Jackson Jambalaya

This really sucks.
Bad.

Sad to see a 40 year old locally owned business closing. Jackson is emptying the barrel one teaspoon at a time.

When they discontinued the home pickup & delivery in my area, I had to find another dry cleaner. Used them for probably 20 years.

A win for woke. Tear it down so no
one has any "nice things"

I see three of them. Are you saying that they're closing them all?

@2:34 They are closing all locations in the Metro, not just Jackson.

I'm surprised they stayed in Jackson for as long as they did.

The fortification street location has been acquired and will not be closing. Wish I could say more but that's all I can reveal for now.

Hallmark Cleaners in Jackson or also the ones in metro area?

I boycotted this place after an old lady working there was incredibly and aggressively rude to me. That was over 5 years ago. I swore I would never go again and alas, I stayed true to my commitment.

The United Cleaners is buying the Fortification store. They have Been in Business in Vicksburg since 1929.
Www.unitedcleanersinc.com

@2:46 - you think hallmark cleaners is woke? A lot of people need to come to their senses and quit calling everything they don’t like woke, racist, or socialist. Are this many people really so brainwashed by the political news personalities that they just parrot their talking points without thinking about the issue themselves?

Slow down, 3:51, I think you misinterpreted 2:46.

More business for Trace Cleaners. That's the last place I took my dry cleaning.

Hate to see that they are closing but I don’t find this terribly surprising. Hardly anyone dresses up anymore. I work in professional services and jeans are allowed but the lengths to which people abuse the casual dress code is astonishing. Call me old fashioned (I’m not even 40), but I miss the days of seeing people take pride in their attire. The need for dry cleaning has surely declined.

As an employer myself it is getting increasingly more difficult to acquire “workable” employees that have any work ethic whatsoever. I wish they could stay open another 40 years but at some point in time you ask yourself “why am I torturing myself like this?” You sure can’t hire any “scholars” out of Jackson, that’s for sure. It’s getting to a point where life as we knew it when we were younger is slowly disappearing not just here but everywhere. I wish the owners good luck and a great retirement. I know they struggled with having to do this but in reality you just can’t sustain a business without “workable, usable, unstupid (I made that word up because it’s the truth), lazy, incompetent people. All of us are going through this as business owners. You wonder how to reinvent the wheel to make it keep going but sometimes you just hit a brick wall. As a kid I used to enjoy going to Martins in Mart 51 and watch the conveyor bring your clothes around and as you walked in there was a “shoeshine machine”. I loved to use that thing! Yep…I miss those days of the late 60’s early 70’s. Man, we had it good and didn’t know it

3:48 - that's a long time to carry a grudge. Lighten up.

"...and other factors." Gee whiz, I wonder what they could be as crime is only a perception.

How many white collar professionals are still going to the office?
Just attorneys, right?
I don’t think there are enough of them to support the dry cleaning industry.
Society just doesn’t need that many dry cleaners anymore.
Working class plebs don’t need dry cleaners.

People use dry cleaners far less than they use to. Few wear coat and ties to work anymore, or church. One can get shirts and pants in wrinkle free cotton that only has to be washed and dried. This saves the consumer hundreds of dollars every year. Plus, wrinkle free cotton looks better and stays wrinkle free all day compared to pants and shirts that require ironing and starch. Dry cleaners are going the way of the newspaper business.

I do hate for any Jackson business to close.
But I was turned off by them when an aggressive salesperson came by my house to recruit my business. It was early one morning and I was getting dressed. He started ringing my doorbell repeatedly, then started banging loudly and nonstop on the door. I grabbed my robe and ran to the door, thinking surely my house is on fire or a neighbor is in trouble! Nope. There was a man on my porch and the Hallmark van in my driveway. He immediately thrust a cleaner's bag at me and started talking fast. I interrupted him and told him he'd better not ever pull into our driveway again, that no one acted like that unless there was an emergency. Undeterred, he continued, explaining where to drive a nail into our porch to hang the bag with our dirty clothes so he could see it. I stood there with my mouth open as he walked away. Thinking something might be a little off with him and that he was just trying to earn a living, I called the cleaners, told them what happened and that they might want to coach him on his sales and customer service skills. They didn't seem to care.

You think it's just "Jackson" (we all knew what you meant) kids that don't want to work? I know business owners in the service and restaurant industries in Madison and Rankin and they are having the same problems with kids who want a check but don't want to work or they expect to have weekends off and be able to call in sick at the last minute.

