by Mrs Dawn Avery, CEO of National Cleaners Association – USA GLOBAL Professional Textile Care (PTC) Strategy Study 2026 – Roadmap to 2050
Artificial intelligence is already changing the customer journey in professional textile care, but Dawn Avery does not see technology as the industry’s only differentiator. Her perspective is built around a combination of strong systems, accessible information, human service and trust. The companies best prepared for the future will be those that use AI to strengthen good processes without losing the personal relationship that gives professional garment care its value.
How do you see the current PTC market changing, and what is driving that change?
Avery sees an industry that has already changed considerably and will continue to adapt. Garments, purchasing habits and customer communication have all evolved, but she does not expect the need for professional garment care to disappear. What the industry looks like in 25 or 50 years may be very different from today, yet the underlying need for specialist care, convenience and trust remains.
One of the most disruptive changes is the arrival of artificial intelligence in the customer journey. Avery recently experienced an AI-powered search tool that contacted dry cleaners on her behalf, collected information about prices and turnaround times and returned the results. That example shows how quickly the traditional relationship between customer and service provider can change.
Instead of a customer manually searching, choosing a cleaner and making contact, AI may increasingly perform those steps. It can search, compare and communicate; in the future it may also arrange collections or appointments. For consumers, this reduces friction. For businesses, it creates new expectations around accessibility, response speed and the quality of the information they make available.
What do future customers expect from a professional textile care company?
The future service relationship is broader than the traditional transaction of handing over a garment and collecting it later. Customers increasingly expect easy access, quick answers, reliable collection and delivery, repairs and restoration, and confidence that the company understands the value of what has been entrusted to it.
That last point is particularly important. A customer may be handing over an expensive suit, a wedding dress or a garment with personal value. The decision is therefore not based on price alone. It is also based on confidence: will the company take care of the item, deliver when promised and solve problems professionally?
In Avery’s view, trust can become one of the strongest competitive advantages a textile care company has. Technology can make access easier, but it does not remove the emotional element of professional garment care.
What are the most important success factors for companies in an AI-driven market?
Avery’s core argument is that AI will amplify the quality of the organisation that already exists. If a company has clear systems, documented procedures and structured information, AI can make those processes faster and more efficient. If knowledge is inconsistent or stored only in the owner’s head, the technology may simply make those weaknesses more visible.
Digital transformation therefore starts before the technology. Companies need clearly defined processes, accessible information and employees who know how to use that information consistently. Opening hours, turnaround times, general pricing, services and collection or delivery options should not be difficult to find or dependent on one person’s memory.
The strongest companies will combine operational discipline with excellent service. AI can support communication and administration, but it cannot compensate for poor organisation or weak customer care.
What practical changes should businesses make as AI becomes part of the customer journey?
Avery uses a very practical example: what happens when an AI system calls a dry cleaner and nobody answers? As AI agents increasingly contact businesses on behalf of consumers, availability, response time and the consistency of information could influence which company is ultimately recommended.
That means businesses should prepare their basic service information so it can be communicated clearly and consistently. Employees answering the telephone need to know the same facts and provide the same quality of response. Companies may also increasingly use AI-powered telephone systems themselves so that calls can always be answered and routine questions handled correctly.
The issue is bigger than telephone technology. A business has to think about whether its information is structured enough to be understood and used by both people and digital systems. In that sense, AI readiness becomes an extension of good process management.
Will AI level the playing field between large and small companies?
Avery’s answer is nuanced. The internet once gave small businesses access to professional websites, online advertising and social media tools that had previously favoured larger organisations. AI may create a similar opportunity, but only for companies that are organised enough to use it effectively.
Large companies have more financial resources, internal expertise and time to implement advanced technology. Small businesses have fewer resources, but a well-organised specialist operation can still use AI very effectively when it combines technology with a clear market position and strong service.
The greatest pressure may fall on medium-sized companies. They can carry much of the complexity and investment burden of a larger business without always having the same financial capacity or specialist personnel. This could create a market in which large highly organised operators and smaller high-value specialists are both well positioned, while the middle has to work particularly hard to define its advantage.
What opportunities remain for the independent professional cleaner?
Avery does not believe small independent dry cleaners will automatically disappear. Their opportunity is differentiation rather than trying to beat large centralised processors on scale or production cost.
