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Speed Queen and Huebsch Integration with Wash-Dry-Fold POS — Transcript

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0:00Hello and welcome to the laundromat
0:02ownership podcast. I'm your host Ian
0:04Galahan. Me and my business partner
0:06Brian Henderson own three laundromats in
0:08the Tulsa, Oklahoma area called Liberty
0:11Laundry. In 2025, those laundromats did
0:14$2.5 million in revenue, topline
0:17revenue. We're also the owners and
0:19founders of the original point of sale
0:21system for laundromats, Wash Dry, Fold
0:23POS, sometimes abbreviated as WDFPOS.
0:28Today I'm going to be playing an episode
0:30for you from our friends at Alliance.
0:33Now Alliance owns Speed Queen and Hips,
0:36which are two of the largest
0:39brands in the manufacturing space um for
0:42actual commercial washers and dryers
0:45inside of the laundromats. They're about
0:48a $5 billion company. Um just went
0:50public recently. And this episode they
0:54talk a little bit about our story. So if
0:56you want to know more about us, but then
0:58also we talk specifically about the
1:01integrations that we've built and we
1:03were actually the first to build these
1:04integrations with Alliance and they are
1:06what we call machine start integrations
1:09and that means when your attendants need
1:11to start the machines to do the wash
1:13dryfold orders, they can just uh start
1:16those machines from the point of sale
1:18system and it really works in
1:21cooperation with the software that they
1:23have. that gives you a lot more data
1:25points, but it also really the probably
1:27the best purpose of it or the main
1:28purpose of it is that it helps prevent
1:32employee theft. Uh because when with our
1:34system, you can then see on the back end
1:37how much those employees have spent for
1:40those wash fold orders. And that allows
1:42you to ensure that they're not starting
1:44machines for friends and family um or
1:47for a little side business that that we
1:49know attendants like to start without
1:51our uh our knowledge or approval. We
1:54we'll basically be talking a little bit
1:55about past but also a little bit about
1:58uh the technology that we've built
2:00together. And if you have Speed Queen or
2:02Hitch in your stores, especially if you
2:04have the any of the new quantum machines
2:06or you're thinking about getting the new
2:07quantum machines, this would probably be
2:11a good episode to listen to as we dive
2:13into all the functionality, the cross
2:15functionality that Alliance Insights has
2:17with wash dryfold poss. And without
2:20further ado, here's our friend Randy
2:22Radkey from Alliance.
2:29Welcome to the Laundry Nerd Podcast,
2:32where laundry nerds unite. I'm your
2:34host, Randy Radkey. Wash, dry, full.
2:37Let's face it, if you're not doing it,
2:39you're missing out on a major revenue
2:41stream. You're tapping into a customer
2:44base that's probably not in your
2:46immediate laundromat area. So,
2:50tremendous upside, and I think that's
2:52why we've seen such growth in watch
2:54fold, pick up, and delivery. But for
2:56those folks that aren't doing it, I get
2:58it. It's a major undertaking and really
3:01like anything else, it's all about the
3:03systems that allow you to do it
3:05efficiently and well. And with that in
3:09mind, we've brought a couple of the
3:11experts in wash fold, co-founders of
3:15Wash Drive Fold POS, Ian Galahhan and
3:17Brian Henderson. Welcome to the show,
3:19gentlemen.
3:20>> Hey, thanks for having us. Yeah, thanks.
3:23super excited to talk about this because
3:25again I think I feel like the folks that
3:28aren't doing it aren't doing it for a
3:30reason. There's there's so much to it
3:31and you want to have the right systems
3:33in place. So I guess starting out uh
3:36tell us a little bit about Washite Fold
3:38POS. How long you've been in business?
3:40How did you guys get started?
3:42>> Yeah, we um we're actually just this
3:44month coming up on our 10th anniversary
3:46as a company. Uh my family was in
3:49laundromats. Uh my dad built his first
3:51store, Liberty Laundry, in Broken Arrow,
3:53Oklahoma, back in 2005. So I've been in
3:57the industry for about 20 years now. saw
4:00a need in the industry for a technology
4:03company focused just on laundromat
4:05specifically through the point of sale
4:07system as kind of the main entry point
4:09but really more as a platform for modern
4:13technology tools for managing modern
4:16laundromats and realized deployed cell
4:19system was the best way to do that and
4:21the best way to help other owners was to
4:23create a company to provide that product
4:25to be kind of a one-stop shop so kind of
4:28put it the feelers out there and made
4:30our first sale in February 2016 and very
4:35quickly through messaging on the CLA's
4:39online forums and things like that and
4:41talking to other owners at industry
4:44events had a long list of leads that I
4:48personally couldn't possibly get to
4:49because I was still busy running my
4:50family's three laundromats and met Ian
4:54at a local entrepreneur meetup type of
4:58place the a few months prior basically
5:00and we had become quick friends and
5:02we're playing tennis regularly and I
5:04knew I wanted to exhibit at the clean
5:06show in 2017 and so I asked Ian if maybe
5:09he would come on and start taking some
5:11some sales calls and helping me to build
5:13this thing out and he learned the
5:16industry so quickly and was able to help
5:19these owners with their needs so fast as
5:22if he had been in the industry his whole
5:25life that he quickly became my business
5:27partner. and a co-founder of the
5:30company. So, yeah, that was mid mid
5:322016, wasn't it, Ian?
