“Nevertheless, we are optimistic” Read here some exclusive stories on how laundries deal with the coronavirus crisis. You can share your story, too!!

All over the world the coronavirus pandemic has led to special situations, operation disruptions and change of plans. The virus spread is affecting every single entity in the Professional Textile Care industry. We are receiving several queries from CINET members and partners all over the world asking how their counterparts deal with this situation.

As PTC’s global umbrella organization, CINET aims to create a open-platform in which every one of you can share his/her company’s experience during the coronavirus crisis. Therefore, feel free to share your experience (with text and photos) that you can send at cinet@cinet-online.com or using our social media accounts. We will publish them in the E-News section and weekly newsletter.

Mr. Jeff (Jeff Franchises Companies) 

“We believe in the power of being connected. That is why today we are a united, diverse and strong community. At times like these we all have to choose: we can let ourselves be carried away by fear or we can cling to the small achievements of each day. Sometimes the best impetus to move forward is to look back and realize what we have accomplished. Now more than ever, we know that we have to act together and united. We can overcome the impossible in the same way that we do everything: being together as a team, with people who strive to make complex situations simpler. We know everything we have been through to get here … Now we just have to look ahead.”

 

Giorgios Tsaknakis, Carpet Clean Tsaknaki, Larisa, Greece

“We are a company specialized in carpet cleaning, textile dyeing and industrial laundry. We suspended our carpet cleaning and textile dyeing departments from 14/3 by our own decision. The industrial laundry department only serves health facilities that still operate as all hotels and restaurants in the country are closed. Our official state has put us on the list of open companies, our turnover is 90% down and if we continue without receiving any financial support from the state we will soon go bankrupt. Also on the market there is a great lack of protective masks FFP2 and FFP3, antiseptic and protective forms which prevent us from operating safely. We hope that this situation will end soon, and that we will all return to our jobs healthy. We wish the same and to all the people all over the world who are struggling with Covid-19.”

Carpet Clean Tsaknaki invested in state-of-the-art carpet cleaning machines in 2007

 

Juan Ruiz, Co-Founder, WOSH, Spain
“WOSH is a revolutionary and disruptive laundry startup on the Spanish market. We are the most sustainable laundry app with its own innovative textile cleaning shops and zero CO2 emissions pick up and delivery service.
As a startup we invest a lot in growing very quickly. Wosh was founded in March 2019. Since then we have opened two of our own laundries and developed our laundry app. Our starting point at the operational level has been January 2020. Since then we have grown exponentially in the number of users and turnover of our app, as well as candidates interested in investing in our franchise network.
Wosh focuses on the B2C market, although B2B is a very important market for us. Since mid-March, due to COVID19, our B2B clients have been closed, which has forced us to work in our laundries part-time, without opening to the public and to service our elderly clients who had monthly subscription with us. .
Despite the crisis, many investors are contacting us to be interested in buying a franchise and to invest in our company, because we have just opened an A round of financing.
As a saying goes … when the fisherman cannot go out to sea, he dedicates himself to repairing his nets. For this reason, at WOSH we are dedicating these days to developing new and revolutionary products and services that allow us to continue growing even faster from June when we hope that this crisis that affects us all due to COVID19 begins to disappear.”
A real chart of the number of customers of APP and the products & services release schedule.

 

Ion Negru – General Manager Nufarul SA Moldova

“In the Republic of Moldova there is an emergency state which started on 17.03.2020. Most companies in our country suspended
their activity. So did our dry cleaning and laundry company, because of a simple but important issue: we cannot guarantee
the safety of our workers and clients. We are confronting the following problems:
– it is impossible to find and buy masks, anti bacterial liquid, gloves, protection costumes etc. For example simple masks that last for 2 hours cost 25 – 30 times more than in the pre-pandemic period. We can only imagine how hard it is to supply 8000 – 10000 masks per month (but it also not possible to find any).
– another very serious problem for small and medium companies is uncertainty. The Government did not adopt serious steps for business yet, like: helping finance technical unemployment, tax relief etc.This is very bad for us, because the advantageousness of companies like us is rather low;
– we are a company that imports a lot of products from Europe for textile dry and wet cleaning, pillow and carpet cleaning etc. We import them via authorised representatives which are closest in Romania. But they have interdictions to export a lot of them right now. Perhaps what we are writing is not happening only in Moldova. Nevertheless we are optimistic and are searching for all possible solutions. The services that we provide have a social character and are needed for the population and other companies. We are thinking of restarting our activity, but in several stages. We have read the CINET recommendations from 17-18.03.2020 regarding the protection of workers and clients in the pandemic period. We would like to thank you very much for providing such logical, argued, convincing and most needed  information which will an important beneficial effect on textile care companies. We wish you all good health!”

Long tradition and commitment to quality at Nufarul Moldova

 

Belaroussi Fayçal, President of The Algerian National Association of Pressing and Laundry

“Thank you for his precious articles. As you said, “the world goes on turning but, after the CORONA crisis, the world will never be the same anymore.” These words are so true, at every corner of the street, even here in Algeria. Cordially, Belaroussi Fayçal”

The Algerian National Association organized the 3rd professional reunion of country’s PTC industry in Algiers in January

 

Deyan Dimitrov, CEO Laundryheap UK 

“Amidst the current crisis, we wanted to use it to give back to those working hard to keep us safe and healthy, and those needing a little extra support at this time”. The door-to-door, contactless service – which guarantees a 24-hour turnaround – is offering a 30% discount for all NHS staff.

Laundryheap is an on-demand laundry and dry cleaning service

 

USA. Impact on laundries of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act 

President Donald Trump has signed a massive $2.2 trillion economic rescue bill in an effort to offer some financial relief to the nation, which has been shaken by the recent COVID-19 outbreak.

The package – called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act – will offer direct payments to most Americans, expand unemployment benefits, and provide a $367 billion program for small businesses to keep making payroll while workers are forced to stay home. It also steers substantial aid to larger industries as well.

Here’s why it matters most to laundromat owners: The main benefits to small business include emergency grants and a forgivable loan program for companies with 500 or fewer employees. There also are changes to rules for expenses and deductions meant to make it easier for companies to keep employees on the payroll and to stay open in the near-term.