I used to own and operate American Discount Cleaners in Ridgeland for almost 30 years, the dry cleaning industry really took a downturn after the financial markets crashed in 2008, people are dressing down for work, church and social gatherings....not really a whole lot to do with Jackson per se, it's just that the need for dry cleaning and laundry has dropped significantly as a whole.

Like kingfish says, it’s the kids fault that businesses are closing. They need to shut up, put their heads down and work regardless if the pay makes sense. Kids should not expect a decent wage for their work. If you really want to take your girlfriend out for a nice dinner, you may have to work a few weeks manual labor.

You guys really think it’s the city of Jackson’s fault that office workers nationwide aren’t dressing up as much as they used to?

I realize that many of us beat up on things that we don’t like, but at least be self-aware about it.

@3:51 PM = Reading comprehension failure. Wake up!

@kevin

I sure miss your store. Thanks for sticking it out as long as you did.

I’ll miss Hallmark too.

Anyone who is educated and has read Marx can immediately recognize that this is textbook Late-stage Capitalism

More like retiring, I've they've sold a couple of locations.

3:48pm, Yay for you! You really showed them. Are you over six years old? Way to get your vengeance on an old lady making next to nothing who didn’t kiss your ass. And you had the nads to post about it.

I think that after a person/family runs their business for 30, 40, 50 yrs, unless there is an immediate child or employee who has the similar makeup of the owner toward the biz, it's just 'game over'... I'm tired...paid my dues... and ready to check out.

If you look around, you'll see (actually you won't see because so, so many have done this and are now gone) all around Jackson. Names, businesses and generations pass before you know it. Most are not old enough to romanticize that list..

It's not just dry cleaning. When my man and I first married, he observed my ironing ability and decided to send his shirts to the cleaners. Let that be a lesson to you, young ladies.

Montes in Brandon can't find employees. Hallmark can't find employees. Ridgeland Police need 13 officers - can't find them. Madison Police have slots for 85 and won't tell you how many openings. Wendys in Madison can't find employees. Amazon still needs hundreds.

How many did Covid kill? Is our federal government lying to us?

In 2004, right out of law school, I was dropping off 5-7 shirts and 2-3 pairs of pants per week.

I might have dropped off 4-5 shirts last year. Non-iron shirts, easy care clothing have cut my dry cleaning needs. Then COVID hit and the dress code changed.

Nice employees. Sorry to see this. Sorry the world changed.

Nowadays, wrinkled clothing is fashionable. It no longer has to be seer-sucker. The entire workforce has dressed down, just like the church-crowd.

Shirts and pants straight out of the dryer go on a clothes hanger. Dry-cleaning is rarely done any more...and who wants to pay somebody $3.75 to wash and quick-iron a shirt?

You are on the verge of seeing stores like JCP, Belk and others close down. Sears is already history. Radio-Shack and similar electronic outlets disappeared years ago. Where, other than Cowboy Baloney will you see a TV and appliance store, once the mainstay of every community? Best Buy, sadly, is all that's left.

Jewelry stores? What the hell is keeping those snooty places afloat? It's too easy to shop on-line. And you know damned well that college campuses will be obsolete in twenty years, if not sooner.

The Mississippi Legislature, though, has got the solutions. They're already attempting to keep automobile dealerships afloat and now they're on the verge of showing us that we don't need hospitals in rural areas.

The Times They Are a Changin'...

@Kevin- I used your dry cleaners for years. Never had any problems. Switched to Hallmark, then Safeway.

Minimum wage is so high now, teens can't make an entre' into making and saving money. Democrats think hamburger flipping is worth $15+/hr, so low skill jobs are not filled because businesses can't force teens to be worth that much.

I learned to iron fast in high-school because I liked pressed shirts back then. My wife won't iron my shirts cause she knows I can do my own and fast.

The trick to ironing fast is to hang them to dry, that lets gravity start the ironing and makes the shirt last many years longer than putting in the dryer.

Covid did not physically murder people en masse, 11:46.
It did however, kill the work ethic in millions.

Hard workers are close to extinction post-Covid.

Hallmark folks were nice and professional. The world changed. Wish them well.

Everyone used to use Dry Cleaning. Now, the affluent dress like the wash-n-wear crowd, leaving civility and the dry cleaning business back in the 20th century. It's denim, no-iron shirts, and white-sole shoes at the best restaurants. And blue blazers and boots at the "formal" with his date's cocktail dress. The business of dry cleaning is the victim of America's affluent preference to look like the least of society.

