The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

SUPERWASH’S president Dionisio D’Aguilar said that the laundromat chain benefited from a particularly wet May and June, estimating that sales were up five to six per cent year-on-year.

“Rainy weather is good for laundromats with people using the dryers, so we had a better than expected May and June. Those two months were quite good. Overall we’re probably up 5- 6 per cent over last year,” said D’Aguilar.

Mr D’Aguilar also told Tribune Business that he was in the process of commencing construction on a new laundromat at Gibbs Corner.

Back in April, the roof of the existing Superwash laundromat was damaged by fire. Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business that the fire had cost $60,000 to $70,000 in damages to the laundromat and that he was expecting to invest about $1 million in a new laundromat on an adjacent property.

“We repaired the existing location, we got it back up in about three weeks. We had always intended to demolish that building and build a new one. We are in the process of commencing construction on a new location. While we repaired the existing location we only band-aided it with the intention of demolishing it in the next 12 months. We bought the adjacent property so we are going to commence construction on the adjacent property while the current location is in operation,” said D’Aguilar.

Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business that the Blue Hill/Carmichael Road and Prince Charles Drive locations had been severely impacted by road works. Mr D’Aguilar said: “Thankfully the locations that have been affected have come back 90 per cent. People are still sort of reluctant to go on to Price Charles with what’s been going on there. Until they get absolutely up and running it won’t be ideal.”