Disaster relief comes naturally for Stanley Steemer

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Oct 01, 2004 by Dickinson, Casey J

SYRACUSE - Stanley Steemer's bright yellow vans have two engines, one to move the wheels and a second to power carpet-cleaning equipment. Geoff Ganz, president of Ganz Services, Inc., purchased the Central New York Stanley Steemer franchise in June 2002. He worked for the Stanley Steemer franchising company for a decade, supervising East Coast operations before buying his own franchise for $600,000. Ganz's Stanley Steemer franchise employs 28, including two dozen technicians who operate the company's 12-truck cleaning fleet. Stanley Steemer has a 10,000-square-foot facility off Molloy Road at 22 Corporate Circle.

Approximately 65 percent of Stanley Steemer's business is residential carpet cleaning. The remainder, says Ganz, is damage-restoration and duct cleaning. The company covers a broad area of Central New York that includes the Mohawk Valley, Ithaca, and other areas adjacent to Syracuse.

A typical Stanley Steemer residential cleaning costs about $150 for a "five-area" carpet cleaning, says Ganz. The two-technician team can usually get the job done, including furniture moving, in about 15 minutes, he adds.

"It all comes down to the trucks and the technicians," says Ganz.

Each Stanley Steemer truck contains a second four-cylinder car engine that runs the steam-cleaning equipment. The technicians only need a water connection to begin their work. Ganz plans to purchase a special truck that can carry its own supply of clean water.

Each standard Stanley Steemer truck costs $58,000. Stanley Steemer's franchising company develops and manufactures all the cleaning equipment used in its franchisees' vans.

"These aren't the standard E-250 vans," says Ganz.

Fire and water damage jobs typically come through insurance companies, says Ganz. The technicians clean up buildings after fires or floods and dispose of the debris. The company added duct-cleaning as an additional service because fires often contaminate building air-moving systems. The contaminated systems can bring back all the smoke odor and soot the technicians tried to remove.

Prompt cleanup is essential for fire damage, says Ganz. Corrosive chemicals formed by burned materials mixed with water begin to degrade immediately any surface they touch. By working fast, building owners can minimize the things that must be replaced, rather than simply cleaned.

Leaving water damage unattended, says Ganz, can also lead to mold problems that can make a repair job more costly. Several of his technicians have recently headed south to assist other Stanley Steemer franchisees with hurricane-damage repair jobs.

Named for an early steam-powered automobile, Stanley Steemer has been cleaning carpets since 1947. Entrepreneur Jack Bates started the company after World War II and began franchising Stanley Steemer in 1972. There are approximately 200 independently owned Stanley Steemer franchises and 40 company-owned franchises across the United States. Stanley Steemer franchisees pay a $20,000 franchise fee and a 7 percent royalty, according to Entrepreneur magazine. Franchise set-up costs range from $81,000 to $343,000. Franchise agreements run for 20 years.

Having identifiable trucks helps separate Stanley Steemer from its competition and increase brand recognition. Onondaga County has more than four competing carpet-cleaning companies.

"We have 12 billboards on the road every day," says Ganz.