Round rock business - Reid’s Cleaners

Round rock business - Reid’s Cleaners

Written by Christi Snow Thursday, 07 December 2006

Dry cleaner follows the trail to success

When Joe Clifford first decided to look for a site to open his business, he searched throughout the Austin area until he found a deciding indicator. He followed the donuts.

Realizing the Lone Star bakery, home of the popular Round Rock donuts, was located just down the road from a possible site for his dry cleaners, Clifford and his partner, Mason Reid, came to the property around 5 a.m. one morning to measure the traffic flow from IH 35.

“We got some donuts and counted cars,” Clifford said. “I think it was probably a good move.”

As he anticipated, he noticed a stream of vehicles would have to travel by his business to get to the bakery.

More than a decade later, he still operates the original Reid’s Cleaners and Laundry on West Liberty Street. He is also the major shareholder for three other Round Rock locations and continues his partnership with the Reid brothers, who manage 10 Austin locations.

Getting started, however, was not always easy. Clifford remembers the first day he opened on a cold, rainy day in December and only generated $140 in business. However, word began to spread that they took care of their customers.

“I always tell my employees, ‘Without [customers], we’re not here’,” he said.

He admits his prices are not the cheapest, but thinks the extra service is worth the cost. His employees watch the equipment closely and handle each garment separately. If they find something as small as a button missing, they will replace it. He estimates he spends $500 a month alone in buttons.

Clifford does not want to be an absentee owner. He runs the shop himself with the help of managers and 32 employees, which allows him to know many of his regular customers.

“It’s most gratifying at the end of the day, when things get quiet and you lock up the store,” he said. “There is something about that that just satisfies you.”

For all these reasons, he believes, people keep coming back to his shop. Now his computer database logs around 8,000 different clients who bring their clothes to Reid’s.

“I am not ashamed to say we are better than the competition,” Clifford said. “We’re still a growing business. We’re not the largest, but we’re one of the best.”

Joe Clifford’s father worked in the laundry industry and taught his son the trade. Later, Clifford worked at a Houston cleaners chain as a manager where he met his future partner, Mason Reid. During his years in the business, he has come across some unusual garments.

Strangest: Protective suits for K-9 officers, the Round Rock Express mascot costume.

Most Challenging: Ladies evening dresses and wedding gowns, including one garment worth $15,000.

Oldest: A Civil War uniform.

Hours: M-F 6:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. • Sat. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Reid’s Cleaners and Laundry, 303 West Liberty, Round Rock, TX 78664, 512-341-7650