The Laundry Company (Photo: Luján Agusti)
When Phillipe Christodoulou moved to Buenos Aires, he took to porteño life quickly. Everything, that is, except the launderettes.
Born and raised in Australia, Christodoulou relocated to London, England in his 20s to work at an investment bank. His move to Buenos Aires was sudden and inexplicable; “I had this epiphany, this bizarre intuition to go to Buenos Aires. I didn’t know anything or anyone there.”
Frustrated by the typical Buenos Aires launderettes, Christodoulou, 35, opened the Laundry Company in Palermo in January 2010 to offer patrons an environmentally sustainable approach to washing clothes.
“I would be standing there and these machines would be turning, like the monster furnace in Home Alone, machines growling and churning and burning. I just knew there had to be a better way.”
The Laundry Company was Christodoulou’s solution. “When you live in a city like Buenos Aires, it is stressful. There are a series of things that you have to do to get by. One of them is to go and do your laundry. The idea is to make one little compartment in your life better and more environmentally sustainable at the same time.”
The Laundry Company collects and returns deliveries for free by bicycle. They support a tree-planting program to keep business carbon-neutral. In addition, all customers are given a reusable fabric bag for their clothes – eliminating the typical disposable plastic coverings. Low-temperature machines and detergents designed for minimal environmental impact are used, resulting in energy savings of some 40%.
Although realising this dream turned out to be very difficult, Christodoulou made it work. The business has taken off, even without any advertising.
“They come in off the street and they just want to stay in the store, “ says Christodoulou. “There is a magic in it, it’s a magical little laundry store.”
Christodoulou is currently in New York City, where he just opened another location and is planning his next big idea. He aims to open a 100% eco-friendly laundry plant with recycled water and solar panels and wants to continue expanding the company. “We are getting franchising queries from all over the world.”
“I want to see these stores in the streets of Tokyo, Shanghai and maybe even Dusseldorf. I want to be the number one brand in laundry,” says Christodoulou.