5:33>> Oh, yeah. Yeah, I remember it fondly.
5:36>> This idea comes to you, Ian. Hey, let's
5:39do technology and laundromats. What's
5:41your what's your first reaction to to
5:43this idea?
5:44>> You know, when I think about this, I
5:47think about you. We were playing tennis
5:48because we kind of became friends at
5:50this, you know, entrepreneurship event.
5:52And
5:52>> that's where all good companies start,
5:53right? On the tennis court.
5:55>> Right. Right. We Well, one day he was
5:57like, "Hey, my family's laundry mat was
6:00uh featured I think I think it was on
6:02the cover of this magazine called Planet
6:05Laundry." I was like, "That's hilarious.
6:06That's a good joke." And he was like,
6:07"No, no, no. There's
6:08>> no It's literally called that.
6:10>> There's really a magazine called Planet
6:12Laundry and my family's laundry mat was
6:14really on the cover." And I was like,
6:14"Are you kid?" Like, it's funny because
6:16like once when you're in laundry for a
6:19while, you realize there's a whole
6:20industry. There's a whole thing around
6:22it. But if you don't go to laundry mats
6:25regularly and someone tells you that
6:26there's like a laundromat magazine and
6:29that they were on the cover, it sounds
6:31it sounds kind of far-fetched, but then
6:33um you know, it's just funny kind of
6:35looking back on that how uh you know, 10
6:38years later that's really all I'm doing
6:40is is laundry stuff. So, so my my the
6:44times have changed, but uh I do remember
6:45that moment and thinking that like I
6:48just thought this was like, you know,
6:49just like some little asset that someone
6:51has and on the side and it, you know,
6:53you you just don't think about how
6:55there's a whole efficiency game and
6:57there's real money to be made and it's a
6:59real business just like just like
7:01anything else, you know. I'm sure
7:02everything else is like that, but um
7:04unless you've really spent some time to
7:05to investigate it, then uh it it almost
7:08sounded uh yeah, it sounded funny to me.
7:10But um well it's funny telling people
7:12especially when we first got started
7:13that yeah I'm making a technology
7:15company for laundromats and usually the
7:17response you get is I didn't know
7:19laundromats needed technology I didn't
7:20know they had
7:21>> I feel like the outside the outsers's
7:24reaction would be like well you're going
7:25to do that over the weekend.
7:27>> Yeah. It's like yeah oh computers for
7:28laundromats good luck with that you know
7:30or uh I shortly after I created the
7:33company I went to a few trade
7:35association meetings for uh retail
7:38solutions providers. So, companies that
7:40make point of sale systems for all sorts
7:42of industries and uh credit card
7:44processing and payment solution
7:45technologies and all that and talking to
7:48these people about my startup and the
7:50thing I'm doing and they would look at
7:51me like I was nuts and say, "Well, why
7:53don't you go focus on convenience
7:54stores? Why don't you focus on grocery
7:56stores or liquor stores?" And it's like,
7:58"Well, first of all, I know laundromats.
8:01And secondly, I know no one's currently
8:03serving this market, so that's why I'm
8:06going to focus on that." And even when
8:08we first started down this path, Ian and
8:10I when we were trying to figure out the
8:13total addressable market, you know, what
8:15types of laundromats would need our
8:16solutions, how many laundromats are
8:18there in the country, and where we'll go
8:19with all of that, we thought that maybe
8:22once we had maxed out this vertical,
8:24maybe we go look at other verticals. But
8:26here we are 10 years later and we're an
8:29inch wide and a mile deep. You know, we
8:31realize that there's just so much more
8:33to go with laundromats. And so now, not
8:36only do we serve laundromats in all 50
8:38states around the country, over,200
8:40systems sold to date, uh we also own
8:43those three laundromats that belong to
8:45my parents who purchased those back in
8:472023. And so now we run both companies.
8:49And so now we're on both sides of it,
8:51not only creating solutions for the
8:53industry, but also owning our own
8:55stores. And it's this great virtuous
8:58cycle of improving both sides at the
9:00same time.
9:01>> Yeah. I I want to kind of dig into that
9:03a little bit because you have technology
9:05companies out there that get involved in
9:08spaces, they learn about the industry,
9:10and then they come up with solutions.
9:12But you guys have a different take
9:13because you're in the business. So, how
9:16does that guide your business different
9:19than maybe another company that's coming
9:22at it from a different angle that has to
9:23learn it all?
9:26Well, certainly the marketing is easier
9:28in terms of we know exactly who we're
9:29talking to because he's me, you know, or
9:32he's my dad, you know, that that kind of
9:34I know the problems you're running into
9:36and I have these solutions because I've
9:39already used them in our own stores.
9:41We're not a solution in search of a
9:43problem. It's like we ran into this
9:44ourselves, came up with solutions,
9:47worked great, tried sharing this
9:49information for years with other owners.
