The rise of self-service laundries

The growth of the laundry self-service sector.

In recent years, the number of laundries in Spain has doubled, and currently stands at around 1,200, according to the Spanish Association of Franchisers.

From a few years to now, in Spain we can see the increase in the number of brands of laundry and dry-cleaning chains.  Self-service laundries have grown rapidly due to the new habits of new generations.

With in the urban centres, laundries are usually found in poor, middle-class neighbourhoods where students and new generations live independently, usually with strange hours or little space in their homes.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF LAUNDRY SELF-SERVICE

ADVANTAGES

It is a business with a high profit margin.

The initial investment "is not very high" (around 80,000 euros) and the management costs are not very high either: maintenance of the machinery, cleaning of the premises and one person if possible (most of them work without permanent employees).

Saving time, money and energy.

Do the laundry for a week in an hour. For example, washing and drying 12 kilos of clothes costs less than 15 €.

DISADVANTAGES

You have to accumulate a certain amount of clothes to do your laundry and go to the laundry.

Customers often start by washing large items of clothing such as curtains or duvets and when they see the good results, they repeat with their everyday clothes. In Spain, there is still a long way to go to reach European levels, but if we continue with this good growth rate, it is all a matter of time.