Chad Stockton, COO of Cooperative Laundry, a two-plant hospitality operator based in Kearney, NJ, recently took aim at the burgeoning hotel market in central Texas with a new plant in San Marcos—about a half-hour southwest of Austin. ARCO/Murray oversaw the “build-out” of an existing building into a laundry. Since the plant opened in August 2022, it’s mostly dodged the impact of COVID-19. Yet, Stockton says that while the market is recovering linen suppliers likely will feel the pandemic’s impact for years to come.

“The world has changed,” he says, noting that hotels do fewer changes of room linen as a ...