9:52In fact, I was even a guest speaker at
9:54the Clean show in Atlanta in 2015 to a
9:57standing room only audience uh about a
10:00presentation about some of the
10:01technology that we use for running
10:03Liberty Laundry and some of the results
10:05we've gotten. And so it's a very hungry
10:06audience and giving this information
10:09away and showing people in articles for
10:12trade magazines and on forums literally
10:14step by step walking people through it,
10:17it still wasn't enough to solve it for
10:21them. Uh it was just a bridge too far.
10:23And so I realized that creating a
10:25company, creating a product to deliver
10:28that just does all this for you, it's
10:30it's all together. Here it is. here's
10:31the one-stop shop solution was the way
10:34to help them with that. Yes, of course,
10:36it was to be profitable and and be self-
10:39sustaining on its own merits, but it was
10:42very much here's the vehicle to help
10:44these other launch mat owners. And
10:45that's the origin of that. And from
10:48there, you know, that was the initial
10:50seed of the idea, but then every single
10:52feature and the way we've packaged
10:55everything has come from that real
10:57feedback from real launchment owners who
10:59are trying to accomplish these things in
11:01their stores and saying, could you just
11:04or I wish you could, you know, dot dot
11:06dot, I wish you could. I wish that the
11:08credit card processing was integrated. I
11:10wish the weight scale was integrated. I
11:12wish this would message customers
11:14automatically as soon as their laundry
11:15is ready. I wish I could see which
11:17attendant handed out an order when it
11:19was finished. Uh I wish I could track
11:21the machine starts that were used and
11:23and it's like, oh yeah, those are great
11:25ideas.
11:27And then uh one of the big ones was I
11:28wish it was cloud-based so that I could
11:30access this from any store,
11:32>> right? Right. So it was in 2020 when we
11:35rolled out our complete revamp of our
11:38software that we built entirely in house
11:40uh that was cloud-based and that was a
11:42clear inflection point for us kind of
11:44that midway mark of the company you know
11:46so far about kind of our journey. That's
11:49when we we really ramped up and and have
11:52grown several times larger since that
11:54point in time because it was it was a
11:56good sustainable profitable business
11:58that was helping people along the way
12:00from 2016 to 2020. But it was when we
12:04launched that cloud-based version of our
12:06software that we've just kind of
12:08exploded in growth.
12:09>> I want to back up to that starting point
12:11again just for a second. I feel like
12:13Brian was in the laundry one day and
12:16said, "You know what? I'm sick and tired
12:18of XYZ. I'm going to design a smooth. It
12:21had to be a pain point. So, what was
12:23like the top pain point that you hit?
12:26You're like, you know what?
12:28>> There has to be a better way. And this
12:30idea was born.
12:31>> It's that is almost literally how it
12:34went. I can clearly remember the day I
12:38was working a shift. This is before I
12:40ever started watch years before. We were
12:43one of the very first laundromats in the
12:45nation. and maybe the first in Oklahoma,
12:47I don't know, to add credit card
12:48acceptance for self-service on washers
12:51and dryers and uh literally just paying
12:54at the machines. And I remember working
12:56a shift at the store. It was a long day
12:59and feeling frustration that if a
13:03customer purchased a laundry, you know,
13:06loyalty card for self-service for
13:09washers and dryers, they couldn't pay at
13:12our register because we there was no
13:13integration available for that system at
13:15that time. And that clear thought of,
13:18man, I wish this stuff was all talking
13:19to each other because your customer is
13:21your customer. And if they're a self-s
13:22served customer now, maybe they want to
13:24be a drop off laundry customer some
13:26other time, but if their money is siloed
13:28away on the separate payment system, how
13:31can you build that bridge between that?
13:33And then extended along that same lines
13:36of thoughts is all the different
13:38disperate systems needed to run a modern
13:41laundromat. At that time, we were using
13:43maybe seven or eight different software
13:45programs to manage all these different
13:47parts of the business and just that
13:50desire to just bring it all into one
13:52place. Certainly, so I don't have to
13:53train my attendants to remember their
13:56username and password for five or six
13:58different programs. Good luck with that.
14:00That's tedious and painful. If they
14:02could just remember one fourdigit number
14:05that they use like say for the alarm
14:07system and for the register system you
14:09know that kind of thing then that's a
14:10lot more realistic. And then lastly that
14:14realization
14:16that the point of sale system is kind of
14:17that central touch point for the
14:19business. A lot of things revolve around
14:22that. Attendants have access to that
14:24daily. It's an internet connected
14:26device, so I can push updates to it and
14:30kind of all rolled together into to one
14:34thought there.
14:35>> Now, I want to I want to dig in to the
14:37system itself. And Ian, I'm going to ask
14:40you to put your your sales hat on. I'm a
14:43customer and I'm looking at a variety of
14:46systems. What separates Wash Drive Fold
14:49POS from others on the market? sell me
14:52on on the features and what you guys
14:54bring to the table that others cannot.
