CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Wall Street Journal called it the most frustrating chore: laundry!
A new Charlotte company is working to change that-- and even they were shocked at who their most loyal customers are.
“These have lots of bows on them. Lots of bows on them.”
Translating 2-year-old speak is just one of the things this busy mom of two Rebecca Fitzsimons spends her days doing. Not surprisingly, there's a lot of laundry, too.
“I was spending hours of my life doing laundry,” Fitzsimons says.
Not anymore.
“It’s been so freeing, been a really amazing service.”
Now, two Charlotte guys, childhood friends from Minnesota, are doing her laundry. They started a company called 2ULaundry.
“People ask why laundry? It's a dirty business.”
Alex Smerecznick first got into the laundry business as a college student. But after a stint in finance, he realized his college gig could work in the real world.
He called his best friend, Dan D’Aquisto.
“I quit my job packed up my Jeep and drove 20 hours to Charlotte and immediately got to work.”
They were sure they knew their ideal customer.
“Initially we thought it would be people like us, busy young professionals that lived in uptown and Southend, somebody who wanted convenience, used to using Uber.”
But it turns out, more of their customers are busy women. Moms all across Charlotte.
“It completely made sense to me and we never thought about it from that perspective because we're not that person.”
Here's how it works: customers go to their website and can customize everything-- from the laundry detergent they use to how you want things folded or hung. They even do dry-cleaning, alterations and shoe-shining.
Then here's the best part: they pick up your laundry, do your laundry and bring it back the very next day.
“It really was just a consuming daily task and it's great to have it off my plate,” Fitzsimons says of using the service. "Now I tell all of my girlfriends, 'you should do this!'”
So, what about the cost?
“We are a premium service. We're not going to tell you we're going to save you money, but we are convenient. It's time-saving.”
You can get four to six loads done for $30.
Rebecca says that is priceless.
They were finalists to get on Shark Tank and plan to expand to other cities soon.