A commitment to customers and the environment, an unbeatable work ethic and a promise to always buy American products are some of the reasons Paris Cleaners Inc. is celebrating 100 years in business.
Any day of the week David and Shep Franke, co-presidents of Paris Cleaners, are at work at the plant at 1013 E. Ash St. “Seven days a week,” said Shep Franke, “I couldn’t’ see doing it any other way or doing anything else.” Although he did add that as a concession to his wife, he tries to spend holidays at home.
In 1909, Shep and David’s great-great-grandfather, Carl David, and Carl David’s brother, Franz Franke, opened Paris City Cleaners and Furriers. He called it “Paris” because that’s where dry cleaning was invented, explained David Franke: “It was elegant and fashionable.”
David Franke handles the computer work, and Shep Franke is “the fixer of all things machine.” David Franke said if his relatives walked into the dry-cleaning plant right now, they could pitch right in.Shep Franke said even though the machines are old, they work extremely well, and it’s really not that hard to find parts. A labyrinth of belts and cables snakes around the top of the back room where the cleaning machines and dryers are located; the belt drive system is used to run everything in the cleaning plant.
“It still works,” said Shep Franke, and he starts the system up. In the front room, an equally complicated set of metalwork moves the clothes around the room to where each employee performs a set function.
Bedraggled blouses get new life and sagging suit coats regain their professional edge. Although the machines that look like an ironing board with a metal press on top look simple, the look is deceiving.
The green monstrosities — green paint was on sale, Shep Franke said with a deadpan look on his face — are very complicated.
“You control the weight of the press to put the crease on, the amount of steam, the amount of time of the pressing,” David Franke said, “all with a set of levers and foot pedals.”
Suit coats go through a number of steps after they are cleaned to get them back in shape. They are shaped on a form, buttoned and steamed, the back vent is folded just so, tamped down and steamed, and the shoulders are reset. David Franke showed how the job is done with an economy of motion that indicates he could probably clean and press in his sleep.
“Someone calls in sick, I step in,” said David Franke. “If the customer is promised their cleaning will be ready, it is ready just like it was 100 years ago.”
The dedication to the customer is evident in the company history. A fur storage vault once stayed open 24 hours a day with a watchman so customers could pick up their furs any time, wear them and then return them.
The Frankes subscribe to “buy American” with an admirable fervor. David Franke searched far and wide for American-made products and machinery to keep the plant going.
One of those items is a recyclable “green” garment bag. In the early days cleaning was returned on wooden hangers with twisted wire to form the loop. Clothes were wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine, then placed in paper wrappers on hangers and then in paper wrappers with the company’s polar bear logo, which is also visible in relief on the front and side of the building.
Then the clothes were encased in plastic slip covers on hangers.
“We got something where we could measure off the exact amount of plastic needed, but that still means something is being used and then wasted,” David Franke said. The “green” garment bag can be purchased for a one-time cleaning fee, and each time clothes are brought in, they can be hauled for cleaning in a drawstring bag, which is actually the garment bag turned upside down.
“It is then returned to the customer, cleaned and with clean clothing inside and hung up,” said David Franke. “It’s really catching on.”
The patriotism of the Frankes’ grandparents meant the company stayed open during World War II but changed direction a little bit.
“Grandpa Franke, in an effort to conserve petroleum for the war effort, closed down the cleaning part of the company, but he kept the business office and the fur storage business open,” David Franke said.
The company’s commitment to safeguarding the environment extends to the cleaning operation. Since the Frankes opened they’ve used petroleum-based cleaning solution rather then perchloroethylene — or perc — which became popular in the mid-1930s. With a propensity to cause skin irritation if dry-cleaned clothing is worn right after cleaning as well as a nose-tickling noxious smell, perc has fallen out of favor with other dry-cleaning establishments.
While some things change at Paris Cleaners — for instance, the large vault used to house expensive furs now holds beautiful wedding dresses, too — the commitment to family, history and customers stays the same. “We made it through the first 100 years,” Shep Franke said with a grin, “the next 100 will be a breeze.”
Paris CleanersParis Cleaners has four locations:
540 W. Monroe St.
910 South Grand Ave. W.
2623 West White Oaks Drive
1013 E. Ash St.
In addition to dry cleaning, everything from preservation of wedding dresses to military uniforms can be saved along with other memorabilia. In addition, David Franke III said a process perfected by is wife, Marika, is used to restore dresses as well as linens. Check the Web site, http://www.parisdrycleaners.com/, for more information.
Lucky 13
Throughout the years, the slogans originally coined by Carl David Franke Sr. for the cleaners as well as the iconic polar bear, have stood the test of time.
Gradually, Paris City Dry Cleaning Co. became Paris Cleaners and Furriers and then Paris Cleaners. The polar bear adorned some of the first paper covers for clean clothes, and now it guards the plant on Ash Street.
“Woven into the fabric of our city,” Paris Cleaners also used the slogan of “Everything back ’cept the dirt!” And then there’s the whole “13” campaign.
Grandfather Carl David Franke was one of 13 children, explains Shep Franke, co-president of Paris Dry Cleaners.
He and Shep and David’s father, C. David Franke Jr., were both born on a Friday the 13th. The original address of Paris City Dry Cleaners is 313 Monroe St. The address of the Ash Street plant is 1013 E. Ash St.,
The first phone number was Capitol 13. So one of the slogans was “Capitol 13 — unlucky for spots.”
By Kathleen Ostrander
Springfield Business News
Springfield Business News
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