One of the more difficult parts about owning a business during the COVID-19 pandemic is that there is no road map to help navigate the future. There’s no guidance on how to make the difficult decisions that need to be made and know what policies should be put in place for future success.
Leah Schulte and her business partner/brother Chris own Midtown Washboard in St. Charles, Missouri. The laundromat was operating for about a year and a half before COVID-19 hit.
“We thought laundry is a nice, solid investment,” Leah said about the reasoning behind going into the industry. Leah also works as a physical therapist when she’s not running the laundromat, and her brother Chris is a pilot. “We were thinking about this as an opportunity for a while, then this great location came up in St. Charles next to a grocery store, so we decided to go for it,” Leah said.
The far-reaching effects of COVID-19 weren’t the first adversities to affect Midtown Washboard, though. Leah said the business faced a series of challenges with the build-out and staff retention. “It’s par for the course for small business owners, but we have a good crew now and we’re enjoying each phase of the ride, as we’ve always been,” she said.
As the severity of COVID-19 became more apparent, the siblings took precautions, such as removing all kid’s toys, installing a shield in front of the cash register, minimizing staff’s handling of laundry, highly encouraging social distancing, reducing operating hours and providing multiple ways to disinfect surfaces, such as hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes. Staff also completed additional training to ensure cleanliness procedures were in place and diligently followed.
As COVID-19 restrictions and recommendations become more relaxed in some states, Schulte and Chris are taking precautions to set their business up for future success, in spite of any additional difficulties related to the pandemic. A few of those precautions include continuing to encourage social distancing and wearing face masks. They are also changing the layout of the store to provide more space between customers who choose to stay in the laundromat while their clothes are washing and drying.
“We’ll continue to wipe everything down regularly and customers can call us, and we’ll go out to their car to get their laundry,” Leah said. “We’re starting to gear up again to offer some pickup and delivery services, but we’ll make sure those are safe too.”
Leah said the business is starting to see more of its commercial customers return as businesses are beginning to operate again, but business is still down about 15 percent from pre-COVID-19 levels. To bring back customers, Midtown Washboard started a promotion on Wednesdays for $1 off and is running a coupon special for $5 off comforters for wash-dry- fold customers.
“It’s just the new normal,” she said. “We’re trying to adjust. Maybe our DIY customers will come in less frequently now, we’re not sure.”
Midtown Washboard is back to operating during its pre-COVID hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., but anyone who visits the location will notice a decrease in seating, locked bathrooms to encourage cleanliness and the Schultes will likely not bring back any of the kid’s toys, at least anytime soon. Leah mentioned that before the pandemic, the laundromat was already known for its cleanliness and sanitation efforts, and will continue to provide a clean, safe environment for its customers to wash and dry their clothes going forward.
“Some people have been disappointed they can’t just hang out and play on their phones anymore, and we have a different seating arrangement in the store,” Leah said. “We were well-known for our sanitation and cleanliness efforts before the pandemic, and we will continue to do that in the future. We all have to adapt and move forward while keeping ourselves and others safe.”
