My dad has owned dry cleaners for over 35 years. Before him, my grandpa owned the dry cleaners. Needless to say, I’ve been around it all my life. Here are some interesting customers we’ve encountered over the years.
Mr. Austin- The founder of the Starkey Hearing Foundation has been a customer at our cleaners for about twenty years. Every week, one of their four personal assistants brings in an order of at least 300 dollars, keeping our business alive. I’ve never seen Mr. Austin before. But I have talked to him on the phone and seen him on TV and in People Magazine. One time, we found four thousand dollars cash in Mr. Austin’s pocket and my dad called him to let him know we had found a large sum (well, a large sum to us) and he could pick it up. My dad said Mr. Austin said “I’ll send someone for it” and hung up the phone.
Mr. Powell- Mr. Powell is a 70 year old man who spray tans. He is also the nicest person I have ever met in my entire life. He greets me my name and talks to me about his condominium in California. Before I left for college, Mr. Powell gave me a hug goodbye. It’s the simple gestures of kindness that make our world a better place.
Ms. Brill- Ms. Brill makes a ton of money. She used to ask me about my rugby team and even donated to our fundraiser once. Her clothes are really hard to clean, my dad says. Ms. Brill takes month long trips to China frequently for work and then brings in gigantic dry cleaning orders. Every time I see her she tells me a story about where she has been and then she asks me about how my life is going. I think it’s nice that she treats me like an equal even though she makes more money in a week than my family makes in a year.
Darby Hendrickson- Mr. Hendrickson used to play for the Minnesota Wild and was my hero when I was growing up. He came into the cleaners while I was working on my birthday and gave me his autograph. He laughed at me because I was hyper-ventilating. Whenever he comes in, he asks me how it’s going and I hyper-ventilate a little more.
Hanstad/Reinke- Handstad and Reinke are a middle aged couple that pay for their orders separately. They
are always very impressed when I remember their last names and what kind of starch they like on their shirts.
Ms. McGannon- Quite possibly the rudest person I have ever met. She leaves her garbage on our lobby floor. I throw it away, but man… Some days I just want to put it all in a bag and staple it to her perfectly pressed sweaters.
Since I started working at the dry cleaners I’ve learned a lot about customer service. I try my hardest to be polite and friendly to all the customers. Some customers love having someone to talk to and share things with. Others are never nice back. But I still keep doing it in hopes one day they’ll be nice back. I think one reason our small family business is still alive is because we care a lot about how we treat our customers and we’ve created strong customer/owner relationships. I like to think that sometimes when a customer comes in and is having a rough day at least I don’t make it worse. I think that being kind to everyone makes the world run a little smoother. Sometimes you’re lucky and you get a customer that is just as nice back and appreciates your effort. Other times you get a Ms. McGannon who leaves her already-been-chewed gum on our counters and expects us to throw it away. I’m hoping I run into more Mr. Powell’s than Ms. McGannon’s…
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