New technologies have made the world a much smaller place, and the laundry industry is no different than the rest of the global economy. While the European market has long been a place that American launderers look to for energy- and laborsaving technologies, there are several emerging international markets that are ripe for expansion of their textile services businesses. 
 
EUROPEAN MARKETPLACE
 
In Europe, the overall trends for the textile services industry include:
 

• Market concentration—Some European countries are characterized by a few companies acting with national services (e.g., Scandinavia and France) ...