14:56>> Yeah, I appreciate you asking that. So,
14:59it's funny. I feel like in other
15:01industries you might have to like make
15:02some huge spreadsheet and like really
15:04think really hard about this, but in the
15:07laundry industry it's literally usually
15:10either in the name or in the logo or in
15:14like the H1, which is like, you know,
15:15like what's the main thing it says on
15:17the website. You know what I mean? And
15:20that really tells you a lot about the
15:23company. So I always joke that we don't
15:25have the most creative name. It's wash
15:27dryfold posos. It's a point of sale for
15:30for doing wash dryfold. And I've talked
15:33to people that have maybe tried other
15:35things that are maybe based more around
15:38maybe dry cleaning or delivery or, you
15:42know, maybe it's something that, you
15:43know, they're trying to revolutionize
15:45the industry and kind of like take
15:47advantage of the gig economy or do
15:48something different. And then they'll
15:51use our system and they're like, "This
15:53is like half the cost and it's so much
15:56better than everything else out there.
15:58Like what? How did I not know about you
16:00guys? Or how have I not used you guys?
16:03And it's like, well, it's not so much
16:05that like we're just half the cost and
16:08twice as good as everything at
16:09everything. That's that's not really the
16:11case. The case is we're literally the
16:13only ones who have been trying to solve
16:17problems format owners for 10 years
16:19straight now for actual in the store
16:22laundromat versus everyone else has come
16:24at it. And it's, you know, this isn't a
16:26secret. You can just go on their
16:27websites. It's originally for dry
16:30cleaners or it's originally for delivery
16:32or it's originally to revolutionize the
16:35industry. No one else has come at it
16:37from the perspective of you have some
16:40problems running the laundromat that you
16:43already run. Wash, dry, fold is
16:45complicated. Anything that can go wrong
16:48will go wrong. And there really is only
16:50one company that has made it their goal
16:52and their mission statement to solve
16:55those problems, you know, at an
16:57affordable price point. I would just
16:59tell people, you know, we're half the
17:00price. We're twice as good at instore
17:03laundromat point of sale. Now, that
17:05doesn't make us twice as good or half
17:07the price at everything. And in fact, I
17:10I I do recommend people that
17:11>> we're working on it.
17:12>> Yeah. Well, some things we're working
17:15on, but for example, if you own a dry
17:17cleaner and you're like, "Hey, I own a
17:18dry cleaner. Sell me on the system." And
17:20I've had people say this, it really
17:22throws them off when I'm like, "No, no,
17:24no. Just go buy Cleoud. They're great."
17:25Like, you you like Clean Cloud. It's
17:27built for dry cleaners. That's what you
17:29need if you have a dry cleaner. And so,
17:32we do refer people to other systems. If
17:35you say, "Hey, Ian, I have a
17:36laundromat." And especially if you were
17:38to say I have the, you know, the inside
17:40system, then I would I would love to
17:42sell you on our system, but I'm not
17:44going to try and make a square peg fit
17:46into a round hole. It's kind of one of
17:48those deals where we're the best for in
17:50store Laundromat POS. It's in our name.
17:52It's on our website. It's so evident in
17:55the software. And once you understand
17:57that, you can kind of look at the other
17:59softwares and be like, oh, this is
18:00actually built more for XYZ than it is
18:04built for, hey, how do I train a
18:0765year-old lady that has never used
18:10point of sale software before? How do I
18:12train her how to, you know, run the
18:13laundromat when I'm not there? We're the
18:15only one that has really focused in on
18:17that problem and solved for that
18:19problem. Then everyone else has kind of
18:21added that on to what they sell. And I
18:24don't think that's a bad or negative
18:26thing about those companies. It's just
18:27that we've really uniquely gone after
18:29that one issue. And I think everyone
18:31else has gone after a different issue
18:33and then maybe added on the wash strike
18:35poss if that makes sense.
18:37>> Tied into that is laundromats. You're
18:40you're managing a fleet of equipment uh
18:43washers and dryers and you're asking
18:45about what are those things that drove
18:47me into building our own software. our
18:49equipment problem log keeping track of
18:51when machines are out of service and and
18:54all that too. We built that into Watch
18:56Fold PS such that if an attendant needs
18:58to flag a machine out of order, it'll
19:00send me uh or the you know the
19:02launchment owner or technician an email
19:05right away with details about what's
19:07going on with that equipment, why they
19:08tend to flag it out of service, and then
19:10when a technician repairs equipment,
19:12then it can also notify you about the
19:14what the fix was. And hope I'm not
19:17jumping the gun too much, Randy, but
19:18when Alliance approached us and said,
19:21"We're thinking about making an API
19:23available that communicates directly
19:26with the equipment," we jumped at that
19:28because we already had the
19:29infrastructure in our software of
19:32managing your washers and dryers and
19:35also tracking which machines are used
19:37for drop off laundry orders. And so if
19:39we could then close the loop of actually
19:41having direct communication with washers
19:44and dryers, we already had all the
19:46infrastructure in place on our side. So
19:48it was actually a very straightforward
19:50thing to start communicating with it and
19:52it fit right in with what we were doing.
19:54>> Are other companies doing that? Because
19:56I I know this has typically been
19:58something that's siloed, right?
19:59Equipment manufacturers like like us
20:01typically are averse to opening up that
20:06architecture. it just it's always been
20:08the way it is. So, is that changing or
20:10is this kind of a unique situation that
20:12was presented?
