A small retail lease (200 to 400 sq ft)
Ground floor, street-visible, secure entry. Look for second-tier retail strips near apartments, transit, or universities. Targets: $1,500 to $3,500/month rent.
For operators who want a storefront, without staff, washers, or counter
A 24/7 storefront. No staff. No washers.
Lease a small retail unit, install a locker bank, and run a fully unattended laundry pickup-and-delivery storefront. Lower fit-out cost than a laundromat. No employees on payroll. Always open. Always on-brand.
Already have a location that said yes? The button on the right opens the locker order form. Prefer to talk first? Book a 15 minute call.
Typical retail bank15 to 25lockers, about $10 to 11kShipping included. No washers, no payroll.
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Take the locker model. Give it a front door.
A 24/7 retail locker store is exactly what it sounds like: a small retail unit (200 to 400 sq ft) fitted out with a locker bank, signage, and a QR sign-up flow. Customers drop off, the cleaning is processed by a partner laundromat or plant offsite, and the customer collects from the same locker.
No washers on-site. No dryers. No counter. No staff. The entire footprint is the locker bank, signage, and a clean, well-lit room people feel safe walking into at midnight.
Typical setup
200 to 400 sq ftFootprint
15 to 25 unitsLocker count
About $15,000Total fit-out
ZeroOn-site staff
24 / 7Operating hours
Outsourced partnerCleaning
Compared to the other paths
Each model trades capital for control. The 24/7 retail store sits in the middle: more capital and commitment than the locker-first model, far less than buying a laundromat, with the advantage of a permanent branded street presence.
| Locker-first business | 24/7 retail store | Buying a laundromat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total capital | $5K to $15K | About $15K to $25K | $200K to $500K+ |
| Lease required | None | Yes (small unit) | Yes (5 to 10 yr) |
| On-site staff | None | None | 3 to 8 |
| Open hours | Building access | 24 / 7 public | Counter hours |
| Brand control | Shared with building | Full | Full |
| Walk-in foot traffic | None | Yes (compounds) | Yes |
| Time to live | 4 to 6 weeks | 8 to 12 weeks | 6 to 18 months |
| Best for | Capital-light entrants | Operators ready to commit | Acquirers |
What the retail store unlocks
Permanent street presence
A storefront customers walk past and remember. Your sign builds awareness 24 hours a day. Foot traffic compounds; apartment placements rely on resident churn.
True 24/7 access
Apartment lockers depend on building access policies. A retail store is publicly accessible at 2am, capturing late-shift workers, hospitality staff, gym-goers, and anyone whose schedule doesn't fit a 9 to 5 counter.
Full brand and UX control
No building manager to negotiate with. No shared lobby aesthetics. The space is yours to design, light, and brand exactly the way the customer experience demands.
Replicable unit economics
The fit-out is a template. Once your first store works, the second is a copy-paste. This is how chains get built, without ever buying a single washer.
Zero payroll
A cleaning partner processes orders. The lockers handle drop-off and pickup. You handle nothing in person. Your operating cost is rent + utilities + cleaning revenue share.
Lower risk than a laundromat
No washers means no plumbing. No dryers means no gas line. No staff means no payroll, no scheduling, no HR. The store has fewer ways to break than a traditional laundromat.
What you need to launch
A locker bank (typically 15 to 25 units)
Mix of WDF, multi-purpose, and long-door units depending on your service mix. About $8,000 to $13,000 delivered including freight.
A cleaning partner
A nearby laundromat or plant willing to process your orders for a revenue share or wholesale rate. Pickups typically run twice daily.
Software (Laundry Wise or your POS)
Handles orders, payments, notifications, and access codes. Laundry Wise software has no monthly fee. Or integrate with CleanCloud, Cents or SMRT.
Signage, lighting, security camera
External branding, well-lit interior, electronic door access, security camera. About $1,500 to $3,000 total. Critical for both customer trust and insurance.
