenged leading garment care businesses to examine how their brands are
perceived today—and, more importantly, how they must evolve to connect with the
next generation of luxury consumers and employees.
The Sacramento program was the culmination of several months of advance work by
ABC affiliates, including a comprehensive generational brand survey and individual
Brand Reality Checks designed to compare how businesses see themselves with
how emerging consumers may actually experience their brands. The work will
continue throughout the year as affiliates translate the insights developed in
Sacramento into actionable marketing, messaging, and brand strategies.
“Hosting Accelerator Live in Sacramento allowed us to open our doors and look at
our own operation through new eyes,” said Toran Brown, co-owner of Rytina Fine
Cleaners. “The feedback and fresh perspectives from our peers were invaluable. It
challenged us to rethink how we present our craftsmanship and service to a changing
demographic without losing the core values that built our business.”
The event began with a behind-the-scenes visit to Rytina Fine Cleaners, hosted by
Toran and Katie Brown, where affiliate workgroups evaluated different areas of the
operation and presented observations and recommendations to the Rytina team.
Attendees also visited Sacramento luxury clothier Julius to explore how an
established retailer continues adapting to changes in the apparel market while
preserving its luxury positioning and client experience.

Understanding the Clients of Tomorrow
The centerpiece of Accelerator Live was Katelyn Kratz of Kratz Executive Solutions,
presenting “Beyond Quality: Why Connection Is the New Currency in Couture
Cleaning.” Drawing from her comprehensive Generations of Clean research and the
affiliate Brand Reality Checks, Kratz examined what younger consumers value, how
they perceive the garment care industry, and where their expectations differ from
previous generations.
“For decades, our industry has built its reputation around quality and technical
expertise, and those remain essential. But the next generation of clients will not
automatically value us for the same reasons their parents and grandparents did,” said
Christopher White, Executive Director of America’s Best Cleaners. “We have to
understand what creates trust, relevance, and connection for them, then learn how to
tell our story in a way that is authentic to who we are and meaningful to who they are.
Sacramento was not the end of that conversation—it was where our affiliates began
turning months of research into an actionable strategy for the future.”