Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Frick.
Hi Jason, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I have been entrepreneurially minded for as long as I can remember. I printed my first business card in middle school for a company called AFAB, Anything For A Buck! We primarily mowed lawns and raked leaves, but as the name suggested, we would do any labor jobs to make money. In high school, I worked at a pool store, which led me to start my own pool service company while still in college. Shortly after graduating from college, I was able to sell that pool company, and I got involved in franchise operations for Planet Fitness in West Texas. I started as a club manager but quickly moved up the ladder as we grew the business and opened new locations. Within five years, I was president of the franchise group, operating 20 locations across Texas and Oklahoma.
As we negotiated an acquisition by a private equity firm, I received a call from ZIPS inquiring about opening some dry cleaners in Central Texas. In 2016, I met a new business partner, and we signed a 40-store development agreement with ZIPS, spanning from Waco to San Antonio. We opened our first ZIPS location in early 2017 on South Lamar in Austin and, after some great initial success, started developing a second location in North Austin, which opened in 2018. By 2019, we were working on a third location on Burnet Rd, but we experienced some construction delays that pushed the project into 2020. Then, we were unfortunately further delayed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. We finally opened Location 3 in June of 2020, but the pandemic was widespread by then; most of the world was shut down, and everyone was working from home, so most people did not need dry cleaning. But because the government labeled Laundry and Dry Cleaning companies as essential services, we stayed open to keep as many people employed as possible. We primarily served customers in other essential businesses during this period, such as nurses and first responders. In addition, because we already had tailors and sewing machines in our stores, we started manufacturing cotton facemasks and selling them locally and on our website. Thankfully, we were able to scrape by, and the business survived.
In 2023, we have gotten back into expansion mode. We opened two additional satellite “drop” store locations, one at 3421 William Cannon Drive in South Austin and the other at 2051 Gattis School Road in Round Rock, to continue growing our footprint in the Austin area. As the population here continues to boom, along with the rising cost of living, our customers have been thankful that ZIPS is expanding and is still the area’s most affordable dry cleaning option. We offer in-by-9-out-by-5 service six days/week at all our locations. We are facing new logistical challenges, but we are excited about these challenges. It’s been three-plus years since COVID arrived, trying to figure out how to grow and be profitable under rapidly changing circumstances. We have opened two stores within three months, almost doubling our total count. We are excited about these new locations and our growing presence in the Austin area. We are also very excited about the future. We see pickup and delivery, especially in the B2B space, as the next great opportunity to grow our brand with limited capital requirements. Growing this part of the business will be our next big focus now that we are finished constructing our new stores.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
ZIPS has always been the most affordable dry cleaner in Austin, so trying to maintain our position as the price leader while also trying to generate a profit and afford all the costs of doing business in Austin has been the biggest challenge. Running a business with multiple locations during a pandemic while trying to keep our team safe and employed was also a considerable challenge. We were on pace to have record sales in March of 2020, and then the world crashed around us in the middle of the month. In a matter of 30 days, we had lost 85% of our monthly revenue. No business plan or experience can prepare you for how to navigate that challenge. At that time, we could only pray for everyone’s health and hope we still had a business at the end of it all.
We’ve been impressed with Better Way Dry Cleaning, LLC dba ZIPS Cleaners. For folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
ZIPS Cleaners® provides consumer and commercial garment care centered around low-cost, in-by-9-out-by-5 dry cleaning as well as wash-n-fold laundry, pressed laundry, alterations, and cleaning of household items. The concept was launched in the early 2000s when eight of the Baltimore-Washington Metro Area’s premier dry cleaners banded together as a unified brand offering same-day service at a single low price. With more than 200 years of dry-cleaning experience and business expertise, these founders created a streamlined process designed for easy replication by industry veterans and newcomers alike. Today, there are nearly 70 ZIPS locations throughout the United States, with over 100 slated to open in the next several years.
We were one of the very first franchises to open locations outside the core market in Baltimore/Washington, D.C., so we have operated as an independent local business. As a born and raised native Austinite, I have tried to keep as much focus as possible on being part of the local community as a small business. We strive to create a better user experience around professional cleaning that has yet to exist in the past. Our simple, affordable pricing with modern software and customer app coupled with pickup and delivery service creates a unique, complete service garment care solution not found anywhere else.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
Connect with us through the Contact Us link on the website, or we can be reached by email at corporate@zipstexas.com. We work with many other small businesses in the area, like restaurants, event coordinators, wedding venues, short-term rentals, etc., handling all their dry cleaning and laundry needs. We also offer contracts with apartments and larger employers to provide onsite pickup and delivery route service for residents and employees. We aim to simplify laundry/dry cleaning chores so people and businesses can focus on the fun stuff!
Pricing:
- $2.99 Laundered Shirts
- $3.99 Dry Cleaning
- $1.49/lb. Wash & Fold
- $24.99 comforters
Contact Info:
- Website: zipscleaners.com/austin
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zipsaustin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZIPSAustinTX/; https://www.facebook.com/ZIPSBurnetRoadTX; https://www.facebook.com/ZIPSParmerLaneTX; https://www.facebook.com/ZIPSWilliamCannonTX; https://www.facebook.com/ZIPSRoundRockTX
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZipsDry and https://twitter.com/ZIPSDryCleanATX
