Wascomat Compass store making big waves in Long Beach!
 

  Their story began almost thirty years ago in China, when Benny Hong from Beijing and his wife from Hong Kong packed up their belongings and traveled by sea to the United States. The Hongs were hard workers and good savers—and their son Les grew up learning how to run a business. When Les and other family members were successful in the laundry business, it was only a matter of time before father and son decided to unite on a common project. Benny already owned some property and knew he had the perfect location for a new store. When a family friend recommended industry veteran David Fuller from Golden State Laundry Systems, everything started to fall into place.

“David Fuller and Golden State Laundry Systems helped us tremendously,” explains Les. “Building a modern coin laundry is a complex project and we knew we needed the help of a professional, reliable distributor. They worked hand-in-hand with us to get the store opened and well-designed, and we learned so much from their years of experience.”

David introduced Benny and Les to Wascomat’s Compass Control washers. He showed them how easy it is to customize wash cycles, temperature, and number of rinses, as well as how to satisfy customer needs and increase store revenue with the Heavy Soil and Extra Rinse option buttons.

“It was immediately obvious to us that the Hongs were professional laundry operators,” shares David. “From the beginning, they insisted on equipment that would consistently deliver superior results for their customers. Mr. Hong carefully researched all options before determining that Wascomat equipment would give him the savings and performance he required for many years, giving him a payback on his investment not possible with other equipment.”

The Highway Coin Laundry officially opened in December 2007, only months after construction began.

“The City of Long Beach carefully regulates the laundry industry as they enforce water and energy conservation measures,” states David. “We are convinced they approved this store’s construction because of the performance of the equipment.”

The Hongs are seeing fabulous results.  The store is absolutely beautiful with graphics of a city skyline along the walls, stainless steel Wascomat Compass washers and TD30x30 stack dryers, lots of folding areas and windows, comfortable seating, and TVs—and it’s meticulously maintained and staffed full-time. They are open daily from 5am-11pm and they offer wash-dry-fold services.

Clientele is growing every day. “Our customers love the new machines and the Spanish language display on the controls,” states Les. “Compass washers are simple to use and our customers have noticed the results. They like how their clothes are being washed, and they like the time they are saving in the dryers because of the higher 140 G-Force extraction. They tell me all the time how much they appreciate a clean facility with quality machines, fair pricing, and a safe environment.”

This father and son know how to keep their customers happy. “Just work hard!” states Benny. “Always remember that your customers keep you up and running, so be kindest to them and treat them right.” They also believe in pricing right and giving their customers the best value. “Running the laundry is fairly simple,” shares Les. “The only challenge we faced was setting the pricing in a very competitive market. But with new high-speed extraction washers and more efficient dryers, drying time is less and customers are in and out faster. It frees up folding tables, parking spaces and equipment.  We focus on good, fair pricing and not gimmicks like free drying that could hurt our business.”

“Their location is in a competitive coin laundry market,” states Golden State’s David Fuller. “They knew they had to provide the best wash and dry results, as well as service and good pricing, in order to draw customers in from other stores and get people who usually wash at home to start using their laundry. They are also environmentally sensitive and wanted to minimize their eco footprint, so the water and energy savings of Wascomat’s Compass Control washer and TD dryers made perfect sense.”

After seeing the results of using Wascomat’s Compass Control high-speed extraction washers and dryers in The Highway store, Les decided to retool his first store with new machines as well.

It’s a sound business decision. These new washers and dryers have quickly demonstrated they can increase store profits and keep utility costs as low as possible.

The customers find them easy to use and see the results in their clothing – while the store owner sees more money in their pockets, increased customer satisfaction, faster throughput in their store, and significant gas savings.

 Store location:

  The Highway Coin Laundry 

  3200 Pacific Coast Highway

  Long Beach, California

Dealer contacts:

  Mike Hurrell and David Fuller

  Golden State Laundry Systems

  (800)465-8300 / (310)223-2240

  www.gsls4laundry.com

Store Mix:

  Wascomat Washers and Dryers

  Compass Washers

  14 – SU620cc 20 lb.

  14 – SU630cc 30 lb.

  11 – SU640cc 40 lb.

  7 – SU655cc 55 lb.
 
  TD Dryers

  31 – TD30x30 30 lb. stacks
 
  3 – TD50 50 lb.