How did we end up here, in Lviv Ukraine, trying to open the country's first self-serve and full-service laundromat chain?
It all started in the spring of 2007. We've been traveling from the United States to western Ukraine annually since the spring of 2000 to do non-profit volunteer orphanage work with Project Reach Out.
The spring of 2007 was our first trip as parents, and we brought our then 6-month-old baby with us.
Before having a little one, we suffered through any laundry needs during our week stay in Ukraine ... but traveling with a baby is different. We REALLY needed to do some wash. The problem was, there was no where to do it. As we were scrubbing onsies and crib-sheets in the hotel shower we had a conversation that went something like this:
"You know what we should really do..."
"What?"
"Open a laundromat."
Then we laughed.
For the most part, the "dream" started and ended there ... until our lay-over in Paris where we found a self-serve laundromat right by our hotel. It cost us over $20 to wash a tiny load of absolute essentials - and what's more, every machine crammed in that small room-of-a-store by the Eiffel Tower was running! To sweeten the deal, there were no employees in sight ... just people like us, who came in and paid way more than they ought, to do far less wash then they needed. And then we said to ourselves, "that's the job we want!"
So, we returned to San Francisco, joined the coin laundry association, and continued our day-time jobs as usual. Over the next couple of years, as we continued our yearly trip to Ukraine for Project Reach Out, the unmet need for a laundromat became increasingly apparent.
At long last we came to the conclusion that at age 60, regardless of the outcome or success of the venture, we would look back and say one of two things:
1. "You know what we should have done? We really should have tried to open a laundromat in Ukraine."
~Or~
2. "Wow, that was fun and a little crazy. I'm glad we opened a laundromat in Ukraine."
I guess you know which option we chose.