NE jackson can't pull the drycleaning wagon by itself-

Like several have stated, I think it's a multi-faceted issue. Labor shortages are part, but also I used to get my clothes dry cleaned weekly. Now with the non-iron wrinkle free clothes I can wear slacks and dress shirts cleaned at home. I haven't used a cleaners in 7-8 years now.

Agree with posters that many nails went into this coffin.

At home dry cleaning kits ten years ago were useful to save money, and now if the label says dry-clean only its getting hand washed and hung to dry.

I have not used a service in probably 10 years either.

I was recently speaking to the owner of the cleaners I use. He said he has been able to maintain a good industrial staff but has been understaffed at the customer counter for years. He can't find people who 1) have good people skills, 2) are diligent, honest, and reliable, and 3) are willing to learn enough about the dry-cleaning business to do the job.

I hope the rumors are true about the fortification location. I need my weekly dry cleaning.

Dear Over- reactors,

As a customer, I'm aware that Wells' Cleaners is taking over.
Geez, when family businesses are sold, they don't always sell their names like the Primos' did.
This is certainly proof that too many people on this site "assume the worst" without bothering with getting relevant facts.
Indeed, even the home pick up and delivery service will continue as usual.
My source? Hallmark sent texts to all their customers.
Y'all should aspire to be a "class act" as well.

Good Lord y'all!
Dryel is fine for some textiles, but I hope y'all are using it for cashmere, silk or other fine textiles!
Did your Momma's not teach you how to care for nice things?!!

Millennials don't won't to work. They want their Starbucks, play on their phone, and demand sick days (when they aren't sick).

Our work force has been decimated.

The safety nets, employee lawsuits, constant bitching about "not my job" and many other factors are really beginning to take their toll.

Nobody wants to do shit anymore but have a good time.

Thanks democrats. Your policies have caused every bit of these problems.

That's some stunning elitism, 8:49. Seriously, were elitism an Olympic event you'd be weeping on the center podium while the national anthem plays.

As a member of the least of us, and I don't mean to speak for all of us, growing up without much meant you learned not to spend money on dumb things. For every one of you expensive outfits, that's lessons or activities I can buy for my kids.

The peasants are truly revolting, aren't they?

Wells Cleaners picking up lots of the slacks :-)

Seriously

Everyone claiming that no one wants to work. How are all these "unemployable" people eating and paying rent? Certainly there's been no rise in welfare and tanf benefits being paid.

The real answer is that people aren't willing to do crap jobs for crap pay anymore. There are enough decent jobs with decent pay to take workers from the terrible companies who inhabit the bottom rungs of society and who (used to be able to) abuse their employees.

The No Iron golf shirt has totally changed my dry cleaning needs. Wash and dry at home, hang up, no wrinkles. Unlike cotton golf shirts that I had to take to the cleaners every week. I took all the cotton ones to Goodwill. Also, during Covid I started wearing jeans to work, and I am still wearing jeans to work.
Can't think of a faster change of consumer habit ever in my time as an adult.

1:51 The problem with your spiel is that there will always be a supply of entry level, uneducated, less educated, unexperienced folks who, heretofore, took on jobs commensurate with experience. Problem today is that folks like you convince them to sit out and don't accept anything less than your counsel tells them.

There will always be "bottom rungs of society". That doesn't mean that they are bad, stupid or uncaring people. Not certain our society could function if everyone has the same station of life.

11:23 pm on 2/14
Whatta are you? A cheapskate or simply someone who can't do math?

Some of us understand the difference between quality.
I'm still wearing classic style clothing that was bought years ago. It's all about the textile and how it's made. Lining and good stitching matter just as in furniture wood that is properly dried, a drawer that is dovetailed not glued or tacked can be pulled open for centuries.
Your pieces will wear how and by the time you've replaced them you spent more than I did.
If educating oneself makes one "elite", I plead guilty.
If "elite" means I think you have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to succeed or have good manners or become educated ( including going to the best college or university you can get in and pay for, I plead " not guilty".
More than a few of my wealthiest friends come from humble beginnings but they didn't see the charm of staying staying ignorant and poor as a source of pride or a path to success. And, they are proud to have helped improve the lives of their families in the process!
We all have "cousins" like you who didn't try to make good grades, who hung out with the wrong kids and didn't observe the kids from good families, and see us as "uppity" because they are working for minimum wage and we worked hard to do better than that.
Yes, there are more of you that never look in the mirror or observe the world around you and never open a book that isn't going to challenge your rationalizations for not being well liked or successful.
We also know the "poor little rich boy" or " pitiful nerd" who doesn't understand why no one liked them at school and no one they wanted to "hang out with" admires them today!

