Kimberly Wilkinson named Lapels Dry Cleaning Franchise Owner of the Year

Lapels Dry Cleaning, an innovative, environmentally non-toxic dry cleaning company headquartered in Hanover, Massachusetts, recently named Kimberly Wilkinson as its Franchise Owner of the Year for 2016. Wilkinson owns the Lapels Dry Cleaning of Marshfield at 776 Plain Street, Marshfield, MA Lapels Dry Cleaning of Kingston at 150 Summer Street, Kingston, MA and Lapels Dry Cleaning of Cohasset at 827 Chief Justice Cushing Highway, Cohasset, MA.

“Kimberly entered our franchise system just 18 months ago and has very quickly built a network of three stores on the South Shore of Boston. Quite simply, she runs the Lapels system to perfection,” said Kevin Dubois, CEO of Lapels Dry Cleaning.

In addition to her work running her own franchises, Wilkinson is a member of Lapels Dry Cleaning’s Advertising Committee. She also hosts new franchise owners from around the country for training in her store and most recently volunteered her facility for Lapels University—Lapels Dry Cleaning’s franchise owner training program.

“This is quite an unexpected honor,” said Wilkinson. “Lapels Corporate has been incredibly supportive in helping us get our business off the ground and seeing us through construction of the plant. We’re fortunate in that our stores are fairly close to corporate headquarters and that if we need help, it’s literally two towns over.

For winning Franchise Owner of the Year, Wilkinson received a trophy, plaque and cash award, which was presented by Dubois during a training dinner in Hingham on Thursday, January 26.

Prior to opening Lapels, Wilkinson worked as a relationship manager for an investment management firm in Boston. After she and her husband had their first child, it didn’t take long to realize the two-hour commute wasn’t going work. The couple began a search for franchise opportunities that might enable better work-life balance and be profitable.

Said Kimberly, “Everything I wore for my job had to be dry-cleaned, so a dry cleaning franchise fit our number one criteria. The fact that Lapels pioneered an environmentally superior product sealed the deal for us.”

Wilkinson opened Lapels Dry Cleaning of Kingston in August 2015 and subsequently took over a satellite location, Lapels Dry Cleaning of Marshfield, in October 2015 which she converted to a Plant in February 2016. Wilkinson added her third location in November 2016 with the purchase of Lapels Dry Cleaning in Cohasset.

“There’s definitely a lot to learn and starting out in three locations makes it challenging. But I can certainly picture a scenario where we will achieve a comfortable work-life balance that enables us to be successful monetarily and enjoy time as a family,” said Wilkinson.

To learn more about franchise opportunities with Lapels Dry Cleaning, call toll free (866) 695-2735 or email sales@lapelsdrycleaning.com. Additional information and up-to-date company news can also be found on the company’s Web site, www.lapelsdrycleaning.com.