Tide Cleaners laundry, dry cleaning service to roll out nationwide
Laundry detergent brand Tide on Tuesday said it would expand its chain of dry-cleaning franchises into a new brand, Tide Laundry, that will roll out through several major U.S. cities in the coming months.
The Procter & Gamble-owned brand opened its first laundromats in 2010. The expanded service will allow customers to prepay for laundry or dry-cleaning service through a mobile app. Users can drop off their clothes at a store location or drop-box location and submit instructions for how they should be cleaned.
Tide Cleaners will be available at roughly 2,000 locations throughout the country by the year 2020, the company said. The service already has operational stores in Houston, Phoenix and Omaha, as well as drop-box locations in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Dallas, among other cities.
“Many people believe that in order to get laundry done right, they have to do it themselves,” said Sundar Raman, vice president of P&G’s North American Fabric Care business. “Tide is taking this challenge head-on and aiming to give people clean, cared-for clothes and some time back. This new service will complement our existing business, and give people the option to get the Tide clean they deserve on their terms, not on their time.”
Tide said the initiative is aimed at city dwellers and college students who lack easy access to laundry services. The company cites U.S. Department of Labor Statistics that the average American spends 375 hours per year doing their laundry.
Students will be able to drop off their clothes through an on-campus van delivery service.
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“For many people, the closest laundry room is 20 floors down or 10 blocks down the street,” Raman added, “Whether you’re one of the millions of people living in a high-rise apartment building or you’re juggling college classes, we know taking care of your clothes may not always be convenient. Our goal with Tide Cleaners is to help people’s increasingly busy lives revolve more around what matters, and less around their laundry.”