Buying a dry cleaner in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida

• Loyal customers who come often, and a growing delivery or commercial business that doesn't depend on office dress codes.
• A plant with modern, well-maintained machines that don't use perchloroethylene ("perc"), the solvent EPA is phasing out of dry cleaning. Newer machines also use less solvent and energy, but they do nothing about what older machines left in the ground.
• A clean environmental record at the site, backed by testing.
• Several revenue sources: wash-and-fold, alterations, household items, commercial work.
• Experienced pressers and spotters who plan to stay. A good spotter saves garments, and customers notice.
• A long lease with a landlord who understands the business and its environmental history.
• Turnaround times customers can count on, with few lost or damaged items.
• Point-of-sale software that tracks customers, orders and garments.

• The site's environmental history: at least a Phase I environmental site assessment (a records and site review), and likely soil and groundwater testing (a Phase II) if perc was ever used there. Cleanup costs can be large; talk to an environmental attorney before you sign anything.
• The plant's DEP registration, whether the site was accepted into the cleanup program before 1999 (and still qualifies), and what DEP's online records show.
• Equipment age, solvent type, boiler condition and maintenance records.
• Revenue for five years, by service.
• Customer counts and delivery routes.
• Utility costs, which run high for boilers and presses.
• The lease, including environmental clauses and who is responsible for contamination.
• Unclaimed garments and customer damage claims.
• Drop-off stores and lockers: leases, volume, and whether they're worth keeping.

• What solvent do your machines use, and how old are they?
• Has perc ever been used here, and has the site ever been tested for contamination?
• Is the plant registered with DEP, and was the site ever accepted into the state cleanup program?
• How has your revenue changed over the last five years?
• How many delivery and commercial customers do you have?
• Who runs the plant day to day?
• What does your lease say about environmental issues, and what does the landlord know?

This region covers Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, Baker and Putnam counties: Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, Fernandina Beach, Yulee, Macclenny and Palatka. Jacksonville merged with most of Duval County in 1968, which makes it the largest city by land area in the lower 48 states.

The economy leans on logistics, the Navy and financial services. Logistics runs through JAXPORT, major rail lines and the meeting of Interstates 95 and 10. The Navy has Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport. Insurance and health care matter too. St. Augustine, founded by the Spanish in 1565, and Amelia Island draw steady tourism. Trucking and logistics firms, the building trades, medical practices and home services all fit this market.

Northeast Florida is less seasonal than South or Southwest Florida, with fewer winter residents and more year-round employers. Direct hurricane landfalls have been less common here than on other parts of the coast, but storms still bring flooding along the St. Johns River and the beaches, so check insurance costs and flood zones.

Military families bring skilled workers and working spouses into the labor pool, though they also move on when orders change. St. Johns, Clay and Nassau have added the most new homes, and companies serving those suburbs have grown with them. Georgia is close, and some companies here serve customers across the state line. Work in Georgia may need Georgia licenses, so ask how much revenue comes from there and who holds those licenses.