20:13>> I hope it's changing
20:16because I I have approached other
20:18equipment manufacturers before who have
20:20who have some, you know, technology
20:22systems already of their own for
20:25communicating with their machines asking
20:27if there's any chance of, you know,
20:30external communication with that
20:31equipment. And I've been met with a flat
20:33no before. or if we did talk with
20:36somebody on their team thinking of a
20:38different manufacturer, their
20:40development team was so hostile to
20:43talking to anybody, it was clear that
20:46the leadership team was not talking to
20:48the product development team and each
20:50had their own agendas. And so to hear
20:53kind of a more unified voice from uh the
20:55alliance team saying, "Hey, we want to
20:58make this available and also here's all
21:01these controls." It was it was very much
21:03a dream come true. We have Speed Queen
21:06washers and dryers in our own
21:08laundromats and so I knew I would be
21:10able to test this firsthand uh as we
21:13were building it out. So no, to date uh
21:16really it's just been Alliance who's
21:19been on the leading edge of making this
21:20type of direct control of the machines
21:23and interaction with the machines
21:25available no one else has. For someone
21:28who's not very techy,
21:31what does this mean? So, I own a
21:32laundromat.
21:34I've got wash, dry, fold. I'm going to
21:36offer wash, dry, fold. What does this
21:38bring to me? Like, what what are the top
21:41features that are game changers for me
21:43now with API?
21:45>> What I've seen Alliance store owners
21:49when they are on the sales call with me,
21:52they typically already have something in
21:54mind that they want, right? And so
21:56they're they're already asking me like,
21:58I know what exactly what I need. Do you
21:59have it? Yes or no? And the first
22:01question that we typically get is, okay,
22:04I've got the Alliance Insights program
22:08and I've got someone who just doesn't
22:09want to download the app. Maybe they're
22:11a little older or maybe they just don't
22:13like new apps on their phone or whatever
22:15it is, but they want to start the washer
22:18or dryer using their credit card. And if
22:21you don't have the wash drive full POSOS
22:24program, then you don't really have a
22:26way of like the way ours works is you
22:29can literally just set the machine to
22:31the settings you want it, including the
22:32upsales or or whatever, you know,
22:35settings you want on that washer and
22:37then you can just accept payment for
22:39starting that washer at the point of
22:42sale system. Uh we even have a a system
22:44where you could go walk over to them and
22:46and take their credit card so they don't
22:48even have to come to the counter if they
22:49don't want. But you can start that
22:51machine for them and just pay for it
22:54through the point of sale system. And
22:56then it actually sends that exact amount
22:58that you used to start the machine to
23:02the machine. So if you, you know, if
23:04they paid you $12, they can't go start a
23:07$14 load, they'd be $2 short, right? So
23:09it's actually sending $12 worth of start
23:11value to that machine through the point
23:13of sale system. And that's usually the
23:15the number one problem that they're
23:17trying to solve is, hey, I love the
23:19insights. I love the app, but some
23:21people just won't use the app, but they
23:23still, you know, want to start the
23:26machine with their credit card. Can you
23:28solve for that? You know, that's the
23:29easiest one to say yes, it's designed
23:32specifically to do that. But then once
23:34you really get to talk to and there's a
23:36lot of other really big benefits like it
23:38starts the machines for the wash dry
23:40fold attendance when they're doing the
23:42orders when they're doing the wash dry
23:43fold and then it actually keeps track of
23:45efficiencies. So you could look at all
23:47your staff and say okay this person uh
23:50their vend value to amount processed
23:53ratio is like you know it's usually like
23:5537% in most of the stores I've talked to
23:57that are like keeping track of it. So,
23:58if you do $100 worth of wash, drive fold
24:01orders, you'd have $37 worth of machine
24:04starts. And that that might be higher or
24:06less in your market, but it allows you
24:08then to track efficiencies and make sure
24:10your employees aren't starting machines
24:12for self-s served customers or doing
24:15something kind of on the side. So
24:16there's a lot of employee theft
24:18preventions and drives efficiencies and
24:19all that, but usually the first question
24:21we get is just can I use my credit card
24:24to start a machine at the point of sale
24:25system and it works with insights
24:28seamlessly and and appropriately.
24:30>> Sure.
24:30>> I'll give you an example real world.
24:32This is um this is actually Randy the
24:35last time I saw you at a local
24:37distributor event and I had a customer
24:41of ours out of Missouri, Philip, who
24:43approached us who has Speed Queen
24:45Insights in his store and he has washold
24:47POS, but he didn't want his team, his
24:50attendants to be using different
24:52software programs for starting the
24:54machines and all of that. And so he had
24:56insights in his store, but his
24:58attendants were using quarters for
25:00starting washers and dryers. They were
25:01literally pulling cash from the cash
25:02drawer to go start washers and dryers
25:04for drop off laundry orders. He enabled
25:06the insights API connection with this
25:09wash drive fold POS system. And now as
25:11his attendants are tracking drop off
25:14laundry orders on the wash drive fold
25:16POS order tracker screen and they're
25:18reporting which washers and dryers were
25:20used for a drop off laundry order.
