Hove dry cleaners is Trader of the Week

Where is your business?

Woodland Parade, off Woodland Drive. Here you can park for free, use the Post Office, grab a pizza, a paper or a pint (milk or beer!) and there’s also a cafe serving coffee, cake and sandwiches. There’s a hairdresser and fitness studio too to work off all those pizza, pint and cake calories.

Who is in the team?

My husband David runs the shop day to day with our shop manager Jimmy “the gym bunny”. I look after the side of the business that involves carpet cleaning and my job takes me out and about most days.

Jason Palmer

How did the idea for the business come about?

Previously I worked in London as a civil servant and for the railway before that, whereas David has always been self employed, owning a sandwich bar in Castle Square in Brighton and a convenience store on Livingstone Road in Hove.

After I was made redundant and David decided to sell the convenience store together we bought and ran two gents’ clothes stores called Fishers Menswear in Duke Street and East Street in central Brighton.

It was the recession creeping up on us in 2006/7 that led us to diversify our business into cleaning services and it was then we bought Woodland Dry Cleaners, which David ran on his own initially as my mum was ill with cancer and sadly died just as we signed the contract to buy the business. I really wasn’t around much to help then and for a few years after that I simply managed both menswear stores.

Jason with his nephews

Eventually we moved completely away from retail to concentrate on dry cleaning in Hove, giving us both less stress and with more time together able to spend time with family, friends and volunteering at the Sussex Heart Charity (SHC), which is based in Brighton. David and I have volunteered as trustees for many years. We attend fundraising events (virtually too) in and around this fine city, such as tours of the town hall cells and sponsored walks across the Sussex Downs. The mayor of Brighton and Hove is kindly supporting many charities throughout 2021/22 and the SHC is one of them.

When did you expand the service?

I set up Woodland Carpet Cleaners around 2015 and put promotional material in the shop. It seemed reasonable to go and clean carpets for people as at the time the shop hired out carpet cleaning equipment and folk often asked if we had a service where we did the work for them. I went on a two-day course bought some very expensive kit and created my business, as a side line initially, from scratch. It has given me some “me” time – I work hard and still get time to have nephews and nieces over to stay the night with their favourite uncles and hopefully we can again soon. I’m able to relax and unwind in the gym too , more than I ever could commuting or in retail.

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How have you coped during the pandemic?

We expanded our offer through lockdown to include speedy tailoring, alterations and repairs, often done by David in house, full laundry service and same-day dry cleaning. As a protected business we never closed, opening Monday to Saturday 10am until 4pm but it did get very quiet at times. Still, rent to pay at the end of the day...

Produce from the garden

Anything else you’d like to tell us?

We both love living in Hanover in Brighton, 25 years in the same house – gardening/growing flowers and the odd tomato or two – sitting back and appreciating it all. After David’s mum passed away we bought a motorhome as it was his mum’s wish we got out and explored the UK more. We bought one in 2019 and obviously have not used it much, so we’re looking forward to getting out in that again soon. I love my job and my clients, I have many regulars.

Woodland dry cleaners

Woodland Dry Cleaners has been a fixture on Woodland Parade for almost 40 years in some form. We have been there as a family business for over 13 years and take pride in our attention to detail, customer service and value for money.

David is often found outside the Cafe Nola a next door but one, chatting up passersby and the neighbours.... so if ever you’re passing and the shop is closed , you’ll almost certainly find David there (and me, sometimes).

Would you like to be The Argus Trader of the Week? Email kate.parkin@theargus.co.uk