Buying a dry cleaner in Tampa Bay

• 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?

Tampa Bay, as we draw it, runs from Citrus County south through Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough, and east into Polk: Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Brandon, Wesley Chapel, Brooksville, Inverness, Lakeland and Winter Haven. Tampa is the business center, with Port Tampa Bay, Tampa International Airport, the University of South Florida and MacDill Air Force Base, home to the headquarters of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. Financial services, insurance and health care employ many people, and the Gulf beaches of Pinellas bring tourists and seasonal residents.

Polk County sits on Interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando and has become a center for warehouses and distribution, alongside its older citrus and phosphate industries. To the north, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus are more suburban and rural, with many retirees. Home service companies, the building trades, medical practices and auto businesses all have a deep customer base across the region.

Hurricane Helene's storm surge in September 2024 and Hurricane Milton two weeks later both hit the region hard. Flood zones and insurance costs now matter in any deal near the water. Ask how the business came through those storms, what it claimed, and whether its building sits in a flood zone.

The labor market is deep by Florida standards, though skilled tradespeople can still be hard to find. New homes have pushed north and east into Pasco and eastern Hillsborough, and along Interstate 4 in Polk, bringing demand for services with them. Coastal Pinellas is more seasonal than inland Tampa or Lakeland. The bay itself shapes a service company's territory: crossing a bridge at rush hour can turn a short distance into a long drive, so look at where the customers actually are.