SHELTON FAMILY CLEANERS: CELEBRATING OVER A CENTURY OF
QUALITY DRY CLEANING AND OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE

For more than 100 years, the Shelton Family has cared for customers’ most precious garments, offering outstanding customer service and quality cleaning at a low, affordable price. Our family’s story starts in the late 1890s, when family patriarch John W. Shelton, Sr. worked at the family’s White Star Laundry in Oklahoma, offering garment and textile care to the local working community at a fair price. In the 1910s, John decided to move the family business to Tucson, Arizona, where he purchased Unit Laundry. Under John’s leadership, the business flourished. Customers loved John’s commitment to quality, professional service and affordable pricing. By 1950, Unit Laundry had earned a reputation for having one of the largest and most modern dry cleaning plants in the country. In the 1950’s, John W. Shelton, Sr. followed the American Dream to California. From San Diego, he and his three children established Bonded Cleaners. A decade later, John W. Shelton Jr. took the business over from his father and siblings, moving the dry cleaning plant to downtown San Diego and opening more than 40 “drop stores” around San Diego County for added customer convenience. But John Jr. wasn’t finished – he listened to customer feedback and pioneered a new, one price option.

PIONEERING ONE PRICE DRY CLEANING
WITHOUT SACRIFICING QUALITY OR SERVICE

In 1967, John Jr. began charging just 49 cents for each garment cleaned, regardless of type. San Diego customers loved the new flat rate pricing and business boomed so much John Jr. had to further expand operations. He began breaking his large company into eight smaller companies and equipping several of the small “drop stores” with their own processing equipment. John Jr. would then lease these smaller businesses to a family member and, after two years of successful operation, sell the smaller business to them. John Jr. felt that keeping store ownership in the hands of local families – rather than a big corporation – was the best way to maintain a high standard of cleaning quality and continue offering cleaning at a single, low price. By the early 1980’s, John Jr. had expanded his dry cleaning investment business into Orange County and Los Angeles, continuing to offer his discounted pricing model for family run dry cleaners. John Jr.’s son began working with his father in the 1980’s. He brought the company to Houston, Texas in 1984, officially making dry cleaning a four-generation family business. Customers frustrated with being overcharged by other cleaners for sub-par cleaning eagerly flocked to the Shelton Family’s new Houston cleaners.

A “FAMILY” OF DRY CLEANERS:
FIVE GENERATIONS OF SERVICE AND 500+ FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESSES

Soon the Shelton Family began working with close family friends, friends-of-friends, and people from all walks of life who were passionate about customer service and quality cleaning. Today, there are over 500 locations nationwide that can attribute their start directly to the Shelton Family or from family friends that the Shelton’s help put into business. All of the stores opened by Shelton or affiliated with the Shelton Family are named after cars. This includes Fifth Avenue $1.25 Cleaners, Park Avenue $1.50 Cleaners, Eldorado $1.99 Cleaners, Marquis Cleaners, and Fleetwood Cleaners, to name just a few. We have created a “family” of dry cleaners committed to quality one price cleaning and superior customer care. Since our one price dry cleaning has been extremely popular, other dry cleaners have tried to copy our business model and offer cleaning at a discounted price, too. Unfortunately, many of these cleaners are more concerned with profit than quality, and focus instead on maximizing garment quantity to make more money. This diminishes cleaning quality and, all too often, customer service becomes an afterthought. These imitator cleaners often copied the name, signs and store layouts that the Shelton Family used. Worse, customers often became confused. They’d go to a one price cleaner and think the cleaner was affiliated with the Shelton Family without realizing the cleaner was actually an inferior imitator.

SHELTON FAMILY CLEANERS:
A LEGACY OF SERVICE AND QUALITY

In 2009, after opening and selling a number of profitable cleaners, the Shelton Family decided to rebrand their cleaners under the name “Shelton Family Cleaners” to avoid additional confusion with other discount dry cleaners. Now in its fifth generation, we’re proud to continue a 100+ year tradition of quality dry cleaning and outstanding customer service at a single, low price. From our family to yours, we look forward to many more years of outstanding service.

We promise quality garment care at a fair price. If you aren’t satisfied, we will make it right!