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The story of Royal Cleaners began in late 1985 when local businessman Hunter Burney purchased the two locations of One Hour Martinizing dry cleaning in Clarksville. Royal Cleaners has grown over the years but the stores at 814 Providence Boulevard and 1784 Madison Street remain at their same location to this day.
In 1995 the decision was made to drop the One Hour Martinizing franchise and change the name to Royal Cleaners. In the early days of the business each separate location handled the dry cleaning dropped off at that store but in 1998 a plant was built behind the Laundromat on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard. Since then all of the dry cleaning services are handled at that plant with 10 to 15 spots around town serving as drop off and pick up locations.
In 2003 Hunter Burney sold the business to his son Justin Burney and his stepson Matthew Singer who are partners in the
business. “When Matt and I took over in 2003, I guess from then until now the main thing that we’ve tried to focus on and improving every year is quality. Obviously if the customers aren’t getting top notch quality back then they’re probably going to go somewhere else,” Justin Burney said.“We took the initiative about five years ago to start replacing all of our equipment and that is one of our biggest advantages over our competitors. Once your equipment gets outdated, you cannot produce the quality that you can with something that is produced over here in this plant. All the way from cleaning to pressing everything is just top notch now. Our quality is our main goal because I think it starts there,” Singer said.
Burney emphasized the importance of their customers and how they work to make sure every customer is satisfied with the service they receive and treated with respect. Burney also talked about the employees at Royal Cleaners, many of whom have been with the company for a long time saying they work extremely hard and take a lot of pride in what they do. “They’re actually one of the most important parts of this business. If you don’t have good employees backing you up then it’s just not going to get done right,” Singer added.
Royal Cleaners offers a number of additional services along with their regular dry cleaning and laundry that many people may not be aware of. They feature a pick up and drop off service twice a week for local businesses at no additional charge and you will also find full alteration services at Royal Cleaners. Plus, the Royal Cleaners stores on Riverside Drive and Wilma Rudolph Boulevard not only offer drop off and pick up for dry cleaning but also a full service Laundromat. Same day service is another feature offered by Royal Cleaners. Every day they have two or three vehicles making stops at each one of their pick up and drop off locations around Clarksville. If Royal Cleaners has it by 9:00 in the morning the customer can have it back at any of the locations where it was dropped off by 5:00 in the afternoon. The same day service is available on weekdays but not on the weekend.
There is also a branch of Royal Cleaners that many people may not be aware of which is New Day Uniforms and Linen. Hunter Burney talked about how he wanted to get into the uniform and linen business and found out about six years ago another company, Unifirst, had bought out United Industrial & Linen which at the time was the largest company of its kind in Clarksville.
Burney said he met with Keith Copeland who had been manager at United Industrial & Linen for many years and a deal was struck with Copeland who is now a managing partner with Royal Cleaners. After purchasing a building at 650 Horace Crow Drive and setting up the new business, New Day Uniforms and Linen made their first delivery in May of 2007. The company’s work, which is managed by Copeland, is mainly commercial with renting, leasing and direct sales of uniforms, shop rags, welcome mats and bathroom products.
You’ll find Royal Cleaners locations at 2075 Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, 1049 Riverside Drive, 1784 Madison Street, 814 Providence Boulevard and also John’s Cleaners which is part of the Royal family at 117 Strawberry Alley in downtown Clarksville. Royal Cleaners is a member of the Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce and they work with local schools, churches and non-profit organizations offering discounts for their services.
To learn more about what Royal Cleaners can do for you or for your business call (931) 552-9596 or visit www.royalcleanersofclarksville.com.
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