![\"alfred](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/DSC_1637-1024x717.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDealing with a tough stain is one of those nuisances in life that can be compared to misplacing your phone: it happens more often than we like to admit.<\/p>\n
So instead of scouting around town for the nearest dry cleaner (most of which close too early and take up precious time) Matt Young, Founder of Alfred Inc., has introduced a service that will make the age-old cleaning process far more convenient and pleasant for residents.<\/p>\n
The service is called Alfred, and the concept is this: a set of lockers are installed into a residential building, where tenants can leave their wrinkled garments for an Alfred driver to collect. When the clothes reach the processing plant, a picture is snapped of each item so the customer will have a full digital closet on the company smartphone app. The app also tracks the number of times an item has been cleaned and how much it\u2019s costing the user.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to take away from the stigma of dry cleaners and try to be a little more fun and engaging,\u201d said Young, who has a background in real estate development. \u201cIt\u2019s about making a better experience out of an errand that no one likes to do, without any added cost.\u201d Unlike traditional pickup and delivery services, Alfred doesn\u2019t charge any extra fees.<\/p>\n
When a person signs up for the service online to place their first order, the system can identify the building and customer. Once the clothes are delivered back to the building \u2014 usually within 48 hours \u2014 the resident will receive a text message or app notification with the locker number and code. The garments will also be placed inside a reusable bag with an ID tag. This means you won\u2019t have to place another order after the initial one.<\/p>\n
Not only does Alfred offer daily pickups, but the service runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. \u201cThe biggest challenge with dry cleaners is that their hours are basically daytime working hours when everyone is either at work or busy doing something else,\u201d Young said. \u201cSo here, you can do it completely on your own schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while most dry cleaning services use harmful solvents to rid stains, Alfred cleans green. The company also reuses hangers (assuming you return them), and with one person driving around town to do pick-ups, less people will be on the road to do it themselves.<\/p>\n The service has plans to expand into major urban centres across Canada, and is currently installed in a number of condo buildings throughout the GTA, including West Harbour City along the lakeshore, and The Met at Yonge and Carlton.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, we\u2019d love to get in every building in the city,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n To step beyond residential buildings, Alfred will soon open its first 24\/7 public depot at 564 Church Street in Toronto. The space will house rows of lockers where customers can drop off their clothes and let Alfred take care of the rest. If your building doesn\u2019t have lockers installed, tenants can also leave items with their full-time concierge for pickup.<\/p>\n Looking for a shoe shine and repair service? Alfred can do that too.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re billing ourselves as a building concierge service,\u201d Young said. \u201cToday it\u2019s dry cleaning and shoe repair, tomorrow it could be meal delivery or online retailing.\u201d<\/p>\n Want Alfred in your building? Fill out their request form<\/a> online. If you introduce Alfred to your building management and they like what they hear, you\u2019ll receive $100 in credit toward the service.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a service business. Our goal is to deliver a truly memorable and useful service, and disrupt an industry that desperately needs it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we can deliver on that, there\u2019s a huge growth opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n To learn more about Alfred, check out their website<\/a> and Twitter<\/a> account, or like them on Facebook<\/a>. You can also download the app online<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dry cleaning as you once knew it just became far more convenient, and pleasant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":74873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11269],"tags":[],"coauthors":[10332],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"alfred](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/DSC_1632-1024x682.jpg\")
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