Route manager Tommy Mitrani

All the research data isn’t in yet, but it’s looking as if Tom Mitrani might qualify as one of the best- educated route managers in the dry cleaning and laundry industry.

For eight of his thirteen years as a full-time employee of Classic Cleaners, Tom has been a part time student.  Now Mitrani is set to graduate from the Kelly School of business at IUPUI with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and International Studies.

No, Classic Cleaners doesn’t deliver to China or Dubai, but the sheer logistics of managing twelve routes serving several thousand customers spread out from Cicero on the north, Fortville on the east, and Pittsboro on the west demand that Mitrani makes good use of his business management education.

How does the route system work? When you sign up for the free service, you’ll be provided with special large bags for your clothing.  Most customers stick a note inside the bag with any special questions or requests. A Classic Cleaners driver visits your home or office twice weekly to pick up and deliver your items. Your clean garments are returned neatly bagged, with fluff-and-fold laundry returned in recyclable boxes. However, there’s no obligation to have anything for us to pick up at all on every visit.

If you’re not at home when the driver arrives, your clothes may be left on special hanger hooks which Classic Cleaners provides to slide over the top of your door. You may prefer to give the driver access so that you have your clothing hung in your front closet, mud room or garage – simply let the driver know your preference. Last-minute emergency? Need a garment back in a hurry?  All Classic Cleaners drivers have company cell phones meant to help accommodate special requests. 

Adult children often arrange for Classic Cleaners home delivery for an aging parent.  The reverse is also true – one mother arranged home pickup and delivery of shirts for her son, so that he’d be sure to look his best at his new job!.

Think about it – thousands of customers, thousands of different residential and office locations, tens of thousands of garments every week, on time, ready to wear – it all adds up to a challenge worthy of the best efforts of a business school graduate like Tom Mitrani!

By Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

CLASSIC CLEANERS’ NOVEMBER SPECIAL -           

2.00 OFF ALL OUTERWEAR ITEMS!

“You know you’re a fashion nightmare when you wear underwear as outerwear,’ comments ivillage.com, warning “nice ladies” that, “Unless you’re Paris Hilton, there’s a time and a place for lingerie.”

(Not that any of our fine female Classic Cleaners customers would ever fancy themselves the new Paris Hiltons, but, given our November special on all outerwear items, we thought a dictionary definition reminder might be appropriate:

                                  Out-er-wer: n. 
Garments, as raincoats or overcoats, worn over other clothing for warmth or  protection outdoors.

  http://www.dictionary30.com/meaning/outerwear gets even more definitive about outerwear, counting  jackets, coats, cloaks, and even scarves and mittens in the category.

At Classic Cleaners, our professionals dry clean coats of every description, including parkas, down-filled mountain-climbing and ski outfits, and we specialize in suede and leather coats.

The other day I heard a waggish WIBC announcer tell his listening audience how much he was enjoying the unseasonably balmy Indiana weather, “I’m beginning to think global warming is vastly underrated, ” he quipped.  Global warming or not, we all know November is the time to prepare for colder temperatures and even for some precipitation.

So, gather up those cloaks and coats and jackets and rainwear, the down-filled vests and ski suits and parkas.  With freshly cleaned outerwear, you’ll be prepared for whatever weather the autumn and winter to come might bring.

You know you’re fashion-savvy when you put your fine outerwear garments in the capable hands of our Classic Cleaners professionals!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

The spotlight certainly shone on the Classic Cleaners table at the September 22 Stepping Out in Style gala, the annual fundraiser for Dress For Success Indianapolis.  This year’s function boasted one of the largest groups of supporters ever, with close to 900 attendees stepping out in “dressed for success” style.

At the gala, Classic Cleaners honored Dress For Success Indianapolis with a generous check.  In August of each year, Classic Cleaners runs a special promotion.  For every dry cleaning order of $20, the company donates $2 to DFSI.  This year’s check of $13,780 represented the sum of those $2 donations!

Dress For Success Indianapolis, in turn, honored Classic Cleaners as its longest business supporter in Indianapolis.  “Your support does not go unnoticed,” commented one of the guests to Classic Cleaners partner Steve Arnold.

While Stepping Out in Style is a very special occasion, the partnership between Dress For Success Indianapolis and

Dress For Success Indianapolis boutique

Classic Cleaners is year-round. Classic Cleaners acts as a collection site, accepting interview-appropriate suits and blouses on hangers. As needed, garments are dry cleaned, then delivered to DFS Indianapolis Boutique at 820 North Meridian.

Classic Cleaners also sponsors Super Sort, the culmination of Send One Suit Week (a clothing collection drive by local businesses, places of worship, and organizations), by providing donors with a coupon for $10 or $20 off a dry cleaning order.

Dress For Success Indianapolis’ Executive Director Barb Ellsworth expressed her gratitude with enthusiasm: “I don’t know what we’d do without Classic Cleaners! Funny, that’s exactly what so many of our indianapolis dry cleaning customers say!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

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