Today we’d like to introduce you to Peter Kong.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
We are a family-run business that has been serving the Lincoln Park area for over 30 years. My father, John, and my mother, Lucia, opened our first location near Belmont and Clybourn in 1985 as Continental Cleaners where he did wholesale pickup and drop-off for many of the cleaners in the Chicagoland area. In 1993, we moved down the street to our current location and a few years later, we changed our name to Greenspin Cleaners to reflect our commitment to environmentally friendly dry cleaning. When we say we are a family-run business, that includes our employees as well, with most of them having been with us for over 10 years and the longest tenure being 21 years! We may not be related but we still consider ourselves a family.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We have been broken into a few times. One time, the day before Christmas about 15 years ago, someone rammed a pickup truck into our store to steal from our registers. It was not an ideal situation as we had to cancel our family Christmas trip but my parents have always taught me to focus on the positives and let go of things out of our control. That mentality has helped in any bumps in the road such as a leaking roof in our old building or giving 90% of our staff the day off to protest downtown for a cause they strongly believed in. For the most part though, it has been a positive experience. We love our customers, our employees, and being part of the Lincoln Park community as both a business owner and resident.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Greenspin Cleaners – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a full-service, environmentally friendly dry cleaners. We have cleaned everything from your everyday suits and dresses to leather coats and rugs, as well as costumes for high school mascots or musicians touring in Chicago. We also do repairs and alterations and bulk laundry service. As a company, I am most proud of the relationship with our customers. Our focus has been, and always will be, customer service. Whether it is bringing the dry cleaning out to the car because our customer has a sleeping baby in the backseat, or altering a suit for a wedding in 24 hours, we try to answer “yes” to any reasonable request.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We have recently started a new delivery service called “Greenspin2Go”. It will be the same great service, with convenience at your door. Most people’s lives are getting busier and busier. We want to make it a little bit easier for them. Why spend up to an hour or more lugging around dirty clothes to and from your cleaners, looking for parking in the rain or snow, when you can spend that time playing with your kids or catching up on your favorite show? We are focusing right now on the Old Town, Gold Coast area and plan to expand to more parts of the city within the year.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2647 N. Clybourn Ave.
- Website: www.greenspinchicago.com
- Phone: (773)777-7361
- Email: pkong64@gmail.com
- Other: www.greenspin2go.com
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