We mostly pull our customers from within about a mile away,” said Dale Velez, co-owner with his brother Don, of Young’s Dry Cleaning, a more-than-eight decades-old family business with locations in Uptown New Orleans and Lakeview. “Nobody’s going to drive to Kenner to drop off their clothes, especially when they’re going to pass 20 dry cleaners on the way.”
Young’s was founded by the Velezes’s grandfather in Gentilly in 1940. Both brothers began working in the shop when they turned 15.
“I never wanted to be in the business,” said Dale Velez, “but every time I wanted to quit, my father would give me a raise. After a while, it was my full-time job.”
Don Velez took to it more naturally.
“I started in high school, when my dad, my grandparents and my uncles were all working in the business,” he recalled. “I got to be part of the family, working together to keep the store alive.”
After two years at UNO — during which he continued working at Young’s, Don said he “realized they weren’t teaching me anything about this business, so I went to work full-time.”
The brothers purchased the business from their father in the 1990s and began expanding.
By the time Hurricane Katrina hit, they had seven locations and had just bought space for a new cleaning plant.
When a single facility flooded in the storm, they decided to consolidate — opening their Uptown store at 6223 South Claiborne in 2006 and the Lakeview location at 905 Harrison Avenue in 2007.
In order to keep loyal customers who had been served by the closed locations, they began offering free pick-up and delivery service across the entire south shore area. This expansion was an instant success that just got more popular.
“It was the touchless way of doing business,” noted Don Velez, who as plant manager oversees the cleaning processes. “COVID really made those routes take off.”
Young’s also reaches customers through lockers located in residential and commercial complexes around their service area. Customers use an app to notify the store when they place items in the lockers and are notified in turn when their cleaning has been processed and returned.
Young’s provides dry cleaning, washing and pressing for all types of clothing. Additional services include carpet and drapery cleaning, as well as tableware and linens, needlepoints and other family heirlooms. They also offer wedding gown cleaning and preservation and alterations.
As a company that took a big hit from a natural disaster, Young’s offers its own disaster restoration services, repairing and restoring everything from bedding and footwear to electronics and data.
Young’s has a staff of 34 people across its operations, but staffing is one of the biggest challenges they face, as well as increased supply costs.
“No one comes in ready to do these jobs,” said Don Velez. “It takes a lot of training to get them up to speed, and then you have to try to retain them.”
To address these challenges, the company has had to increase its efficiency.
“We are now fully automated,” said Dale Velez, who noted that despite all the growth and technological upgrades, service remains the biggest focus.
“If a customer’s not happy, it’s personal to us, and we want to make it right,” added Don Velez. “We want customers to be part of the Young’s family.”
Young’s Dry Cleaning
905 Harrison Ave. // New Orleans // 504-872-0931 // youngsdrycleaning.com