25:22That's also the literal way that they're
25:24starting the washers and dryers now. and
25:27he said it's been a gamecher for his
25:29store in that he doesn't have to worry
25:31about attendants pocketing the cash and
25:34you know lying about which machines were
25:36used or he also doesn't have to worry
25:39about his attendants forgetting to say
25:40which machines they used for a drop off
25:42laundry order because that's like Ian
25:44said before washold can be fraught with
25:47troubles if you don't have the right
25:49systems to monitor everything and so the
25:52way the attendants are reporting which
25:54washers and dryers are used for drop
25:56offline laundry order. Making that the
25:58but also the literal way that they're
26:00sending the start commands to those
26:02washers and dryers so they can't forget.
26:04They literally can't forget to say which
26:05machines they used for drop off order.
26:07It just helps close that loop. Great for
26:09reporting and accountability and all of
26:11that.
26:12>> What's been the process in connecting
26:15the two systems? Again, I'm I'm not
26:17overly techy, so maybe connecting isn't
26:19exactly the word, but what has been the
26:21process to bringing this all together?
26:24Is it, wow, they flipped the switch and
26:25we flipped the switch and now things are
26:27talking and we fine-tune it. Is it a lot
26:29of back and forth? Is there a ton of
26:31feedback going back and forth? What's
26:33the process look like? Sounds like a
26:35decade of work to me, the non- techy
26:37guy.
26:39So well it helped that we had like I
26:41mentioned before we had a lot of the
26:42infrastructure in place already in our
26:44software kind of in anticipation of this
26:48one day becoming available with
26:51different payment systems out there and
26:52with different hardware manufacturers.
26:54It's been my hope and dream for a long
26:56time to be able to be the glue that
26:58helps tie all these different things
26:59together. There's two sides of it.
27:01There's the development side of making
27:03everything work and then for the end
27:05user, for the launch owner, how to get
27:06these things working together. For the
27:09launch owner themselves, it's very
27:10straightforward. You get this thing
27:12that's called a a key, an API
27:14credential. It's it looks like a super
27:16long password with all sorts of crazy
27:18numbers and letters and all that. And we
27:20have tutorials on our website about how
27:21to get that key from alliance for your
27:24store and then copying and pasting into
27:26your store settings and watch us. That's
27:29about it. You would then go through and
27:32just make sure that the list of
27:34equipment that's coming from Alliance
27:36for your store, whether you have Hitch
27:37or Speed Queen equipment, uh, matches
27:40the the list of washers and dryers you
27:42have in your wash fold possible,
27:47very straightforward. So, it's it's
27:49really just kind of one step to get
27:51these things talking with each other.
27:52>> Is this still in pilot phase or is this
27:54a current offering for you guys?
27:56>> Oh, it's live. Yeah, it was it was just
27:59a I say a week or two before the clean
28:02show in Orlando uh August of 2025 that
28:06Alliance gave the stamp of approval that
28:08they had all their ducks in a row to go
28:10live with this. We've we've had it in
28:12testing for about a year before that
28:14time. We've been testing it since August
28:16of 2024, but it was it was August of
28:182025 when it went officially live. And
28:22it was a lot of fun at the clean show to
28:25be able to announce that we were the
28:26first point of sale system to have this
28:28this deep integration with these washers
28:30and dryers.
28:32>> Sharon Brinks deserves a little bit of
28:33credit for uh helping us the whole year
28:36before it went live. Sharon was being
28:39the guinea pig at her store
28:41>> laundry station to a couple of stores in
28:44in the Witchaw Kansas area
28:46>> and she was kind involved in it.
28:49anything new. I feel like Sharon's she's
28:51in. Like it's not even a thought, hey,
28:53we want to do this. I'm in.
28:55>> She gets props for helping make the
28:58connection between the alliance uh
29:00leadership team and why should I fold
29:02POS of saying, "Hey, here is a company I
29:05really want you guys to work with. Can
29:07you please help make this happen?" And
29:08just connecting the right people at the
29:10right time.
29:11>> And it was nice having someone actually
29:13use it like in a live store and then
29:15giving us feedback like, "Hey, it works.
29:18It's good." but here's how I use it and
29:21can you put this button here or can you
29:23make it do this little thing and she's
29:25been you know a customer of ours for a
29:27long time. So she's helped you know even
29:29with the point of sale side of things on
29:30on that kind of feedback especially with
29:33something that I think again when it
29:35gets back to like what sets your your
29:37software apart from competitors. Well,
29:39we actually had a live customer using it
29:41for a year. Like we were actually, you
29:43know, the development team that was
29:45helping implement this for quite some
29:48time before it was even public. We were
29:50actually kind of that that bridge
29:52between uh Alliance and the point of
29:54sale system and kind of trying to get
29:56feedback from people actually using it
29:59in a real store and then uh developing
30:02it accordingly. Um so usability, I
30:05guess, is what I'm trying to say is
30:06pretty important. has been helpful in
30:08that.
30:08>> And on the development side, I do want
30:10to compliment the Alliance digital
30:12product team on their documentation and
30:16ease of implementation. Uh it's it's
30:18been very impressive just how thoroughly
30:21documented the different functionalities
30:23are and here's how you make this do
30:26that. You know, it was uh I I am the
30:29lead developer for Washold POS. We have
30:31other team members now. We've grown over
30:33time, but uh I was the one taking the
30:35lead on this particular project and it
30:38was it was real pleasant. Shout out to
30:40Q, your digital produ products manager.
