Economists, marketers, technology experts and others regularly refer to the impact of “creative destruction,” i.e., the process in which system improvements, such as the introduction of permanent press garments more than 50 years ago, tend to disrupt business operations. Companies that adapt to these changes—like Balfurd Linen Service—now marking its 90th anniversary—typically do so by finding new business opportunities in order to remain profitable and, ultimately, thrive in a realigned market.

DRY CLEANING TO RENTAL 

In the early 1970s, Balfurd confronted this challenge head on when it operated a business to consumer (B2C) dry-cleaning operation in ...