Marketing and launch plan
Local Google Ads, neighbourhood flyers, opening offer, partnership with nearby gyms and apartment buildings. Our Resident Usage Marketing Pack covers the launch.
Elite Dry Cleaners: from staffed counter to fully automated 24/7
A long-running Melbourne dry cleaner converted one of its stores into a fully unattended locker storefront. This is what the build looked like and what running it looks like now.
Inside the converted store after fit-out: locker bank, branded signage, customer instructions, no staff.
The "before", why this conversion happened
A staffed counter is the most expensive part of a laundry retail store, and the most fragile.
The model was straightforward: a counter staffed during business hours, customers drop off, customers come back. Staff cost is one of the biggest line items in a typical store. The bigger problem usually isn't the cost, it's what it does to customers.
Counter staff go on breaks. They take lunches. They close for the night while half of a working-professional customer base is still at the office. People show up to drop off or collect dry cleaning and find a closed door, like the customer in this photo, on the phone outside, waiting for someone to come back.
Each one of those moments is a bad customer experience and a missed transaction at the same time. Stack enough of them up and you get a store that's busy with regulars but can't grow past them, capped by the hours one person can sit at a counter.
Three weeks of build to remove the counter forever
Lockers installed where the counter used to be. Cut-out signage on the wall. Branded instructions for customers. No washers, no dryers; cleaning happens at the main plant offsite.
No counter. No staff schedule. Lights stay on.
The cleaning still happens at the operator's main plant. A customer's order leaves the locker, gets cleaned, and comes back the next day. The locker is the entire customer-facing operation.
Why operators run unattended stores
Three things every locker-only store operator gets back: their counter labour hours, their opening hours, and a model they can scale beyond a single address.
Opening hours
24/7
Customers drop off and pick up on their schedule, including overnight and weekends.
No counter staff
No counter
The lockers are the customer-facing operation. The cleaning still happens at your plant.
Built to expand
Multi-site
Once the pilot is live, the same model drops into apartments, offices, and gyms.
vs a staffed store
Lower fit-out
A locker-only retail store needs less square footage, no counter, and no front-of-house build-out.
"My wife and I decided against reinventing the wheel and went with Dan. We saved enough time and money to make it well worth it."
Then they expanded. Once the retail location is automated, the same locker model drops into apartment buildings, offices, gyms, and gated communities nearby. Building installs are typically a fraction of a retail fit-out and don't require new leases or staff, so a single retail address can become the anchor for a multi-site network. We send recommended locations and a sales kit to help land the first few buildings.
Real orders. Real customers. No counter staff.
Operators and buildings using our lockers
Sample economics for one unit
Ranges based on operator data. Actual results depend on local market, foot traffic, pricing, and partnership terms.
| Conservative | Realistic | Strong | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orders / week | 30 | 60 | 120+ |
| Average ticket | $30 | $35 | $40 |
| Monthly revenue | $3,900 | $9,100 | $19,200+ |
| Rent | ($2,500) | ($2,500) | ($2,500) |
| Cleaning partner cost | ($1,560) | ($3,640) | ($7,680) |
| Software + utilities | ($300) | ($300) | ($300) |
| Net profit / month | ($460) | $2,660 | $8,720 |
| Payback on $20K fit-out | n/a | About 7.5 mo | About 2.5 mo |
Conservative scenario shows a small loss, typical for the first 60 to 90 days during ramp-up. Most operators reach the realistic scenario within 4 to 6 months.
This model works best for...
Existing laundromat operators
You already have a cleaning operation. The retail store becomes a satellite drop-off, extending your reach into neighbourhoods where you can't justify a full laundromat.
Locker network operators ready to step up
You started with apartment placements, validated demand, and want a permanent branded location. The retail store is the natural next step.
Founders comparing this to a laundromat purchase
If you're sitting on $200K and considering a laundromat, three or four 24/7 retail stores might serve more neighbourhoods, with less risk per location.
Common questions
Why not just buy a laundromat instead?