30:43Uh he's the one I've had the most
30:45interaction with. It it seems
30:46appropriate. You got somebody whose
30:47nickname is Q. Uh doing the technology
30:51stuff, but um just the communication on
30:54the actual functionality of this
30:56connection was very smooth and uh very
30:59pleasant. Will you continue to add
31:02functionalities and features to it or we
31:05hey the systems are connected we can do
31:07anything we want now like is it does it
31:09continue to develop or is it done
31:13>> something I've learned from industry
31:15veterans Steve Marcenetti of CCI and
31:18Michael Shance of Cedatic Spiderwash and
31:21all that and and others who build tech
31:24software and technology for the
31:25laundromat industry is that development
31:27is never done and that's a good thing.
31:29It means that you can keep on improving
31:32forever and uh we have wonderful
31:34customers like Sharon brings he gives us
31:36feedback on a regular basis and saying I
31:39wish it did this I wish it did that. So
31:41we do have some additional features that
31:43we're planning on building. The cool
31:46thing about the alliance uh insights and
31:48hips command API is that there are a lot
31:52of features available, a lot of
31:56functionality uh involving checking on
31:58the status of equipment and cycles and
32:01and just all sorts of stuff. So, we have
32:05plenty more that we can add and uh we
32:07are looking for active feedback from
32:09current customers about uh work what
32:11works well for you or what other things
32:12do you wish it did and going from there.
32:15Yeah, development never finishes. So, I
32:17have plenty more to do.
32:18>> I thought that would be the answer,
32:20>> but yeah, but but the the good news
32:23>> we're done. We're going to take the year
32:24off now.
32:24>> Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, that too. No, the
32:26the good news is the integrations we
32:29have now are usable and you do get value
32:33out of it and if you already have
32:34insights in your store and if you
32:36already have a wash drive full POS
32:37system or if you want to get one let
32:39know um then you can get value out of it
32:42immediately. You don't have to wait for
32:44further development. the key features of
32:46that starting machines from receiving
32:49payment at the register or starting
32:51machines from the order tracker for drop
32:53off laundry orders that's already there.
32:56We also have another screen that's
32:58called machine controls in our software
33:00if you have this integration connected
33:02where say someone uses a dryer and then
33:06they're finished with it and there's 25
33:07minutes left on the dryer for whatever
33:09reason and maybe you just want to clear
33:11off the amount of time on that dryer so
33:14that way somebody else doesn't come in
33:15and get a free dryer. You can in our
33:17software if you have this integration,
33:19you can literally pull up that dryer and
33:20just say clear and it will it'll clear
33:23off the time on that dryer. So you don't
33:24have to go do the take the electronics
33:26of the dryer out and push the right
33:28buttons and put it back in place and all
33:30that. You don't have to mess with that
33:31at all. You just literally just pull it
33:33up on the register, select it, and clear
33:34it. And now the time's back to zero on
33:36there. At the opening of the show, I
33:39mentioned that there's there's probably
33:41folks out there that are not doing wash,
33:42dry, fold, pickup, and delivery, and
33:44maybe it's in the back of their mind.
33:47You guys have a unique perspective.
33:48Obviously, you're working with us on the
33:50system side, but you have this
33:51perspective of you worked on the
33:53laundromat side. You knew what the pain
33:54points were. So, if I'm talking to that
33:57person who's on the fence and and they
33:59see the revenue stream, but they're
34:01they're a little bit uh feeling a little
34:03bit daunted by implementing and getting
34:05the systems in place. What advice do you
34:07have for someone?
34:09>> You know what's crazy is so I recently
34:12started a podcast called the Laundromat
34:15Ownership Podcast and you are absolutely
34:17invited to be on the show Randy if you'd
34:20like to be.
34:20>> I love it. I'm
34:22>> as is anyone from Alliance to come on
34:24and talk. Yeah. I actually the very
34:27first episode we did was how and why to
34:31add wash dry fold to your existing
34:33laundromat which you know that's very
34:35niche. I'm not just saying like, hey, go
34:37buy a laundromat and then add wash, dry,
34:38fold. What I'm saying is, let's say
34:40you've got a self-s served laundromat
34:42and you're thinking about adding wash,
34:44dry, fold. You know, what do you really
34:47need and why would you even do it? And I
34:50think that episode, you know, really
34:51goes in depth and answers all the
34:53questions, but I will give you just like
34:55the the really short answer. You need a
34:59little bit of space. So, you need to
35:00have at least some space to put a
35:02counter and store the clothes that are
35:05completed but not yet returned to the
35:07customer. So, you need about 100 100 to
35:09200 square ft of space in your
35:11laundromat. And then, as far as why
35:13would you do it, I think it's probably
35:15more apparent to people who have owned
35:17laundromats longer. But when you have
35:20someone in the store, I mean, there's a
35:23reason your insurance is lower, right?
