Whether Corona or cost explosions due to the energy crisis: the Sindermann laundry in Wolfratshausen did not give up.
The family business is now “optimistic about the future again”.
Wolfratshausen – The consequences of the corona pandemic threatened the existence of the textile cleaning and laundry Sindermann, which was founded in Wolfratshausen in 1963.
The order situation had hardly improved again when the war in the Ukraine triggered an explosion in energy costs.
Laundry Sindermann in Wolfratshausen: "Looking optimistically into the future again"
But the family business did not give up.
On the contrary: Managing Director Frank Sindermann invested, among other things, discarded an old cleaning machine that consumed a lot of gas and bought a new piece of equipment for a six-figure sum.
"We've bottomed out," says the 32-year-old in retrospect, "we're looking to the future with optimism again."
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In January 2021 the situation was fundamentally different.
Before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, Frank Sindermann and his mother Maria-Anna took around 50 wedding dresses to be cleaned every year, but in 2020 it was only four.
The fact that more and more people were working from home was dramatic for the family business.
While it was up to 200 shirts a day that were cleaned and ironed at Berggasse, in the home office wedding only about 50 pieces a day arrived at the Sindermanns.
Not to forget: there have been almost no celebrations since April 2020, which means that lederhosen, dirndls, suits and evening dresses have remained spotless.
In addition, the flow of fabric tablecloths from the catering trade dried up due to the lockdowns.
"The slump is really, really severe," summed up Frank Sindermann in early 2021 in an interview with our newspaper.
He is by no means a doomsayer, but he and his mother must soon answer the question: "Where are we going?"
Laundry Sindermann in Wolfratshausen: Family business invests in the future
What nobody suspected at the time: almost a year later, on February 24, 2022, Russia attacked neighboring Ukraine.
The bloodshed continues to the day, the war sent energy prices skyrocketing.
"Many colleagues have given up," says the young master dry cleaner and business economist.
"We have invested in the future." A courageous decision, although the 32-year-old emphasizes that sales figures rose again after the corona measures were lifted.
However, parallel to this positive development, the energy costs spiraled upwards - for the managing director, the gas price is primarily relevant.
"Almost all machines run on steam." Faced with gas prices increasing "by a factor of two and a half", mother and son went into isolation.
The result: The duo expects “a quarter less steam consumption and about half the electricity consumption” from the newly purchased cleaning machine compared to the old device.
Laundry Sindermann: The family business is almost 60 years old - "It goes on"
The investment not only protects the company's coffers in the long term, but also the environment from now on: A professional cleaning machine with an integrated dryer - capacity in this specific case 16 kilograms - is not operated with water, but with a special solvent.
"We also replaced that, the new one is significantly more environmentally friendly." The solvent prevents the textile fibers from swelling and the fabric from "matting" during the cold wash cycle, explains the expert, and is distilled after each cleaning process at a temperature of around 115 degrees and in a closed cycle fed back.
"Only the dirt stays in the still."
In a few weeks, on June 1st to be precise, the family business will have been in existence for 60 years.
Frank and Maria-Anna Sindermann have defied the recent crises.
"It's going on," says the 32-year-old and smiles before resorting to the pun: "It's going on at full steam."
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