1:23 pm It's because I bought a "few good things" that I could send my kids to private schools, show up without embarrassing them and have their friends over.
I did this by knowing the difference between "cost" and "value".
There is nothing wrong with "wash and wear" and "no iron" if it's well made and appropriate attire. But, not knowing how to properly take care of whatever you own is stupid.
Get real.

Well's Cleaners in Fondren is taking over the delivery routes. Got an email yesterday my same driver would continue to pick up the same schedule but it would all go to Wells so I don't know if there was a sale or what but maybe Hallmark's owners just got tired of dealing with it and sold it. Good for them. For all the racists, anti-Jackson, hate infused, jackasses on this thread, it had nothing to do with Jackson.

@10:51, you’re wrong. It DOES have a lot to do with Jackson. It’s pretty difficult to run a laundry and dry cleaners with no water. Now I cannot explain how Wells does it but I’ll say this, why would you punish yourself as a business person in an environment that your local leaders could care less whether you stay or leave? My choice would be to leave.

"How are all these "unemployable" people eating and paying rent?"

In your little diatribe, Pitty Pander, you failed to answer your own question. You suggest the answer is that 'people aren't willing to do crap jobs for crap pay anymore'. Explain how these 'stay at home' millennials can afford to do that. How indeed?

All these hundreds of thousands of people who only qualify for $9 to $12 per hour surely can't afford to even breathe and eat when making ZERO.

By the way $9 to $12 an hour is damned good money for people with zero customer-service skills, a sketchy work history and a resume composed of job-hopping.

Have you ever hired someone whose first question during an interview is 'What this job pay?'

Dry Cleaners going the way of cable tv, taxi cabs and working for a living.

Wash-n-Wear Crowd said...
"That's some stunning elitism, 8:49. Seriously, were elitism an Olympic event you'd be weeping on the center podium while the national anthem plays.

As a member of the least of us, and I don't mean to speak for all of us, growing up without much meant you learned not to spend money on dumb things. For every one of you expensive outfits, that's lessons or activities I can buy for my kids.
The peasants are truly revolting, aren't they?
February 14, 2023 at 1:23 PM

I suppose I should question why, if your career trajectory and prospects did not indicate the probability that you would have enough money to rear multiple children properly, you CHOSE TO HAVE MULTIPLE CHILDREN. You have/had to choose between dressing-well, and providing "lessons and activities" for your children? The price difference between Zanella trousers and "Dockers", is/was going to break you?

Or, if you're Blue Collar, I suppose it's the difference between True Religion jeans, and some sort of bargain loserwear from Sears. Last time I was in Mississippi, we were in the Dogpatch Kroger, and spotted a tall, dark-haired guy in True Religion jeans and a spectacular black & white plaid shirt. The jeans were "stacked" over hot-looking cowboy boots (the plain kind, not the silly kind). He came across as a total STUD, despite being a tad overweight, and not an obvious Gym Rat. Those jeans, and that shirt, gave the ILLUSION of his having yard-wide shoulders and a great butt. Looks like that, get you noticed, and hired/recruited as a resource/agent/associate. He'd be valuable working for ME, because I'd know people would listen to what he had to say - whether it was about a concrete pour or a building punchlist or the grading on a jobsite. Customers and functionaries would be eating out of his hands.

Saving a few bucks, and coming across as a dumpy loser, will get you IGNORED/passed-over. What you say, will be discounted/dissed. Doesn't matter if it's business wear or work clothes.

But please: continue as you are! Contrary to the old platitude, there is NOT "always room at the top". We NEED people who are content with their lot in life. Imagine how horrible the world would be, if everyone were simultaneously clawing their way upward! We NEED breeders, pumping-out new fodder for our economic engine.

And, if it makes you feel better, you can continue saying things like, "Folks who really have money, are down-earth. You'd never know they have a dime to their name. They drive old trucks."

When you have to say “it had nothing to do with Jackson” means it had everything to do with Jackson.