Specialist services such as restoration, alterations, repair, garment expertise, premium care, collection and delivery and highly personal communication can create value that scale alone cannot easily reproduce. In high-end segments, price may be less important than confidence, convenience and the feeling that the cleaner genuinely understands the garment.
That moves the business away from commodity cleaning and towards specialised textile care. It also reinforces the importance of people skills: the more automated the surrounding customer journey becomes, the more valuable genuine personal attention may be.
How should the industry think about people skills in a more technology-driven future?
Avery sees an important paradox: as technology becomes more prominent, human interaction can become more important rather than less. Businesses and associations need to teach companies how to implement AI, but they also need to strengthen customer service.
Employees must be able to listen, communicate and build confidence. Technical textile care knowledge can often be taught; strong interpersonal skills can be harder to develop. For some front-line roles, it may therefore make sense to hire people with excellent customer-service skills and teach them the technical aspects of textile care, rather than assuming the reverse will always work.
Technology and human service should not be treated as competing forces. The strongest business model is likely to combine both: efficient systems around the customer, and a human relationship where judgment, reassurance and trust matter.
What role will sustainability and circularity play in future business performance?
Avery argues that the industry needs a broader definition of sustainability. Environmental discussions in dry cleaning have historically concentrated heavily on solvents, but the total footprint of professional textile care includes energy, water, carbon, materials, waste, recycling, circularity and the overall operation of the business.
Through initiatives such as the Green Cleaner Council, the National Cleaners Association has increasingly approached sustainability from this wider perspective. The objective is not simply to substitute one chemical for another, but to examine the complete environmental performance of the service.
That broader view is likely to become more important as legislation, consumer expectations and circularity requirements evolve. Sustainability therefore becomes both an operational issue and a subject that companies need to understand and communicate more clearly.
What should industry associations do to support PTC companies now and in the future?
Avery sees associations as a knowledge filter. Many independent operators do not have the time to investigate every development in AI, regulation, marketing, sustainability and technology. An association can identify what is changing, explain why it matters and translate it into actions a business can actually use.
That requires a more proactive role. Associations cannot wait until a technology is already mainstream before explaining it. They need to understand what is coming next, including AI tools, changing online search behaviour, communication technology and automation.
There is also a distribution challenge. Information has limited value when members do not read it, attend events or seek support. Publishing an article may no longer be enough. Knowledge has to be delivered in formats that are accessible, relevant and actionable, and the industry may need new ways of connecting professionals to that information.
How important is international cooperation in dealing with future challenges?
Avery points out that many of the forces changing professional textile care are no longer national. Artificial intelligence develops globally, technologies move quickly between markets and sustainability legislation in one region can affect supply chains elsewhere.
International cooperation between associations, technology specialists and industry professionals can therefore help the sector identify developments earlier. The value comes not only from discussing innovation, but from testing ideas, demonstrating results and providing examples that businesses can actually implement.
In this model, international organisations function as an innovation network: bringing together knowledge from different markets and converting it into practical applications for professional textile care companies.
What are the major opportunities and threats as the industry moves towards 2050?
The opportunity is to make professional textile care easier to access, more responsive and more personalised. AI can support customer communication, automate routine questions, organise appointments and potentially strengthen collection and delivery. Customer data and digital platforms can help businesses create more relevant services.
The threat is assuming that technology itself solves the business. AI can make good processes more efficient, but it can also expose poor systems, inconsistent information and weak service. Companies that are difficult to reach, slow to respond or unclear about what they offer may become less visible in an AI-mediated customer journey.
There is also a strategic risk for companies that compete only on price or fail to define where human expertise adds value. As routine activities become easier to automate, trust, specialist knowledge and service quality become more important points of differentiation.
What is your vision for the professional cleaner of the future, and what is the key message to the industry?
Avery remains optimistic. Garments, processes, customers and technology will all change, but consumers will continue to need convenience, specialist knowledge and professional garment care. The successful company of the future may look very different from the traditional dry-cleaning shop, but it will still have to earn the customer’s confidence.
AI may communicate with customers. Automated systems may answer questions and organise appointments. Digital platforms may manage collection and delivery, while customer data supports more personalised services. At the same time, one of the most important elements may remain remarkably traditional: trust between the customer and the cleaner.
Her key message is therefore not to choose between technology and people. Companies should build strong processes, embrace AI and digital tools, and at the same time deliver highly personal and reliable service. Technology can make a company faster and more efficient; trust is what makes the customer want to come back.
