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February 25, 2013
General Linen Service Co. Expands with Fourth Service Center

SOMERSWORTH, N.H. — Company opens latest service center in Smithfield, R.I., creating 10 jobs

SOMERSWORTH, N.H. — General Linen Service Co. has opened its latest service center, located at 25 Thurber Blvd., Smithfield, RI 03297. The company has created 10 new jobs initially, with plans to double that this year.

“To better serve the needs of our customers in south/central Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, we are pleased to announce the opening of our fourth service center,” says Chris DeSaulnier, vice president and chief operating office. “With the loyalty and support of our customers, we have continued to grow and expand, and this expansion will allow us to provide increased service coverage and support for our southern New England customer base.”

General Linen Service Co. currently serves more than 3,900 hospitality and healthcare customers in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut from its four New England locations. The new service center, managed by Mike Duffy, will service existing and new customers in southern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

October 1, 2012
NELA Celebrates Century of Textile Supply and Service

BOSTON — UniFirst, Superior Uniform, Crown Linen execs offer insight into how industry has changed

BOSTON — The NorthEast Laundry Association (NELA), which represents the textile supply and service companies in New England, hosted its 100th Annual Meeting & Fall Conference here Sept. 21-23.

Ronald Croatti, president/CEO, UniFirst Corp.; Alan Schwartz, president, Superior Uniform Group; and Arthur Spilios, CEO, Crown Linen Services, were the featured panelists during the business meeting. Their three family-owned companies share a strong commitment to quality and customer service, NELA says. The panelists provided insight into how the industry has changed, including the number of products offered, globalization, and technology.

The weekend's festivities culminated with a dinner dance in the Imperial Plaza Ballroom of the Park Plaza Hotel.

June 4, 2012
NELA in Midst of Centennial Celebration This Year

MALDEN, Mass. — Yearlong celebration to culminate at fall conference in September

MALDEN, Mass. — The NorthEast Laundry Association (NELA), which represents textile supply and service companies in New England, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

NELA members provide, clean, and maintain reusable textile products—including uniforms, sheets, table linen, floor mats, mops, and other items—to businesses in many industries.

The textile services industry has focused on becoming more energy-efficient by finding ways to reuse water, and by using high-capacity, high-speed laundry equipment. Many of the association’s laundries, as well as their suppliers, are family-owned and date back multiple generations.

“NELA members take pride in providing products and services to businesses which enable the business to have a clean and safe environment and appearance,” says NELA Executive Director Linda J. Guild, CAE.

The association’s yearlong celebration will culminate at its annual fall conference on Sept. 21-23 at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston. NELA will recognize the considerable accomplishments and growth of the industry.

The location was chosen “because many of the early anniversaries were held at the Statler Building, the precursor to the Park Plaza," says NELA President Leo P. Villari Jr. “So, in many ways, NELA is going back to where it first began.”

May 14, 2012
New Hampshire’s Kleen, Envoy Services Announce Merger

MANCHESTER, N.H., and LEBANON, N.H. — New company called Kleen Envoy LLC, dba Envoy Services

MANCHESTER, N.H., and LEBANON, N.H. — Industrial laundry service firms Kleen LLC and Envoy Services LLC have merged into Kleen Envoy LLC, doing business as Envoy Services, the companies announced.

The event brings together Kleen and Envoy Services’ wholly owned subsidiary Sterling Linen Services LLC. Turning Bridge LLC, a laundry consulting and software business founded by Envoy in 2009, is also included.

The combination of Kleen, Sterling and Turning Bridge creates the largest, most comprehensive laundry service firm in New England, the group says.

Envoy Services will leverage the diverse talents and capabilities of both organizations to strengthen its value proposition to healthcare and hospitality laundry customers. More specifically, new and existing customers will, according to Envoy, experience:

  • Broader selection of services designed to reduce costs and simplify customer operations
  • Improved quality and redundancy delivered through multi-plant operations
  • Enhanced customer service delivered by a broader team with a track record of success

“We’re thrilled to be joining forces with Envoy Services,” says Greg Gosselin, Kleen president. “The merger allows us to better align resources with our respective strengths. This will absolutely be beneficial to the company and our valued customers.”

Going forward, Gosselin will continue to provide leadership by focusing on customer-facing activities. In this role, he will be instrumental in maintaining strong relationships with current clients and capitalizing on new growth opportunities.

“All of us at Envoy Services have a great deal of respect for Kleen LLC, and we are excited to bring our team’s talents to the merged organization,” says Dennis Kim, a principal in Envoy Services and president of Sterling Linen Services; he will oversee operations of the entire Envoy portfolio. “We are confident that by working together we can advance both organizations’ strategic objectives.”

Kleen will focus its efforts on the healthcare sector while Sterling will target the hospitality market. Turning Bridge will continue to target both markets and will be cross-sold into the broad customer base of Kleen and Sterling.

March 26, 2012
Swisher Hygiene Acquires Savoy Linen Services

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — New acquisition provides linen rental and laundry services primarily to

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Swisher Hygiene has acquired the assets and business of Savoy Linen Services, a Connecticut-based linen services company.

Started in 1924, Savoy provides linen rental and laundry services primarily to foodservice customers in the southern New England and greater metro New York City markets. Concurrent with the acquisition, Paul Vazzano, the owner of Savoy, joins Swisher Hygiene and will contribute to the continued growth of its linen services business.

“The acquisition of Savoy is a continuation of our efforts to build upon our existing presence in the linen and dust control markets and expand throughout North America,” says Steven R. Berrard, Swisher Hygiene CEO. “We will be very deliberate in making value-added acquisitions and building additional facilities in order to further expand our linen production capabilities, properly leverage our customer base and create additional cross-selling opportunities for our full-service platform.”

Total consideration paid by Swisher Hygiene included cash and a promissory note that may be converted to a maximum of 171,428 shares of Swisher Hygiene common stock.
 

January 25, 2012
Northeast Laundry Association Spring Meeting and Golf Outing

Northeast Laundry Association Spring Meeting and Golf Outing. To be held May 15-16, 2012 in Portsmouth, N.H.
 

April 27, 2009
General Linen Service Acquires Lakes Region Linen

SOMERSWORTH, N.H. — General Linen Service has acquired Lakes Region Linen of nearby Laconia, N.H., strengthening General Linen’s position as the largest independently owned linen and uniform service in New England for the healthcare and hospitality industries, the company says.

It also combines the strengths of both companies to enhance quality of services provided and deliver greater value to customers.

January 1, 2007
Meet Our 2007 Panel of Experts (Part 3 of 3)

TEXTILE/UNIFORM RENTAL: Roger Bourdeau is chief engineer for the Angelica Textile Services plant in Pawtucket, R.I. He's worked 22 years in the plant, having started as a production associate in 1983. He's completed many training programs and has a Rhode Island Stationary Operating Engineer license.

Being invited to participate in this forum is a pleasant surprise. How does a guy working in a small plant in a 100-year-old building get to “run with the big dogs”?