Lawton dry cleaners are getting their financial clocks cleaned by the coronavirus as people work from home during the pandemic in daily clothes, including their pajamas.
“It’s down, down, down,” said Class A Cleaners owner Myung Pae. “We’re going to close temporarily. Our business is almost zero.”
Paes’ woes were echoed by other store managers, owners, and employees across the city.
“It’s bad, really bad,” said an employee of Yong’s Cleaners who asked not to be identified.
At Eden’s Cleaners it was the same story “It’s low,” an employee who also refused to give his name said of the amount of cleaning the store is doing. “It’s been low for a long time.”
Steve Duty, office manager at Discount Cleaners said the store is closed down on the “civilian side” to anything other than pick-up. However, he said, the business has a contract with Fort Sill to clean bed linens used at the base and that is continuing.
Uchol Sin, manager of Friendly Cleaners, said he has heard that “six or seven” cleaning businesses have shut down temporarily or perhaps permanently, but he is unsure of the specific status of those shops.
The stores he identified were Top Cleaners, Bright Cleaners and Alterations, Pat’s Cleaners (in Elgin) and Ann’s Cleaners. No one from those cleaners could be reached for comment.
Of the more than 30 cleaners and laundries listed in Lawton, several have disconnected telephone numbers. The Ledger could not determine whether those shops had shut down because of the virus or just because they went out of business.