Sergio Aguirre is betting his future on people who don’t want to waste time washing, drying and folding their clothes. He opened the first U.S. franchise location of Mr. Jeff, a tech-forward home-delivery laundry concept—think the Uber of laundry—near Miami.
An encouraging soft opening in the middle of March led to a better response in traffic in May, but Aguirre is still hoping to see an uptick once students at the University of Miami return to campus in August.
“In general, the local people in the neighborhoods aren’t reacting to new services in the area” yet, he said, since some people have been going to the same local dry cleaning spot their entire lives. There are five dry cleaners just blocks away from Aguirre’s store who have been there for more than 20 years, he noted. Breaking into that market will be a challenge, as well as educating consumers on the innovative concept.
“People think it’s a coin laundry. They’ll call me and say ‘hey, can I use your machine?’” Aguirre said. “I have to explain, you drop it off, we do it for you, it’s not a problem. I think it’s a model people aren’t used to, really.”
Started in Spain by three entrepreneurs, Mr. Jeff now has locations in more than 30 countries.
Mr. Jeff was launched in Spain by three entrepreneurs and former college dormmates and is named after the beloved butler Geoffrey on the ‘90s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” The brand has locations open in more than 30 countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, the Philippines and Egypt.
Mr. Jeff sparked U.S. expansion by opening two corporate stores in New York City in 2021. The initial investment for Mr. Jeff ranges between $140,250 and $337,000, including the initial franchise fee of $25,000.
Peter Stern, U.S. Managing Director of Mr. Jeff, agreed that educating consumers on the concept and increasing brand awareness have been obstacles while introducing the international brand in the U.S.
“We have observed that people interested in the business model wanted to see an open franchise in the U.S and a high density of open stores in the country,” Stern said. “It has been difficult to build trust in our brand when we still did not have a store open.”
Aguirre knew of the brand for years prior since Mr. Jeff has a strong presence in Mexico, where Aguirre hails from. He began talking with the franchisor March of 2021 while scouting out potential businesses, and jumped on the opportunity to be the first U.S. franchisee.
Aguirre’s initial success—he touts 35 percent growth in month-over-month sales since March—has spurred interest in the brand, and the franchisor has signed five additional agreements for owners to open in Florida. Mr. Jeff also has larger agreements in the works for major U.S. markets, Stern said, and they are planning to launch a nationwide marketing campaign in the coming months.
“Our strategy is to build density of stores in major U.S. cities which will create immediate brand awareness, reduce customer acquisition costs, open up mass marketing opportunities and present growth paths within territories for existing franchisee expansion,” Stern added.
Challenges with finding a location, hiring
Sergio Aguirre bought two franchise territories of Mr. Jeff, but is waiting to open a second location until he finds solid footing with his first location in Coral Gables, Florida.
Originally planning his location to be in the Brickell neighborhood of Miami, the city’s financial center, Aguirre was deterred by high rent prices and opted to open in Coral Gables, a suburb of Miami. But an issue with a city ordinance caused delays for his preferred location, and after waiting for months with no response, Aguirre decided to move forward with his second choice.
“This was supposed to be my back-up location,” he admitted. “It’s well located and has amazing traffic coming in and out, but the demographics changed a little more than expected. It’s more residential.”
Mr. Jeff franchisees typically don’t own their own laundromats, but rent out of existing locations and hire one to three team members at first, then increase to six people working per store doing the delivery part of the business.
Aguirre experienced challenges when trying to hire his first employee. A woman with 15 years of experience in the laundry industry was his top candidate, but asked him for Saturdays off and to ensure she only worked 40 hours a week, which Aguirre couldn’t promise as an upstart business. He ended up hiring an employee who had never touched a washer and dryer in his life, but “after two weeks of training, he was performing amazingly,” Aguirre said.
“Customer care is I think the key matter of all this, which is what I’m trying to develop from the very beginning,” said Aguirre, who has a hospitality background in hotels and restaurants. “Finding a way to train people to understand that is where my background comes in and the experience I’ve learned through the years, because you can get loyal customers if you know how to treat them.”
Aguirre bought two territories, but is waiting to open a second location until “I’m standing a little more solid, and get this one moving before I start focusing on a second one.” He noted his appreciation for the franchisor’s support in navigating challenges.
“We have encouraged each other a lot,” added Stern, “Understanding the situation that the market was facing and our particular situation of being a new business in the country. Educating potential investors of the historic resilience of the U.S. laundry industry through recessions, the pandemic…has helped to provide confidence in an otherwise volatile business environment.”