Episode Details

Welcome to Episode 22 of the Preferred Shares Podcast.

In this episode, we explore the evolution of the dry cleaning industry. To guide us, we are joined by Tim Maxwell. Tim is an industry veteran, having started working at his parent’s wholesale suede and leather cleaning business at age twelve and eventually founding a company that would ultimately disrupt the dry cleaning space; GreenEarth Cleaning.

In This Episode

[02:12] Tim’s background, the family business, education, and partnering

[03:05] The idea behind GreenEarth Cleaning

[03:45] Exiting the family business to pursue the new opportunity in 1999

[08:25] The dynamics of a durable, multi-generation family business

[14:40] Changing technologies in the dry cleaning space

[19:00] Industry headwinds, trends, and adaptation

[27:30] Additional margin pressures

[30:40] The rise of green cleaning methods

[44:20] Production, logistics, and the idea of being a partner rather than a vendor

[52:00] The ultimate winners and losers of industry evolution

Below, the Maxwell family is featured on the cover of FabricareCanada in 2005 celebrating 30 years of the family’s ownership of SuedeMaster. Tim had already left the family business in 1999 for the GreenEarth Cleaning opportunity.

Below is Tim Maxwell (center in green shirt) with a handful of GreenEarth Cleaning teammates.

Data

Sources

* GreenEarth Cleaning website

* 2025 State of the Dry Cleaning Industry Report

Articles

* “Clean and Green”, Washington Post, Nov. 9, 2000.

* “Tim Maxwell is GreenEarth's Man in Canada”, Fabricare Canada, Sept/Oct 2000: 24.

* “New Formulas and Machines are Sprucing Up Dry Cleaning”, CityBusiness, The Business Journal, February 4, 2002.

* “How Kimco is helping dry cleaners replace perc with environmentally safe alternative”, Kimco Blog, April 2012.

* “How Well Do You Know Jim Douglas?”, Cleaner and Launderer, July 26, 2019.

* GreenEarth co-founder, Jim Douglas, was inducted into the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute Hall of Fame in 2024.

Additional Reading & Listening

Curious to see what else we’ve been working on? Check out some of the interesting things we’ve done recently:

* Douglas Ott (