At Platinum Dry Cleaners, brothers and co-owners Chris and Craig Bamberg this year invested more than a quarter of a million dollars in robotic technology to modernize their business and reallocate what they deemed to be their most important asset—employees.
This year, the Bambergs spent about $200,000 for a custom-built, Italian machine, known as the Giulietta. They now have automated plastic wrapping of their cleaned clothing, allowing the brothers to move two employees who previously did that task to quality control positions.
Platinum Dry Cleaners, which has been in business for 35 years and has locations in Naples and East Naples, has 40 employees.
“What this technology upgrade has done for us, it has helped us move people off of robotic, mundane tasks, such as the packaging,” Craig Bamberg said. “You can automate that, and then you can take that skilled eye and that skilled craftmanship and move it back to the quality control required for spotting and steaming and proper pressing. Now the garments have that educated eye. It’s a quality product, always, with more advanced delivery.”
The Bambergs also spent about $60,000 on a high-tech, automated steaming machine, called a Hurricane, to press shirts.
“It helps us manage our manpower and hours,” Chris Bamberg said. “We created efficiencies. We have a core of really good employees.”
In addition, the Bambergs streamlined the business. When they bought it in 2019, there were four retail locations from Marco Island to Bonita Springs. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, business didn’t just drop, it shifted to online.
As the leases expired on two of those retail locations, the Bambergs decided not to renew. Instead, they covered those territories in Bonita Springs and Marco Island by shifting online and creating a mobile phone app.
“No one was laid off,” Craig Bamberg said. “Instead of delivery and pickup twice a week we took it to where they are.
“We live in Door Dash and Amazon world. And clients want to be able to order from their device and have it delivered to their driveway. They want information. No different than they do from pizza and grocery delivery.”
