Laytons shuts its Spalding shop but business continues as 'click and collect' generation calls for more home deliveries
A Spalding shop may have closed its doors - but that doesn’t mean the business is affected.
In fact, business is still flourishing for Laytons Dry Cleaners and Launderers, which has been running for more than 80 years.
It has just changed the way it’s doing things, says managing director Andrew Layton-Hannam.
The shop was run by his late father George for a number of years and the business set up by his grandfather William in 1935.
That is why, Andrew said, that the decision to close the shop was not made lightly.
“Basically, all that we are doing is going the way that everybody else is going.
“People are tending to want our service to their door, rather than coming into town so we are concentrating on our home and collection deliveries.
“More and more people want home deliveries, like Amazon.”
It is for the same reason, he explained, that the firm closed its Bourne shop last year.
But for those who do still want to come into town, the firm has around 100 ‘wonderful’ agents across Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and Norfolk, where people can drop off their dry cleaning.
In Spalding, the agent is J F Inkley Menswear, just over the road from the former Laytons shop in Francis Street.
People can also go on Laytons’ website and book online ‘click and collect’ for collection and delivery.
Customers’ dry cleaning is picked up and sent to Laytons’ Market Deeping branch where it has machines to clean the ‘huge amount’ that it looks after.
“We are specialists,” he said. “It is not just the run of the mill suits and coats and laundry, but we also clean wedding dresses.
“We are a niche market in wedding dress cleaning.
“Business is continuing to thrive, we are just changing to meet the ways that people wish to shop.”
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