Always Ahead of the Curve Santa Clarita Laundry Center was founded in innovation

 Now happily running the largest laundry in the valley, Santa Clarita Laundry Center, Owner Art Jaeger took a winding path to discover his love of entrepreneurship and his talent for anticipating undiscovered markets.
“I spent 23 years in the music industry as a label executive,” Jaeger said.  “I was an executive vice president for Capitol Records and MCA Music Entertainment Group (now Universal Music Group), and I spent time marketing and promoting certain groups.”
As Jaeger watched the music industry change with the development of Napster and other music sharing sites, he made recommendations for how his industry should adjust in the digital age.  Recognizing an opportunity to capitalize on a changing market, Jaeger didn’t look at a situation and see only the negatives.
“No one wanted to look into the future and change with the times,” Jaeger said.
So Jaeger left the industry and tried his hand as the principle in various startups.  Eventually, he was ready to grab entrepreneurship by the reigns and dive in head first; he just needed the right business.  Lacing up his skates at an adult league hockey game, one day he stumbled upon a booming industry: laundry.
“I saw an industry that was on the cusp of change,” Jaeger said.  “I saw a whole untapped market and the possibilities an unconventional approach could bring.  Unlike the rest of the industry, I didn’t see myself limited to one historical demographic.”
First, Jaeger leased a space four times larger than the average store being built at the time.  With a “build it, and they will come” mentality, he filled his store with state-of-the-art, card-operated machines of all shapes, sizes, load capacities, cycles and options.  He designed the store in a pale yellow motif – unheard of in a white-walled industry – with Italian ceramic floors, a kids zone, arcades and a substantial wash, dry and fold section.  Naysayers thought Jaeger would be his own demise by investing in a demographic that didn’t exist.
“I was basically doing things no one else did,” Jaeger said, “and I was totally correct in broadening the base of our market.  Today, many of these things have been adapted as general knowledge.”
But Jaeger is not one to fall behind the curve; Santa Clarita Laundry Center has since remained a state-of-the-art example in the laundry industry, setting trends that competitors can only hope to follow.  For example, he continuously invests in the newest equipment and maintenance renovations, constantly updating his machines with the latest technology to expand their washes, cycles and speeds.  Additional perks include wifi and attendants available 100 percent of the time.
For more information about Santa Clarita Laundry Center, please call 661-252-6200 or visit www.santaclaritalaundry.com.