Year After Year, the Washboard Laundry Keeps Running

The Washboard Laundry and Maytag Commercial Laundry have a lot in common—both have been around for decades, are companies their customers depend on and know the importance of customer service.

Owner Patty Lawrence says that when she and her husband started the laundromat 40 years ago, there were six other laundromats within a mile. Today, The Washboard is the only one left. Lawrence attributes this to The Washboard’s focus on maintaining a pleasant customer experience, with her or another family member usually at the store to greet customers and provide drop-off wash/dry/fold services.

For the last four decades, The Washboard has always depended on Maytag Commercial Laundry washers.

“I’ve always stuck with Maytag washers. Even my machines at home are Maytag machines. People know the Maytag name,” she says. “The brand name of Maytag still means dependable.”

At one point Patty had tried another dryer brand, but the decision to switch back to Maytag Commercial Laundry machines was an easy one, especially with the support she’s gotten for decades from Mendenhall Commercial Laundry.

“Brad Noyes from Mendenhall met me at a couple of laundromats to look at the dryers and walk me through the new features and everything,” says Lawrence.

Noyes also helped with more than just equipment. She says he connected her with financing options, helped her choose a new card payment system and helped coordinate the installation of new plumbing and gas lines.

“He was there to help install the machines and make sure everything was up and running before he left,” she says. “Mendenhall has walked me through these new dryers a couple of times, how to read and fix all the diagnostics codes. Having a distributor there to help you with tech support or advice means a lot to me.”

With the other brand’s distributor, she often had to put in an order and wait two weeks for replacement parts. Not so with Mendenhall, she says.

“When I call, they always have the parts for us. They’re always there to support our maintenance people if they have questions. If we can’t do something, they send a technician out.”

Of course, a reliable distributor is only half the equation. The equipment has to be just as dependable.

In comparing them to other brands, Lawrence says the Maytag Commercial Laundry machines were “just cleaner, more solid-looking dryers,” particularly the doors. In her old dryers, the gaskets around the windows frequently wore out. The doors of the Maytag dryers, in comparison, are built as one solid piece, so she says she no longer worries about the windows falling out.

When it comes to maintenance, she likes that often all she needs to do is give the Maytag or Mendenhall technicians a diagnostic code and they can walk her or her maintenance people through the right fix.

As for her customers, she says they love the reversing feature on the new dryers, because it means they don’t have to worry that their clothes are going to end up in a ball and not dry completely.

After 40 years in business, Lawrence knows what she wants in equipment and how she wants to run her store. Working with Maytag Commercial Laundry and Mendenhall helps facilitate that.

“I think our distributor is half the reason that we went with Maytag Commercial Laundry. But also the look, the quality from fit to finish. Maytag has kept up with change, what users and customers want as far as making them easy to use,” she says.

Interested in seeing what value the right equipment investment can do for your business? Your local Maytag Commercial Laundry distributor can generate a customized analysis of your store and the potential impact new equipment can have on your bottom line.