LAURENCE J. Peter said, “It’s better to have loved and lost than to have to do 40 pounds of laundry a week.” Erica James-Hernandez, the owner of Fresh Fold Laundry Co., agrees and doesn’t want you to do 40 pounds of laundry. Even if it’s more than 40 pounds a week, James- Hernandez is happy to do it for you.
When she decided it was time to add small-business owner to her stay-at-home mom title, she didn’t want just any business; James-Hernandez wanted to offer a service that would improve the lives of busy families. Her father owned a laundromat when she was growing up, so she was familiar with maximizing its benefits. She naturally connected the two, and Fresh Fold Laundry Co. was born last September.
“With laundry always needing to be done in my family, I wondered if I could do something like that and take that burden off other families — other moms. That way, they didn’t have to spend several hours a week loading the washer and dryer, folding, and putting away [laundry]. We could just do that for them. I wanted something that made me feel good while I served my customers,” James-Hernandez said.
Customers are given 30-pound laundry bags to fill and place outside their homes or designated location for pickup. James-Hernandez picks up the bags and returns the laundry within hours clean and folded or placed on hangers, all according to the customer’s wishes.
She said, “They can sign up for a weekly or bi-weekly service. Depending on their family size, my weekly customers have one to two bags a week. They fill it up with their laundry — everything from socks and underwear to shirts and towels. Sometimes we do their sheets. That’s what our average customer looks like, but I also have other customers whose comforters don’t quite fit in the washing machine or take forever to dry, so I’ve gotten on a weekly or monthly cycle with them. They set their comforters out, and I’ll pick them up. We’ll wash them and drop them back off, and they’ll have their fresh linen for the week or so.”
W.G. and Kenzie Miller’s North Main Laundry is James-Hernandez’s home base. She recognizes their facility is top-notch, filled with the newest equipment, and recently remodeled.
At the end of the day, her goal is to make your life easier.
“I feel like a lot of moms have seen my service and sometimes feel they’re behind. They’ll say, ‘Oh, gosh, I’ve got three bags; it’s so embarrassing.’ But it just happens. Life happens, and I want people to use my service regularly, of course, and get on a schedule with me that keeps them caught up. But also, I want people to realize we can be a good little restart button, and it’s okay to be a mom, and it’s okay to get a little behind. We’re here to help. That’s the biggest thing I want my customers to know. I’m here to help you; whatever you need, let me know, and we will get it done,” she said. GN
