Dan Marrazzo, owner of Wash N’ Roll laundromat in Ewing Plaza, strives to change the public’s preconceived notions about laundromats.
“The laundry business is way behind the curve with innovation,” Marrazzo said. “The rudimentary business concept is the same, but you can change the customer’s pleasure.”
He readily admits most peoples’ experiences with laundromats were when they were in college and needed rolls of quarters to do their laundry in the basement of their dormitory. Often the rooms were dark and dirty, and there were many broken machines.
Marrazzo said his four laundromats — located in Morrisville, Penndel and Newtown, Pennsylvania in addition to his Olden Avenue store — are completely different.
“The stigma is difficult to get past,” he said.
The Ewing location is a brightly lit 5,000-square foot facility with more than 100 front load washers and dryers in a variety of sizes from handling 18 pounds to industrial strength 80 pound machines.
Remember those quarters? In addition to quarters, the machines in Ewing also accept dollar bills, credit cards and payment via a QR code app on their Smart Phones. “You don’t need any cash,” Marrazzo said.
Wash N’ Roll has wifi and large screen TVs to keep you entertained while you wait for your laundry to finish. The business is also located near a variety of restaurants, Marrazzo said.
“I have a lot of customers who have washers and dryers who don’t use them,” explains Marrazzo. “It is a social thing for them to come here.”
Marrazzo said that tk is here during the day. She is the face of the store. People come in looking for her.”
Marrazzo bought his first laundromat in 2002 when he saw an opportunity. “I do a lot of real estate development work. I built laundromats. In 1989 I opened my first store [for someone else]. In 2002 I decided to do my own building. At one point I had seven, I am down to four. It is a full-time job keeping four up and running.”
All of his laundromats are fully staffed 24-hours a day. Randy Shugar has been working with Marrazzo for 35 years and is in charge of all maintenance and repairs.
“He says, ‘my job is to keep things spinning,’” Marrazzo said. “There are a lot of different valves and parts. Customers appreciate they can walk in at any time and not have to wait for machinery.” Machines do break, but Shugar and Marrazzo keep on top of the repairs.
In addition to traditional do it yourself laundry, Wash N’ Roll offers pickup and delivery laundry services through www.washclubPennJersey.com. After visiting the website to schedule an appointment, customers leave their clothes outside their front door and they are picked up and returned fully laundered within 24 hours. Dry cleaning, meanwhile, takes two days, Marrazzo said.
The program was “invented in New York City, and this is a spin-off of that,” MArrazzo said. “We’ve got quite a following in Ewing and Lawrence.”
In addition to those two towns, the service is also available Trenton and a corner of Hopewell. In addition to helping people who have long commutes or get home from work late, teh service also “works well with parents up in age.”
Wash N’ Roll also offer same day in house wash, dry and fold laundry service. “You can drop off at 8 a.m. and pick up after 4 p.m. Throw your laundry in a bag, back the car up, drop it off. Later on it is cleaned and in a bag. Some bachelors live out of the bag. People don’t realize they don’t have to deal with the laundry if they don’t want to,” Marrazzo said.
He notes a variety of niche reasons people come to his laundromat.
For example, he recently met a woman at 5:30 a.m. who had taken her clothes to her regular laundromat only to discover they were closed at that early hour.
By being open all the time, “I fit into their schedule instead of them fitting into hours,” MArrazzo said. People also bring their large comforters, small carpets and drapes to be cleaned, as well as their kids’ clothes when they come home from summer camp.
Wash N’ Roll, Ewing Plaza, 1980 N. Olden Ave. Phone: (609) 882-4413. Dirtylaundry.biz. Open 24 hours day, every day. All shifts are fully attended.
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