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n BusINess | JUNE SMAll BUSiNESS OF THE MONTH Falls to Rexburg. To keep costs low, all the laundry comes to the central location on Broadway for cleaning and alterations. The 46 employees make sure you get your laun- dry on time. “People come in just to talk to our coun- ter girls.” says Darrin. “We have one person who has been at the counter more than 30 years.” Darrin is proud of the fact that they have never laid anyone off. Eight years ago designers responded to consumers and stopped making clothes that were dry clean only. The shirt presses at D & L continued giving off steam though, since 70 percent of their business is wash- able. D & L has four people dedicated to men’s laundry shirts alone. “Our society is much more casual now,” Darrin and Krischelle Peterson, owners of D & L Cleaners in Idaho Falls. STEVE SMEDE PHOTO says Darrin, “It’s a lifestyle choice. The upside is that the two-income family has been good for us. We have a super high retention rate on shirt laundry.” You just can’t press a shirt at home like the cleaners can, and really, who wants to after you’ve worked all day? Even though the economy has been slow Pressing Forward A half century of success at D & L Cleaners n BY MaRY sTURgIll If you wore a polyester leisure suit in the ’70s you probably thought you were being trendy. But little did you know that those outrageous plaids were wreaking havoc on the dry cleaning industry. Luckily, just like we survived those itchy eyesores, D & L Cleaners and Laundry did as well and they celebrate their 50th Anniversary this November. 96 Idaho Falls MagazIne MaY/JUne 2011 Thank God leisure suits are dead. Loyd and JoAnne Petersen and Dean and Elaine Storer opened D & L Cleaners in 1961. The husbands had their own busi- ness, D & L Marine. So sisters, JoAnne and Elaine wanted one too. They went to a tradeshow in Salt Lake City and came back with two coin-operated dry cleaning machines and a shirt press ready to open for business. Back in those days, you could get ten pounds of laundry pressed for $2.50. Those prices are long gone and so are the coin-operated dry cleaning machines. But the business pressed on. In 1980 Dean and Elaine were bought out and now Darrin Petersen owns and oper- ates with his wife, Krischelle. It is the only cleaners on this side of the state still owned and operated by its founders. Despite the huge hit the leisure suits gave the dry clean- ing industry in the ‘70s, D & L Cleaners has continued to grow to service eastern Idaho. Now there are five locations from Idaho and the past year has been tough for every- one, D & L still presses out 6,000 to 8,000 items a week. For your convenience, they also offer home and office delivery. Darrin says, “My parents were wicked frugal.” Now Darrin is not only the owner, he is the handyman fixing anything that breaks. The dry clean machines require a certified tech- nician, but Darrin takes care of just about anything else. He is most impressed when he needs a part for something and his moth- er comes to him with a tool in one hand and the part in the other. “I don’t want to say she is a hoarder,” Darrin says, “ but she seems to have what I need most of the time. She takes it off old machines she keeps around.” And he believes it is that frugality that has given D & L the longevity they have enjoyed; that and loyal customers. d & l CleaneRs 5 locations in Eastern idaho (hours vary by location) www.dlcleaners.com