The rental business of a local commercial laundry service has been acquired by Alsco Uniforms, a large company with a national and international presence based in Salt Lake City.
Professional Rental Service (PRS) is located at 220 Frederick St. in Mount Airy, long owned by local businessman Gene Rees. It specializes in uniform rentals along with supplying items such as linens, mats, towels and mops and operating a new and used clothing store.
The business is listed as having been established in 2001 and before the acquisition by Alsco, employed 40-plus people, Rees said Thursday.
Unlike other takeovers of smaller operations by larger entities, he believes there was no net job loss among that force.
“They hired all our route associates, our delivery team,” Rees said of Alsco.
“We wanted to do it when we could protect our employees,” the local businessman said regarding any potential layoffs resulting from the sale which could have been offset by the strong labor market existing now.
“There were some who just retired,” Rees said in explaining the end result of no actual losses.
Age was a factor in the move, involving both Rees and folks in top positions at Professional Rental Service in their 70s.
“The biggest reason, I was born in 1951,” he said. “(It was) in recognition of my age.”
Rees said now seemed to be the time to sell in order to ensure a smooth transition, rather than waiting for an illness among key management, for example, which might have undermined that.
He had indicated in mid-March that the rental business was being sold, coming on the heels of him being approached from outside about acquiring the operation.
“An option to sell a company is always out there in this industry,” Rees said of the uniform-rental sector, adding that he talked with other larger companies that were potential buyers before deciding on Alsco. “We felt their culture matched our culture.”
Rees said the transaction included the business accounts of Professional Rental Service, but not its building on Frederick Street or equipment. “Not one piece.”
That structure is being provided rent-free to Alsco for three months to help with the transition, along with a management team for the same period.
After being finalized, the acquisition recently was announced by James Gutheim and Associates, a firm in Encino, California, which served as the financial adviser for the transaction.
Terms of the sale have not been disclosed.
Alsco (which stands for American Linen Supply Co.) is a private, family owned operation that has been in business since 1889.
It employs more than 20,000 people in locations worldwide, according to online sources.
Alsco’s core function includes providing linen- and uniform-rental services to customers that include restaurants, health-care organizations, automotive industries and other industrial facilities.
It continues to be managed, owned and operated by members of the original founder and owner’s (George A. Steiner) family, Kevin and Robert Steiner.
Alsco is considered a trailblazer in the laundering and delivery of ready-to-wear uniforms.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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