From our archives we found a classic pic of Australia's first self-serve coin laundromat.
Built in 1962 by John Cameron's dad, it was a revolution in laundry at the time. It's easy to forget what things used to be like - the concept of a laundromat is so familiar we can't imagine what things were like without them.
At the time, home laundry was a hassle. Home dryers were very rare. Having said that, in some ways home laundry is more of a hassle these days... there are so many substandard and small capacity washers and dryers on the retail market. Not every one can build them like we do! Even our retail machines are built tough!
John Cameron is the owner of Speed Queen Equipment Sales who are the authorised distributor for Speed Queen in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territories. Like our other distributors Andrew Barton and FL Costello, John and his team have been in the business for decades. There is literally nothing they don't know about commercial laundry equipment!
Why don't people dress up to do their laundry anymore?
A sharp eye will have noticed the standard of dress in Mr Cameron Snr's laundromat. It is unlikely he promoted it as an activity for "date night", but if you swapped the washers and dryers for a bar and a piano, this could be a scene out of a 60's nightspot!
Needless to say, a dress code isn't required to do your laundry in an unattended laundrette these days... but maybe a hybrid date/laundry venue is something a future innovator in self-service laundries will bring to the market!
One thing that hasn't changed is that a clean, modern environment with available machines and plenty of parking, will always draw the crowds.
If you are thinking of setting up a laundrette business, then get in touch with the people who have been doing it for decades! We can advise on location, layout, coin vs cashless and marketing your business.
Want to know more about how Speed Queen machines can help?
