55 Year Old Legendary Brand Takes A New Spin

CINCINNATI, OHIO (Tuesday, January 31, 2006) - Much like the millions of pounds of clothes that tumble annually through its machines across the world, Martinizing Dry Cleaning is putting a new spin and direction on a name that has been synonymous with the industry since 1949.

Martinizing Dry Cleaning is the most recognized name in dry cleaning and the largest dry cleaning franchisor in the United States with 619 locations worldwide. But 80 percent of its current franchisees signed on before 1987, when Martinizing Dry Cleaning introduced a new franchise agreement offering improved support that was more reflective of a full-format franchisor.

Now, the concept named after Buffalo, New York chemist Henry Martin, who pioneered on-site dry cleaning, is looking to increase its industry dominance, harkening back to its heyday of the 1960s when thousands of Martinizing Dry Cleaning stores dotted the U.S. landscape.

The Cincinnati, Ohio-based franchisor intends to accomplish the task by attracting multi-unit investors, a growth vehicle that has never been more popular in the franchising industry. The company began ramping up for the push two years ago when it made staff changes, realigned its marketing and real estate departments, and improved marketing and operational support for franchisees.

"We've always been the largest franchised dry cleaner as far as units go, but that has never been Martinizing's goal. Our goal has been to be the best!" said Frank Knowles, director of franchise development, who joined the company two years ago as part of the new growth movement. "They always tried to grow one unit at a time. Our new approach will target great business people who can grow in multi-units."

How times have changed. Although it already has a strong presence in different regions of the country, nine core areas have been selected to be the foundation of Martinizing Dry Cleaning's 2005 growth. Salt Lake City, Southern California, Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Denver, Philadelphia, Portland represent areas that already support successful stores, have a multi-unit operator in place or show potential for strong growth.

Last year the company targeted six areas for growth: Cincinnati, Orlando, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Nashville, and San Diego. Large multi-unit agreements were made in Tampa, Orlando, Cincinnati and Phoenix. San Diego actually sold out. In total in 2004, Martinizing was able to award over a dozen new franchises representing exclusive multi-unit development of 33 stores. They currently have over 50 new stores slated to be open over the next couple of years.

"Our focus will be on identifying potential multi-unit operators who qualify for 5-, 10-, and 15-unit exclusive development areas within these markets," said Jerry Laesser, vice president of marketing and franchise development. "Yes, we will continue to grant single-unit franchises as we have for more than 50 years; however, our impetus will be on multi-unit exclusive developments. Our plans call for 100-plus store growth in the next three to four years under this strategy."

Martinizing Dry Cleaning markets itself as a premium provider to an upscale customer base (median household income of $60,000-plus), without premium pricing. According to the International Fabricare Institute there are approximately 30,000 dry-cleaning businesses in the United States, "but the good news for us," Laesser said, "is that there are not a whole lot of high quality dry cleaners."

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