New High-Tech Dry Cleaning Amenity is Unveiled to Apartment Market in Detroit

By Philip Shea, Associate Editor

Photo courtesy Identity PR

Detroit—In keeping with the innovative nature of previous ventures, nationally recognized dry cleaning entrepreneur Wayne Wudyka recently unveiled his new bizzie product at an event at the Farbman Group’s Lofts @ Woodward Center in downtown Detroit, Mich.

The product, a locker-based pick-up/delivery service derived from a local San Francisco-based product, has already wowed multifamily property managers and residents alike—and Wudyka says he and his team are prepared for its implementation across North America.

“What we’ve done is we’ve bought an old brand,” says Wudyka. “1-800-DryClean is a company that’s been around for 15 years. We have 107 franchise locations. We believe it has a great launching pad for an expansion for our organization into the home pick-up and delivery service business.”

He add, “When we bought the company, our goal was not to maintain. Our goal was to take our franchise partners and our concept into a stratosphere that none of our competitors could catch.”

Photo by Philip Shea

As owner and operator of Michigan-based Clean Brands LLC, Wudyka is experienced with many facets of the dry cleaning industry, having entered niches in the market with which most are unfamiliar. For example, his Certified Restoration Dry-cleaning Network (CRDN) specializes in the restoration of valuable garments and textiles damaged in disasters such as fires and floods.

The uniqueness and originality of Wudyka’s latest product is indeed underscored by the special technology it incorporates. Using an RFID chip to mark each individual order, both the customer and bizzie technician can retrieve and upload information about the order via smartphone.

For example, if a dry cleaning technician notices a sizeable stain on a garment, he can take a picture of it and upload such to the order page, thus notifying the customer. Furthermore, a customer can leave special instructions for the order by scanning the RFID and relaying such instructions via cell phone text.

“This solution really lives and dies on the smartphone,” says Wudyka. “Everybody’s getting more mobile. Everyone’s living off their cell phone, and this solution makes [our service] very easy and brings it right to you.”

The lockers can be incorporated into multifamily residences, office buildings and even parking structures, and can be easily accessed by tenants at a central location. A customer simply finds an open locker, leaves their dirty garments, types in a four-digit pin code and texts bizzie their locker number. When the order is ready for pick-up, bizzie texts back with a new locker number and pin code.

“We have patented processes supporting it,” adds Wudyka. “The locker-based delivery solution was founded in San Francisco. The strength of our organization will give scalability to a great business concept that was developed by some really smart guys that have been operating it for about seven years.”

Photo by Philip Shea

Carrie Cohen, property manager at the Lofts @ Woodward Center, is very excited that her property is the first in the nation to utilize the revolutionary bizzie product, saying that its incorporation falls in line with Farbman Group’s philosophy of being “forward thinking” and always seeking new amenities to offer to their tenants.

“When we heard about this, we were so excited to jump on board,” says Cohen. “It’s such an innovative thing to offer our residents. We’ve never seen anything like this before. I mean, how convenient to have it right downstairs for them.”

She further notes that residents at the Lofts are already lining up to take advantage of the service, with some exclaiming that it is the perfect solution to an often cumbersome chore.

“The demand for it is very high. I think it’s going to be a huge hit,” Cohen adds.