35:25you're you're actually lowering your
35:27liability on your investments there. So,
35:29they can watch the machines, make sure
35:30they're not abused. They can keep, you
35:32know, riffraff or unsaavory things from
35:35happening in your laundromat, right? You
35:38know, they're kind of the babysitters,
35:40but do you want to pay for a babysitter
35:42to be there all day? No. Not if they
35:44could pay for themselves with wash, dry,
35:46fold. And of course, with our
35:48laundromats, uh, Liberty Laundry is the
35:50name of our chain of laundromats. the
35:52three stores we do over 700,000 worth of
35:55wash fold annually. So it can be more
35:59revenue than than you know just the
36:02staffing needs. However, the way I think
36:05of it is you need someone in your
36:07laundromat to literally put out the
36:10fires when they happen to literally make
36:12sure that your self-s served customers
36:15are taken care of. And I've just never,
36:17you know, I've talked to about 3,000
36:20laundromat owners. We've sold over 1,200
36:22of our point of sale systems and to have
36:25all those phone calls. You talk a lot
36:27about revenue and I've just never talked
36:29to someone who does over 500,000 self-s
36:32served revenue, which we do over that,
36:34you know, in at least one of our stores.
36:36But to really grow your self-s serve
36:38revenue, you essentially have to offer
36:40wash dry fold because the laundromats
36:43that have the fully attended for wash
36:45dry fold, they're the ones that grow the
36:48self-s served revenue the fastest. They
36:49get the most Google reviews. They get
36:51the least onestar reviews. They're the
36:54cleanest because the attendants can
36:56clean if there's any mess on the spot
36:57like right after it happens. They're
36:59just better laundromats. They outperform
37:02laundromats that are self-s serve only
37:05and they outperform those laundromats by
37:07having the attendants there. So that's
37:09the real reason in my view is to grow
37:11your revenue across the board. But if
37:14you don't want to just pay for those
37:15attendants out of pocket, then you offer
37:18the wash drive full service to cover the
37:21cost of those attendants and hopefully
37:23you make a little bit of you know more
37:25money because it is obviously it's it's
37:27higher markup than the self-s serve is.
37:29But that's kind of the um 30 second
37:32version of that episode. Although there
37:33is a lot we go into that, you know, I
37:35wouldn't have time to go into today.
37:37>> Yep. Totally get it. So I want I want to
37:39give you guys a chance to to plug. Where
37:41do we find out more about wash fold
37:44poss? Obviously, there's a podcast we
37:46need to we need to give a plug to. So,
37:49lay it on our folks. Where do we find
37:50you in the socials and uh out on the
37:52interwebs?
37:53>> So, wash dryfold poss much like the
37:56name, it's just washdrifold poss.com.
37:58You don't need any hyphens or spaces or
38:01anything. You just type out washdrifold
38:03poss.
38:06And you know, our big uh headline is,
38:08you know, um wash and fold made easy,
38:11you know, uh easy to use, easy to train.
38:13It it's pretty easy to find. And then
38:15you just click how to buy and that will
38:18take you to where you can actually book
38:19a call with our team to learn more about
38:21the product. We don't take on just
38:23everyone. And you know, like I I said
38:25earlier, you know, we do recommend
38:28people to other systems if they're not a
38:30good fit. And so having that call with
38:32our team is a good way to honestly
38:34assess Hey, would this be a good fit for
38:37you? It's not just we're going to try
38:39and sell you on it so hard. We're
38:41actually going to ask you the questions
38:43to see if this even makes sense for you
38:45to do or to buy. That's part of how we
38:48keep our churn so low. Um, you know,
38:50churn is when someone cancels a
38:51subscription is we only want to sell it
38:53if you're going to keep it for like 5
38:55years, you know, or more. And so we kind
38:57of have the questions that that we know
39:00to ask to make sure it's a good fit and
39:03you're going to enjoy it because if it's
39:04not a good fit, let's just save everyone
39:06the time and like let's just turn you in
39:09the direction of what would be a good
39:11fit. And then to add on to that to brag
39:13on Ian a little bit is that we actually
39:15have net negative turn meaning
39:18>> successful launchment owners tend to
39:20build more stores over time and when
39:22they build another store they view an
39:25important piece of that equipment is a
39:26wash drive full POS system in it they
39:28add on another subscription. So our
39:31trend actually is our customer base adds
39:34more stores per subscriber over time and
39:37that's that's part of because they are
39:40having success using our software
39:41running their stores successfully.
39:44>> That's fabulous. That's a that's a huge
39:45vote of confidence. Definitely.
39:47>> Yeah. And then the the podcast is just
39:50laundromat-ownership.com
39:52or you know you can just look it up on
39:54Apple. We've got a YouTube channel with
39:56a lot of followers. Uh and it's on
39:58Spotify. any anywhere that you would get
40:00podcasts, you could just look up
40:01laundromat ownership and and you'll see
40:03it.
40:03>> Fantastic. Well, gentlemen, I think
40:05we're going to be talking a lot in the
40:06future as wash fold and pick up and
40:09delivery continues its ascent to greater
40:12heights and and uh and your system
40:15obviously is going to be a part of that.
40:16I can't thank you enough for joining us
40:18on the podcast.
40:19>> Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Randy.
40:22>> Absolutely. And we hope that you'll join
40:24us again when laundry nerds unite.

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