A key issue when building or expanding a commercial or institutional laundry operation is that no matter how well you plan, surprises can always happen.

Challenges Met

For Sarah Wrubel, COO/owner of CLS (Continental Linen Services), Kalamazoo, MI, an 11,000-square-foot expansion they completed in 2023 was complicated by several factors. These included trying to build in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-’23. But overlooking that “black swan” event, there were three critical issues that Wrubel cites for what’s now a 64,000-square-foot (5,945-square-meter) mixed-use plant in southern Michigan. Foremost among these was organizing with contractors for various construction-related ...