Young Laundry buying
By Russ Lynch
7 Al Phillips outlets
Star-BulletinYoung Laundry and Drycleaning has agreed to buy seven Oahu laundry drop-off locations on Oahu from Al Phillips the Cleaner Inc. for an undisclosed price.
John V. Brewer, Phillips president, said the deal is good for his company because it will be able to concentrate on its core businesses of seven dry-cleaning stores that have their own plants and a uniform-rental operation.
Mike Drace, president of Young Laundry, said the purchase will lift its drop-off dry cleaning outlets to a total of 25, from 18.
They are all serviced by the company's central plant near Sand Island.
It will also mean some hiring for Young, which recently had to let 65 employees go because it lost a contract to operate laundry, dry cleaning and alterations facilities on 10 Oahu military bases.
The company had done the Army and Air Force business continuously since 1982.
The 12 employees of the seven Al Phillips outlets will have the option to transfer to Young Laundry but Phillips will lay off 12 workers at its central plant on Lagoon Drive, Brewer said.
In total, Young will hire or rehire 20-25 people, Drace said. Young Laundry, founded in 1902, has 145 employees and Al Phillips, founded in 1966, has 125.
