Since opening in early-April 2009, Express Cleaners at 825 N. Milwaukee has employed an advertising strategy of indiscriminately leafleting cars and mailboxes in the neighborhood. I have picked up dozens of flyers discarded on the street. I stopped in to Express Cleaners to express my concern about the litter created by such advertising practices. When I entered the business, the woman working was having a very animated conversation on the phone. I did not get her name, but during the conversation she disclosed that she ran the business with her husband and son. Her response to my concern was, “So what? Who cares?” I replied that dry cleaning is not exactly the most eco-friendly business, and I did not think littering the neighborhood was the best way to win over customers. She immediately took the same rude, defensive tone with me that she had displayed during the telephone conversation that I overheard. She essentially argued that there was other litter in the street, and that after the leaflets were placed on the car it was not the business’ fault that the car owner discarded them in the street. I told her that I was not condoning other litters, and suggested that she should know better that when they advertise in that manner they should expect that most of the flyers would end up on the ground. She asked what I did with the Express Cleaners garbage that I picked up, to which I replied, “I recycled it.” The owner was rude and argumentative.
When I described the neighborhood, including the streets that I was picking up the business’s garbage from, she played dumb that she did not know where I was talking about. Express Cleaners are interlopers who do not understand the values of the River West/Ukrainian Village/Wicker Park neighborhoods nor do they care about the environmental impact of its business on its neighbors.
I would encourage everyone to use Joy Luck Cleaners at 837 N. Milwaukee for their dry cleaning needs. They have lived and worked in the neighborhood for 10 years, and always provide quality service with a smile.