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Gracie Rogers, an employee at Moses Cleaners on SW Main Boulevard, gets an item off the rack for a customer. (CARL MCKINNEY/Lake City Reporter) -
Katie Ceasar irons a shirt during a slow day at N&W Cleaners on West Duval Street. (CARL MCKINNEY/Lake City Reporter)
Toilet paper is harder to come by. Hair salons and barber shops are closed. Dining in at a nice restaurant is prohibited.People have sacrificed a lot since the pandemic started, but wearing clean clothes doesn’t have to be on the list.
Dry cleaners are considered an essential business under Florida’s stay-at-home order, but they are struggling to retain customers.
Noidre Moses, owner of Moses Cleaners on Southwest Main Boulevard, said it took him years to rebuild after the 2008 recession slashed his business in half.
So far, this is worse, he said.
“As a result of the pandemic, I’ve lost probably 85 percent,” he said. “Never seen anything like this.”
The business normally runs through the cleaning process five days a week. Now it’s one.
On cleaning day, nine of the business’ 11 employees — the other two voluntarily took time off out of caution — are on deck.
The rest of the time, there’s only one worker at the front to handle pick-ups and drop-offs, Moses said.
“So their wage-hours have been cut dramatically,” he said.
As long as the statewide stay-at-home order remains in effect, nobody is going on dates at nice restaurants or attending school dances.
“People just aren’t needing to dress as nicely as they normally would, and they don’t need the service of the cleaners,” Moses said.
Moses said his current volume of orders isn’t sustainable, but his business, which he has owned since 1993, isn’t going anywhere if he can help it.
“I made a promise to myself that I was going to keep the store open regardless of the volumes.”
Moses applied for the Small Business Administration’s paycheck protection program, but hasn’t heard anything back.
Carlos Lopez, owner of N&W Dry Cleaners off West Duval Street, said he used to get about 1,000 orders a week. Now it’s down to about 250, Lopez said.
“And that’s in a good week,” he added. “So we’ve been hit pretty hard.”
Lopez’s business has about 10 employees. He has also had to cut hours and only runs clothes through the process once there’s enough orders to justify the cost.
Customers are being told to expect a longer wait.
“They are understanding of the situation, and I’m very glad,” Lopez said. “If they’re not coming to bring their clothes, it’s going to be harder for me to keep the business open.”
There are still plenty of loyal customers who have stayed by his side, Lopez said.
“Clean clothes are an important part of our daily living,” he said.