Are There Better Designs for Laundromats?

Unfortunately, most Laundromats are built into shopping that are already completed. The benefits of space requirements are often ignored and a poorly designed Laundromat is fitted into the wrong sized space. Not enough space means you disrupt adequate customer flow. Too much space and you end up paying too much money on unnecessary square footage throughout the term of your lease. For purposes of this post, building owners will have a less significant need of these Laundromat benefits, where the wasting of space can be more easily absorbed over time.

Following is a Laundromat design of a space that is 30 feet wide, with double entry doors, and a depth of 60 feet. Anything less than 30 feet wide would normally be unacceptable because it would be difficult to design a customer pathway with a minimum spacing of 6 feet. If it was any deeper it would take on the characteristics of a bowling alley.

Review of the customer requirements for this location.

  1. Big washers in abundance
  2. 45-LB stack dryers
  3. Area for fluff and fold services
  4. Adequate seating
  5. Tankless water heaters
  6. Two changers or card dispensers
  7. At least two super jumbo-sized washers

How the customer requirements were addressed.

  1. A burglary reinforced office area with rear loading machines, featuring a steel door. The entry is placed inside the wash and dry folding receiving area to save more space for the inclusion of dryers on the right side. Here the actual width will draw in the perceived width of the space by a curtain wall above the equipment and floor to ceiling walls on the remaining portion of the right-hand side. Which narrows the perceived customer area to 24 feet so proper placement of equipment that require a curtain wall needed to be carefully placed.
  2. The left-hand side is open to the ceiling all along the left side to maximize the width perception.
  3. The front door is a double door to provide easy access.
  4. Folding tables facing the customer service area are turned so customers using the folding tables located there are not blocking the flow of customers past this potential bottleneck.
  5. This store design is able to draw customers to the interior of the store. Here soda and vending face McDonalds type tables and chairs that also provide additional folding for handicapped customers and a convenient place to park children away from the front door.
  6. Above the central seating is a skylight to bring in natural light and create a more inviting area that also draws customers into the center of the store.
  7. Notice that the attendant that operates the fluff and fold portion of the business can easily exit and use four dryers, two jumbo washers and folding tables across from the customer service area.
  8. A 6-foot traffic lane is available throughout the front and center of the store. Designs that do not draw customers into the center and back of the store often see too frequent use of the washers located near the entry doors.
  9. Seating for 17 people is available as well as 13 folding tables, which are two of the most overlooked features that distributor designed stores often ignore.
  10. The design includes the placement of trash receptables, another often overlooked design feature that can result in the narrowing of customer movement in your store.

Proper design features that do not waste space mean more money going to the owner and less money going to the landlord. It is very important to review the designs of your Laundromat, including existing and new store development. I look forward to additional improvements and comments on proper designs by newbies and experienced owners on additional aspects that could be included. It’s necessary to avoid designs of distributors that strive to include the inclusion of too many washers and too few folding tables and seating. Look for quality and efficient designs and not more profit for the salespeople of the distributors and manufacturers. It’s your money, so design an appropriately sized store with adequate machines to service the demand of your marketing area.