It’s been a while since we’ve visited a plant where the operator told us he was concerned that if business grew any faster, he’d soon hit capacity limits. Given the downturn that operators have experienced since COVID-19 struck in March 2020—we’d guess that overcapacity is a problem that some laundry managers would welcome. But for Jared Johnson, managing partner of the whimsically named Dirty Laundry Linen Service in Slidell, LA, preparing for a future with fewer on-premise hotel laundries (OPLs) requires careful planning.

“I would say that currently, we’re close to capacity,” says Johnson, who runs the plant and co-owns ...