The closure of eight Kean’s Fine Dry Cleaning locations, announced Friday, is part of a larger move to downsize and streamline the company.
A ninth location at 5664 Jones Creek Road also will close in the coming weeks, and two of Kean’s three production facilities—one at the Jones Creek location, the other in Gonzales—have also been shuttered. As a result of the changes, Kean’s also is forgoing previously announced plans to open a new store in the ground floor of the Onyx Residences on Third Street downtown.
“It seems sudden,” Kean’s owner Rock Rockenbaugh says of the closures. “But it’s something we’ve been thinking about for a long time.”
Over the past decade, Kean’s business has declined by more than 50%, Rockenbaugh says. The company’s weekly piece count—the number of articles of clothing it cleans—has gone from 30,000 to less than 15,000, a nationwide trend that Rockenbaugh attributes to changes in fashion and the move toward more casual workplace attire.
“Law firms, CPA firms have gone to polo shirts,” he says. “There are banks that from Memorial Day to Labor Day wear polos and khakis. Those people used to wear suits and dress shirts.”
Labor issues and problems with quality have also hurt the company. Like business owners across industry sectors, Rockenbaugh faces challenges attracting, training and retaining a qualified workforce. As a result, quality has suffered, he concedes.
“We’re very good,” he says. “But sometimes you make mistakes, and some people don’t appreciate the mistakes and they leave.”
Rockenbaugh recently hired a new plant manager from out of state with more than 20 years experience to oversee all dry cleaning operations. He is instituting new quality control measures and procedures. The company is also operating its production facility again on Saturdays, something it hasn’t done since Hurricane Gustav in 2008.
The changes at Kean’s, which is celebrating 115 years in business this year, puts several pieces of real estate into play. Rockenbaugh plans to sell the two locations that he owns—5664 Jones Creek, which is a 9,550-square-foot strip center, and 4665 Perkins Road, which is near the intersection of College Drive. He will vacate or sublease the other seven spaces.
One of those, 4556 Government St., opened just six weeks ago. Rockenbaugh says he was forced to close it once he had made the decision to close two of the three production facilities.
“It’s a fine balance,” he says. “We couldn’t afford to grow it.”
The company’s five remaining locations are all strong and account for nearly two-thirds of company revenues, Rockenbaugh says. They include: 17188 Airline Highway in Prairieville; 12818 Perkins Road; 3535 Perkins Road; 7629 Jefferson Highway; and 8967 Jefferson Highway, which also will be the location of Kean’s sole production facility. Rockenbaugh eventually hopes to expand that facility once the company is stronger.
He also is planning to open a long-awaited new location at Highland Marketplace at the intersection of Highland Road and Perkins Road East. Those plans have been delayed, however, because the development of the entire shopping center is running behind schedule.
“We believe our five remaining stores can grow,” Rockenbaugh says. “We know they can grow. But for now we have to sell of some of our assets and get strong again.”
—Stephanie Riegel
