Young entrepreneur presses into the dry cleaning business

Jul 31, 2023

Tyler Lewis owns and operates Lewis Cleaners in Harrisburg.

Tyler Lewis (holding giant scissors) is surrounded by members of the Saline County Chamber of Commerce during the ribbon cutting of his dry cleaning business earlier this year.

Tyler Lewis never intended to be in the dry cleaning business. Now he is not interested in doing anything else.

The 26-year-old native of Hardin County was working in the lawn care business in Western Kentucky, when one of his clients took a liking to him.

“I was taking care of the lawn of a lady that owned the local dry cleaning business and she was in bad health and had recently had back surgery,” Lewis recalled. “I would help her out at her house, but didn’t want anything to do with the dry cleaning business.”

Lewis said keeping his distance from the cleaners did not last long.

“She told me that she had too many things going on and I was the only one she could trust, so I learned how to do it and I stayed.”

As her health continued to deteriorate, she decided to sell the business and looked to Lewis.

“I bought the business for a little bit of nothing from her and there I went,” he said.

Lewis operated the Bowling Green business for a couple of years until health issues in his own family led him to return to Southern Illinois.

“I realized that life is too short. I figured if I could sell the dry cleaners, I’d move back to Harrisburg,” he explained. “Turns out, I sold it within about an hour to a woman who had always wanted to own a cleaners."

As part of the deal, Lewis kept some equipment with an eye on starting his own dry cleaners in Saline County. That vision became reality earlier this year when Lewis Cleaner opened in Harrisburg.

“Dry cleaning is not a hard concept; it wasn’t a big learning curve for me, but I had to learn the textiles and what to do and not what to do. The thing is, I’ve been into this four years and I’m still learning,” he said.

He said he was nervous about opening a new dry cleaning operation, especially because Harrisburg had been without a cleaner for more than a decade. However, things have gone very well for the business during its first few months.

“We had almost 200 people on the first day and I thought it would slow down because that’s how it is with new business, but this one has done everything but slow down. We’re still seeing 100 to 200 people every day,” he said.

Many come for what people think of as traditional dry cleaning, but a majority of Lewis’ customers take advantage of other services ranging from laundry to shirt pressing and cowboy starching – a service that helps the pants repel dirt and reduces the need for washing.

“I’m the only one between Carbondale and Evansville that will do it and it’s huge for me,” he added.

Lewis said a portion of his business is educating younger customers about what dry cleaners do and what they offer.

“Someone asked me what my targeted age group was and I said 30 and under,” Lewis shared. “I want to go after the younger generation who will buy a nice suit and try to put it in the washer. I want to let them know that if they are going to a job interview, for instance, bring me their khaki pants and their dress shirt and for a few bucks, I’ll press them so they can impress somebody.”

Lewis Cleaners also offers alterations – “We probably do 30 pairs of pants a day,” he said – as well as wedding dress preservation and is gaining a foothold in leather and suede care.

“I’m the only cleaners between Nashville and St. Louis that can clean leather and suede,” he said, outlining the process which requires special chemicals, techniques and equipment. “My equipment makes the difference; it gives me such a wider selection of things I can clean.”

Lewis already is considering expansion.

“I’d like to be ‘Lewis Cleaners of Southern Illinois.’ We’re trying to grow,” he said.

For now, the young entrepreneur continues to learn and he said he is enjoying his business.

“I love it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Lewis Cleaners is located at 805 S. Commercial St. in Harrisburg. Information is available by calling 618-252-2757.

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[email protected]

618-351-5078

805 S. Commercial St.

Harrisburg

(618) 252-2757.

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