Nancy Leonard has managed the Classic Cleaners store in the Village of West Clay in Carmel for

Manager Nancy Leonard and CSR Kat Toller at Classic Cleaners in Village of West Clay, Carmel

 Firmly ensconced in the Village now, Nancy treats all her customers (90% of whom are Village residents) like family. Remembering her first day at this location, however, Nancy confesses it took her four hours just to find the place!

“Not just streets and houses.  It’s life.  A vibrant, connected, memorable life”, reads the description on the Village of West Clay website. A reviewer on Citysearch calls it “one of the most unique and arguably the best neighborhood in Indiana, if not the Midwest.”  Classic Cleaners Village customers live in apartments, townhouses, and homes of every size. You can see fountains and park areas all around.  The Classic Cleaners store is nestled in the Village proper, among quaint storefronts and professional offices.

Customer service representative Kat Toller and Nancy make a perfect tag team in this cozy and unique Village setting. It’s not unusual for customers to bring in a problem stain saying, “Nancy and Kat, we know you’ll take care of this.” (In fact, while I was interviewing Nancy, a gentleman rushed into the store, tossing a pair of trousers on the counter, saying he was in a big hurry. The customer was obviously confident that Nancy recognized him and would “take care of it”.)

Patrons in less of a rush always admire the beautiful needlepoint tapestry created by Lucille Arnold (wife of Classic Cleaners founder Carl Arnold) that adorns the store’s reception area wall. The store’s 37 lockers are used by no fewer than 235 customers (should there be no space when you drop off clothes, Nancy will see to it that your clothes are delivered to your home.)

Needlepoint by Lucille Arnold

Always active in the community, Classic Cleaners donates rails to hang coats in the local school, and cleans the school’s bear mascot costume on a regular basis. Getting involved with the local girl scout troop’s Operation Cookie Drop and Beanie Babies for Iraqi children project, plus sponsoring the ice cream social – all this activity keeps Nancy and Kat on their toes. And, with Fall Festival at the Village coming up soon, these Classic Cleaners gals will be seeing a lot of their West Clay Villager friends!

 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Situated amidst busy office buildings and big-name retail outlets, the Classic Cleaners store at 9893 North Michigan Road is an especially convenient choice for business men and women on the go.  Dropping off business suits and shirts and being able to check off one’s entire errand list in one trip is something our customers especially appreciate, with so many medical offices, restaurants, and stores so close at hand.

In fact, spread out on the table next to store manager Micah Cook’s reception counter are coupons and

Classic Cleaners N. Michigan Rd. store manager Micah Cook serves customers

announcements of special promotions offered by neighboring merchants for Classic Cleaners’ customers. And with the fall sports season underway, customers might just catch sight of one of the many professional athletes who are faithful customers of this convenient Classic Cleaners location.

Despite the easy access, half the store’s Zionsville and Carmel customers (most of whom tend to be business people and professionals in their 40′s and 50′s with exceptionally busy schedules), opt for the even greater convenience of Classic Cleaners door-to-door route service in Zionsville and Carmel. New route service customers are treated to a special bargain:  50% off on an unlimited number of dry cleaning and laundry items for the first month they are on the route!

In addition, the North Michigan Road store is one of Classic Cleaners’ special “locker” locations. one of eight stores offering 24-hour drop-off and 24-hour pick-up.

Lengthy errand lists, be on alert! No longer will you be able to terrorize those busy professionals and businessman and women of Zionsville and Carmel who have such limited time to accomplish such a multitude of tasks. Why, Classic Cleaners offers enough convenience to satisfy any mover and shaker!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

 Ever since the Andretti racing team chose Classic Cleaners as the best green dry cleaners in  Indianapolis to take over the care of their racing uniforms, several other IZOD Indy Car teams have gotten on the track, seeking Classic Cleaners’ professional advice about green racing garment care.

A racing team’s dry cleaning and laundry order includes not only the uniforms of the racers themselves, along with underclothing, socks, and sometimes even golf shirts, but also the garments worn by the pit crew and other staff members.

Good thing Classic Cleaners technicians pride themselves on stepping up to face tough challenges.  All clothing related to racing must be made of fabric that is flame retardant, and if the garments are not laundered or cleaned properly, they can lose that resistance to burning.  Modern fire retardant fabrics may have protection built directly into the molecular structure of the fabric.  In that case, also, special cleaning expertise is needed.

At Classic Cleaners, knowing precisely how to treat fire retardant fabrics doesn’t always involve racing gear, but it can be important in drapery cleaning as well.  That’s particularly true of curtains that are used in public places such as school auditoriums or theatres.

Whether uniforms or curtains are involved, checking the manufacturer’s label is the first step. “Inherently fire retardant”, “permanently fire retardant”, or “durably fire retardant” all mean the protection is build into the fabric itself.  If the label reads simply “fire retardant”, that means the fabric has been treated after manufacture of the garment or drape, and Classic Cleaners technicians know that special non-liquid cleaning agents must be used.  At the same time, the entire process must meet or exceed the dry cleaning industry’s highest standards of environmentally responsible practices

Speed counts in auto racing, but at Classic Cleaners, patience and professional expertise are what won the title Certified Environmental Dry Cleaner!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

You can always find Classic Cleaners in the forefront when it comes to community participation.  And, when it comes to re-enacting historical events, you can always find Classic Cleaners partner Steve Arnold and his family at the forefront.  No wonder then, that the preferred dry cleaning and laundry services provider chosen by the Museum of 20th Century Warfare is Classic Cleaners.  Also no wonder that Classic Cleaners has arranged to clean all uniforms used for displays at the Museum at no charge.
The Museum of 20th Century Warfare at Fort Harrison State Park is one of Indianapolis’ newest not for profit organizations, and it serves two important missions:

• honoring all Veterans from all wars – past, present, and future.
  

  Honoring veterans at the Museum of 20th Century Warfare at Fort Harrison

• teaching about the technology, artifacts, uniforms, and soldiers of the 20th century

“We strive to ensure that our past defenders of Freedom are never forgotten,” explains the Museum’s website. Open Wednesday through Sunday year round, the Museum houses  exhibits relating to World Wars I and II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, and aviation. Visitors can view a model of the USS Indianapolis as well.

In addition to offering permanent and rotating exhibits, the M20CW runs all the re-enactments for the Fort Harrison State park. (Watch for the WWII public battle planned for October 2.) When the battle is over, you may be sure there will be plenty of uniforms needing the expert care of Classic Cleaners professionals!

Donating its services by cleaning American flags and M20CW uniforms at no charge is just one of the many ways in which Classic Cleaners helps care for and restore history along with caring for your clothes!

 
by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team