I’ve been working at Swiss Cleaners for almost a year. And in that time I’ve come to really appreciate what it means to be a successful, family-owned business.
Swiss Cleaners has been around for 4 generations, more than a century. It began as a mom and pop shop in 1913, and I think that’s a very impressive feat. The success of this company can be largely attributed to their attention to detail and focus on customer service. There is a lot of understanding, communication, and appreciation that comes from working within a small team of people. Having never worked for a family-owned business before, I was pleasantly surprised by the closeness of the staff here at Swiss. I was welcomed immediately. I can also see that same sincerity they’ve built with their customers. I’d say that 3 out of 4 customers who walk in the door are greeted by our front counter clerk by first name.
In just a few months I was able to know which customers liked to get their sleeves creased, or which customers liked their pants pressed a special way. It’s been nice to build that kind of rapport. Our customers take care of us, so we take care of them.
Finders Keepers? Not at Swiss.
When clothes are processed we inspect them for tears, worn-out areas, stains, etc. These inspections are carefully noted prior to any cleaning. If garments have a little problem, e.g. a shirt with a torn pocket or a pair of pants with holes in the pockets we will repair them – and usually at no additional charge or maybe just a small fee. Nobody likes a torn pocket and we know that.
Speaking of which, we check pockets to make sure nothing was left in them. A very critical step. Just one pen left in a pocket can do a whole lot of damage in a wash load. We regularly find jewelry, paper work, checks, loose change, even paper money. We have a system in place to get these valuables back to you. We don’t keep anything we find. On average, we probably return cash and/or credit cards to about 5 or 6 customers every week. A few months ago we found $250. It was returned.
