Radio

EuroSport 'the' fitness center in town, now has this banner hanging inside:

Basically, the banner says something to the effect of 'spend more time doing what you want' (exercising, since it's in a fitness club) 'and let us clean your clothes.'

Here's the current radio add:

The goal: have a "Bubbles" jingle stuck in everyone's head by March. 

Staying Warm

To keep out the chill of the winter weather many a man and woman wear fur ... not the currently vogue faux fur you'll see at Nieman Marcus this season ... but the real deal, complete with head, ears, eyes, and tail ... like this woman.

And in case you are not fortunate enough to live in a climate where it snows sideways, here's a clip of what it looks like outside of Bubbles today. Let's hope, come spring, those bushes survive!

Say What!?

A local magazine recently released their list of the top 50 business people in Lviv.

Of the 50, guess how many were women?
UNO!
Just one!
Is this a joke? Granted we are foreigners, and not exactly plugged into the 'whose who' culture, but we have a pretty good pulse on the market, and we know many competent, talented, well-educated business women in Lviv who have resumes far superior than many of the men listed in this magazine.
So we asked a trusted (male) friend if this publication seemed odd - just one woman was highlighted.
He scoffed, and said he was surprised there was even ONE on the list.
Clearly a male-dominated former Soviet Culture.
So, we asked the editor (woman) of another magazine, Lviv Today, who she thought the 10 most influential business people are in town. She rattled off ten names, and guess what FOUR of them were women.Thank you very much.
As luck, fate, and destiny would have it, we were recently contacted by this magazine regarding advertising - we expressed our shock that their former cover article which listed only ONE woman in a group of 49 men, and then said that type of magazine/ journalism was not who we want to do business with.
They apologized profusely.

You'll never guess what next months cover story is ...
Lviv's 20 top WOMEN.
I guess we can advertise with them after all.
True story.

Good Time to Watch TV

You know it's cold when the high for the day is in the negatives. 

In fact, it's so cold that the government has issued a 'stay at home warning' and many people have died this year due to the cold. 

Here's linguistic proof it's winter - the word for February (lutiy) literally means, as an adjective, 'savage' 'ferocious' 'severe' or 'wicked' ... which may suggest February isn't supposed to be much warmer than the last few weeks.

So, while all the locals are at home watching tv for the next week or so, they will most probably see our first paid commercial:

Bombarding the airways with reasons to wash at Bubbles ... that's the plan for the month of 'severe, ferocious, wicked' winter.

Bubbles and PRO

Remember how Bubbles and Lviv Radio teamed up to raise money for Project Reach Out to make Christmas better for a local orphanage ...

Well, here is a news report on the success of the philanthropic venture:  

The older woman is the orphanage director, and the blond girl is a Bubble's employee, the guy you may be familiar with, and the red-haired lady is from Lviv Radio.

Basically they are saying how important it is to give back to the community, and how great it is that Bubbles was able to provide a Christmas celebration for the children.

A Model Laundromat

 When we tell people in the U.S. we're opening laundromats in Ukraine, I think the visual image most American's have is of a utilitarian rundown dive of a place with poor lighting and only a handful of working machines.




What we've created in Lviv is a bit more sleek: A place where customers relax, sip complimentary fruit tea, and leave more confident with cleaner clothes.

Bubbles is a place where families have access to a cleaner life,

and business can carry on as usual.

Lady Gaga and The Chandelier

Dishes and Designs blog just posted about the Bubbles Chandelier here and the inspiration and creation behind the floating masterpiece here.

And while I'm linking to other sites - the buzz in the laundry industry is:
Lady Gaga recently took over a NY Second Avenue laundromat for a Vanity Fair photo shoot.

Of course said laundromat only boasts Dexter machines (who knew Lady Gaga and I had similar taste?) ...
and since the Vanity Fair shoot, we too have had lots of visitors come in and take copy-cat pictures by our machines.


Kind of cool, I guess.
Though, I should mention, as I was looking up images of Lady Gaga from the Annie Leibovitz shoot, my computer filter function blocked me from accessing most of the sites.

A final point:
Don't you think Bubbles looks way more glamorous than this upscale NY joint?