You can, and many operators eventually do. But a laundromat costs 10 to 20x more, requires a long lease, and needs staff. The 24/7 retail store gets you a branded street presence at a fraction of the capital, and lets you validate the location before scaling. Many operators run 3 to 5 retail stores for the cost of buying one laundromat.
Don't I need a laundromat to do the cleaning?
No, you partner with one. Most cities have laundromat operators who will gladly take wholesale wash-dry-fold contracts. The economics work because you bring them volume they wouldn't otherwise capture, and they handle fulfilment for a fixed per-pound rate or revenue share. We provide the partnership templates.
How do I find the right retail location?
Look for second-tier strips with apartment density nearby, near transit, near gyms or universities. The rent should be 30 to 40% below prime retail. The space needs ground-floor access, secure entry, and reliable lighting. We provide a location-scouting checklist as part of the launch package.
What about insurance and liability?
Standard small-business liability covers the storefront. The lockers themselves include locking mechanisms with audit trails; every access is logged. You'll typically also carry cleaner's bond coverage that flows through to your cleaning partner's insurance. Total insurance cost is usually $80 to $150/month.
Can I run more than one location?
Yes, and that's where the model gets really interesting. Once your first store is operational, the second one is a copy. Same software, same partnership template, same locker spec. Operators who've validated their first location often add a second within 6 to 9 months and a third by month 12.
How does this differ from automating an existing laundromat?
Automating a laundromat keeps the washers, dryers, and counter; the lockers extend hours and reduce attended labour. A 24/7 retail store has no washers or dryers on-site. The cleaning is processed offsite by a partner. The store is purely a branded drop-off and pickup point.
Inside your fit-out plan
After you submit your LOE, our team scopes the unit and builds a personalised fit-out package within 2 business days. Here's what's in it.
Total fit-out cost breakdown
Lockers + freight, signage, lighting, electronic door access, security camera, and software setup. Single all-in number for your unit.
Locker mix recommendation
15 to 25 unit configuration sized to your space, service mix (WDF, dry cleaning, hanging), and target order volume.
Cleaning partnership outline
How to structure the revenue share or wholesale rate with your nearby laundromat partner. Sample agreement template included.
Launch and marketing plan
Local Google Ads setup, neighbourhood flyer templates, opening offer, and partnership outreach list to nearby gyms and apartment buildings.
Form takes about 10 minutes. Reviewed by an operator who has built retail locker stores. No commitment until you sign.
How a 24/7 store comes together
Most operators do it in this order. Each step is optional on its own, and nothing locks you in.
Get started, $299
Laundry Wise software set up in your brand, the twenty sales and marketing assets, your business website and an onboarding call. This is what you pitch buildings with.
What is includedGo and win locations
Apartment buildings, offices, gyms, gas stations, universities. The pitch deck, landing page and proposal letter are written for that meeting; the playbooks tell you who says yes and why.
Where lockers goOrder lockers on a Letter of Engagement
When a location says yes, order the bank for it. The LOE confirms locker mix, exact freight to the address and the timeline, with a 50% deposit. Lockers ship in about 60 to 90 days.
Locker pricing and the order formFor a retail store the location is a lease, not a building manager, so many founders order lockers and the setup in the same week. Either order works.
Ready to scope a 24/7 retail store?
Get started with the software and the pack, then send us the unit you have in mind, your budget and your operations situation. The Letter of Engagement comes back within 2 business days with a fit-out plan, a locker recommendation and a partnership outline.
Order your unattended retail kit. 15 to 25 lockers, about $10 to 11k.
A 200 to 400 sq ft unattended store kit: a tuned locker mix (Multi-Purpose, WDF, Express-Drop), software setup, payment configuration, and the launch playbook. Submit your order with target retail location and we'll confirm freight, fit-out timing, and your launch plan in the LOE within 2 business days.
Why we build lockers, in the founder's own words
An open letter from Daniel Ezekiel Paul on how the company got here, what has been rebuilt, and the operator playbooks every customer now gets, including two free downloadable PDFs.
