Coin laundries are unique small businesses in that they have no inventory or receivables, and no traditional employees. A minority of coin laundries employ attendants. The stores usually occupy 1,000 to 4,000 square feet of retail space.
Coin laundries are perfect examples of passive-income generators.
The self-service laundry market consists of an estimated primary customer base of 89 million people living in rental housing, as of the 1990 U.S. Census. The secondary customer base consists of the non-rental population, which uses coin laundries only occasionally. No significant franchises are in operation at this time. Currently, there are around 35,000 coin laundries in the United States, generating several billion dollars in gross revenue annually. Clean clothes, like food and shelter, are considered a necessity of life-and coin laundries provide a basic health service for millions of Americans.