The Modern Hotelier #228: Leading the Way in Hotel Laundry Appliances | with Zach Yaeger
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Steve Carran: Welcome to another episode of The Modern Hotelier. We're coming to you from the Trade show floor at the Hospitality Show in Denver, Colorado. We're joined by Zach Yaeger, Business Development Manager at LaundryLux. Very nice to meet you, Zach. How you doing today? 
Zach Yaeger: I'm doing great. Great to be in the Rocky Mountain.
Steve Carran: Yeah, absolutely. Zach, can you tell us a little bit more about your background and how you ended up at LaundryLux? 
Zach Yaeger: Yep. So I went to Binghamton University, and I was interning for an insurance company. The CEO at the time was getting ready to sell the company and move on. And he is like, Hey, you should reach out to this company, reach out to the president. I know him very well. I think it'd be a great fit there. So I reached out, I became an intern the next summer, they reached out to me, said, Hey, we have some openings full time. And come in for an interview, we'll see where you fit. And 12 years later, I am still at the company. So it's been amazing. I've been in different roles and. It's been a lot of fun, a lot of fun. 
Steve Carran: That's awesome. Very cool. You don't hear many people sticking around at the same company for 12 years, so great to hear. So I've been walking around the show and there's been a couple laundry companies here. What separates laundry looks compared to those other companies?
Zach Yaeger: I think specifically with the company, it's just a very family oriented company, which is why I've been here for 12 years. The CEO's door's always open, everyone knows his name, you know, the president's door's always open. Everyone knows his name Chairman of the board, same thing, this is the third, fourth generation of the company as well. So it's been really, really family oriented and specifically with our brands, it's a European based company, so there's, the technology behind the equipment is very, very advanced. You'll notice right away savings in all utilities, water, electric, et cetera. You'll see that right up from the front just because of how much background information is going into these machines.
So they're very, very smart, they look beautiful, you know, our main warehouse is out in New York. We have multiple properties, so it's not just coming from Europe. We stock 'em in New York, but it's a European based machine. So again, the technology behind it is very, very advanced. 
Steve Carran: Very nice. And you touched base on it a little bit, but what problems specifically in hospitality are you solving with laundry life?
Zach Yaeger: I think the biggest thing is lead times, you know, comparing it to a laundromat, for example, the process of a laundromat may take six months to a year even hotels, you don't have that. You know, if a machine goes down, they have two, they need that second machine asap. So we've done an amazing job at launch, lots of stocking equipment full-time at our warehouse one in New York. We have some in California, in Texas, in Washington. So we have equipment kind of all over the country. So if you're in a bind and you need equipment asap, we are ahead of the game. We just ordered more machines we may necessarily need, so we're always in stock in case you need it. That goes for our washers, our dryers our larger ironers even some specialty electric drivers that you don't normally see. So the biggest thing is lead time, and we are ahead of the game, you know, second will be kinda with the tariffs and everything that's gone on is the pricing, we're working hand in hand with Electrolux to counteract that. So you know, you're not seeing 10 to 20% price increases. It's much, much, much lower than that. 
Steve Carran: That's great. And where do you see the laundry industry going within the hospitality industry over the next couple years? 
Zach Yaeger: I think it's only gonna get bigger. I mean, I travel a lot for work, so I'm in different states, different, you know, cities all throughout the year. And the first thing you notice when you get there is how many new hotels are being built, how many condos are being built. I mean, it's unbelievable to see no matter where you are, you can be in a big city, growing city like Charlotte or Nashville, or you could be in a kind of up and coming city and you're still seeing more and more, more hotels being built. So I think the market's only gonna continue to grow. And I'm very, very excited that we're here and continuing to be in this market. 
Steve Carran: And how does LaundryLux get in front of those hoteliers, aside from coming to the hospitality? 
Zach Yaeger: Well, I mean, aside from this show, we have other shows we go to. I mean, there's a HOA show we go to, whether it's the regional or you know, the big one. We go mark it on LinkedIn, we market on other social medias, we have these things called kind of like blitzes, where we just go to different cities and we'll stop in different hotels and we'll drop our card off.
So anything, any word of mouth is the biggest thing. We're just constantly traveling and going to these events and it's been amazing. 
Steve Carran: It's been, you know, really, really successful. That's great. That's great. So, what's next for laundry looks? 
Zach Yaeger: I think you're only gonna see it getting bigger and bigger. When I started here, we had about 30 to 50 employees. Fast forward 12 years, we're over 200, probably closer to two 50 like I said, our first Christmas party was at a little restaurant. Now it's at a massive country club. So I think, you know within LaundryLux only getting bigger and our main motto is be bold.
So we're always looking for ways to advance, you know, our product and what we see in the industry and things we see that customers aren't so happy with. Hey Electrolux, why don't we try this? They're right. You know, they listen to us always, you know, we are, are their North American authorized, you know, distribution companies? So, you know, we work hand in hand with them and that's only growing the. Relationship between us, which will only make everything else better, bigger.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. And what's next for LaundryLux? 
Zach Yaeger: I think, you know, you're just gonna see more and more advances in technology and our soft mountain machine is only getting bigger and brighter our ironers are only getting faster and more involved in a market. Again, we're going off of what we see from other our competitors. Hey, they do this, or they don't do this. Why don't we work on this? So I think, you know, again, we're just so hand in hand with our authorized. You know, with Electrolux that it's a great partnership. It's a great partnership. 
Steve Carran: So we're in front of this impressive machine here. Can you tell us a little bit more about it? 
Zach Yaeger: So this is our solid mount machine. This is our one 30 G Force machine. You know, a lot of standing machines are a hundred GForce. This is a ready 30, you know, 30 G force tire GForce is how it spins, how fast it spins. The faster the washer spins, the less time it'll be in the dryer. So, we have 130 G-Force. This is available in six or seven different capacities, we have one size, higher up, same thing, 200 GForce. And then we have our soft mount, which is a 400 GForce. This particular machine, um, is our standard one 30 GForce machine.
It's available in multiple co, you know, in stainless and gray front. So you have options, it's available again in multiple sizes. And it's a perfect, perfect machine for, you know, motels, hotels. You know, again, you're gonna see the savings in water right away. You're gonna see weight savings in utilities right away. It's compatible with any account of a company. So no matter who you use, we can work with you to make it work. So I think that's the most exciting thing is just besides the look of it, it's just bigger capacity than some of the other brands. It's faster spinning than some of the other brands and it's right in line with pricing than some of the other brands. So it's a great product for any market and in particular the hotel market. 
Steve Carran: Sure. Absolutely. So for those that are interested in getting in touch with you or LaundryLux, what's the best way? 
Zach Yaeger: I would send you the email or LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn. You can always, you know, follow me on LinkedIn, shoot me a message. Or you can, can even call into our main number, ask to speak to Zach. Our receptionist will, you know, get me right in, get to me right away. So either email, contact our main office or LinkedIn I would say would be the best way to reach me for now zyeager@laundrylux.com 
Steve Carran: Beautiful. Well, Zach, thanks so much for letting us stop by the booth. Your booth has been busy since we stepped here, so we appreciate the time. 
Zach Yaeger: Thank you so much for something. Thank you.
Steve Carran: Thank you.