The Laundry Spot offers a modern spin

“Is this yours? It’s great, man. I love it,” a Sunday morning customer said to Tim Angle, owner of The Laundry Spot at 111 N. Carlisle St. in Greencastle.

That’s been the response since the laundromat opened on May 18.

“People seem to take pride in it, it’s something they need,” said Angle, who led a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 15.

The Laundry Spot is at the right spot at the right time for both Angle and his patrons.

Angle, the finance manager for Fitzgerald Toyota in Chambersburg, wanted to start his own business that did not involve sales or manufacturing.

“Something people need to use,” he explained. He looked at carwashes for a long time, but they are expensive and you can’t compete with the prices at convenience stores. Then he settled on a laundromat.

“The laundry industry isn’t flashy,” Angle said. “It hasn’t really changed or evolved.”

That is until The Laundry Spot opened.

The typical image of a laundromat is a dingy, dull place when half the machines don’t work.

The Laundry Spot is clean, comfortable and inviting, and features free wi-fi, high efficiency machines and bright modern color scheme and feel. Angle works long hours at Fitzgerald, but spends his days off (Thursdays and Sundays) making sure The Laundry Spot is spit-spot and the vending machines are well-stocked.

“Cleanliness is a big thing. People don’t want to come to a dirty place to get something clean,” Angle said.

Angle initially looked for a location in Chambersburg, but his girlfriend, Lacey Kipe, is from Greencastle so he spends a lot of time here, saw the “For Lease” sign and contacted the owners

He found Greencastle to be more pro-small business than Chambersburg and willing to work with him in terms of fees and expenses for things like water and sewer.

“It was a much more friendly environment,” Angle said.

At The Laundry Spot 

A lot of planning went into the interior of The Laundry Spot, with Angle’s brother, Bryan, doing the final design and Kipe providing a lot of help, too.

It features a combination of carpet and wood-look flooring; a comfortable color scheme of blues and grays; structured work areas for washing, drying and folding; and seating as well as a dining table at the front.

The 16 washers are all front-load, high efficiency and range in capacity from 22 pounds to 55 pounds. They use less water and spin out well to cut down on drying time. Angle said customers can be in and out in an hour.

Washers feature the basic wash, rinse and spin cycles, with options such as extra wash, extra rinse, superwash (extra wash and rinse) and delicate.

“I did a lot of reading and research,” Angle said.

However, some features are courtesy and common sense: There is a step in front of the big machines so customers can see the detergent dispensers on top and the carpet is commercial grade to make it more comfortable for people top stand on a fold laundry.

The Laundry Spot is also a green spot with LED lighting that is occupancy sensed — the lights dim when no one is in the building — and a tankless, on-demand water heater. The air conditioning has a 98 percent efficiency rating.

There are seven cameras and a monitored security system, in addition to being just a block from the police station. Exterior lighting is being added and Angle is working on adding expanding off-street parking. There also is a suggestion box for customer feedback.

Additional services are in the works, including drop off and pick up or pick up and delivery by subscription.

“We’ll wash dry and fold,” Angle explained.

Open seven day a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., The Laundry Spot is handicapped accessible. It can be found on Facebook at The Laundry Spot — Greencastle (“We hope to open a few more,” Angle said) and the website is www.greencastlelaundromat.com