Rain leaves dry cleaners out in the cold

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

It’s an ill wind, they say, that doesn’t blow someone some good (or something like that). So I was wondering who might benefit from all these downpours. One answer is the Chinese -- apparently, the majority of umbrellas sold in North America are Chinese-made. Another, I figured, would be dry cleaners, who’d be seeing more business as people cope with soggy conditions. I was wrong.

‘People don’t come in when it rains,’ said David Suber, a West Los Angeles dry cleaner who also serves as president of the California Cleaners Assn. ‘It’s an errand people put off for as long as they can.’

But then they come out in force, right?

‘Yes, but the surge at the end of the storm doesn’t make up for the lack of business during the week.’

Dark days indeed.

-- David Lazarus