• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer @mahoney_sarah, October 23, 2024

Drycleaning may be one of life’s great consumer mysteries -- what the heck do they do behind the counter? -- but Martinizing Cleaners wants to flex its expertise. The company is turning 75 this year, and as it continues its post-pandemic comeback, it is reaching out to younger consumers with an Ultimate Thrifting Guide. The tool helps people understand how to care for their vintage finds, from silk to leather to rayon. Eileen Curto, marketing director at Clean Brands, tells Retail Insider more.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Retail Insider: Martinizing is a mysterious brand word -- everyone’s heard it, but no one knows what it is. It even makes an appearance in Ellen DeGeneres’ latest comedy special. Give us a quick history lesson, please?

Eileen Curto: Clean Brands owns Martinizing Cleaners, which was started by Henry Martin in 1949. The one-hour Martinizing stream of stores and then franchises grew throughout the 1950s. Right now, there are 350 Martinizing stores.

Retail Insider: For some brands, celebrating an anniversary can be risky and make you sound old-fashioned rather than contemporary. What made you decide to highlight your longevity?

Curto: It is a big deal to be turning 75, especially in the drycleaning industry. The competition was fierce in the day, but when COVID hit, it took out many mom-and-pop stores. That helped us build on our market share. Our franchise model, with a proven system of operations and marketing, helped us thrive. Today our sales are back to prepandemic levels, and our customer count is through the roof. And we continue to modernize.

We have an app, so people can just click and have laundry picked up and delivered two days later. We use GreenEarth Cleaning, which is 100% nontoxic and an environmentally friendly solvent, throughout most of our stores.

Retail Insider: You’ve got one of those extra-challenging marketing jobs because while you're responsible for connecting with consumers, you answer to franchisees, who all contribute to the ad budget. How does that shape your role?

Curto: Yes, franchisees contribute to a brand development fund, and with that, I put together national plans for the entire network. And much of what we do is very localized.

We pinpoint a three-mile radius around their location, and we serve performance ads on YouTube and Google Maps. We have an email retention program to constantly speak with current customers, trying to get them back to the stores to use our ancillary services. We give franchisees a quarterly kit to help them refresh their store marketing collateral, especially what they hand out to customers. We also handle all their social media and a review platform so they don’t have to solicit Google reviews. We do that for them. And we are looking into television ads for next year.

Retail Insider: How important are those ancillary services?

Curto: Wash, dry and fold is quite big – and that was a pivot that helped us through the pandemic. We do alterations and things like wedding gown preservation. There is also corporate work, such as doctors' office uniforms and Airbnb linens.

Retail Insider: How did you land on the idea of a thrifting guide?

Curto: In 75 years, we’ve seen it all. We thought it'd be a really fun way to recognize the 75th anniversary and also say that what's old is new again. And just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s good. As we started researching this, we asked the people who manage thrift stores if Gen Z shoppers ask about fabric care, and they said, “All the time.”

One of our biggest “Aha” moments came when we talked to a franchisee about silk. People get so excited when they find a silk garment but don't realize that silk rots. The trick is to pull on it before you buy it and see what happens. It may completely disintegrate in your hands. And there can be moth eggs on wool. So, the guide instructs people about why they should clean thrifted clothes before wearing them and how to do so. Cotton, denim and wool can be washed at home. But fabrics like leather, silk and rayon need dry cleaning.

Retail Insider: How are you distributing the guide?

Curto: It’s on our website and people can download it, and then our franchisees can hand it out to people as they come in. And we’re promoting it through social media.