October 29, 2021 4:00 a.m.

In the KQEN Business Spotlight:

The only dry cleaning business in Roseburg will be closed after Friday.

Co-owner Jody Fassler told News Radio 1240 KQEN that Linen Services Dry Cleaning on Northeast Garden Valley Boulevard will cease operations. Fassler said it was a hard decision but she and husband Mike can no longer put their own money into the business, just to keep it in operation.

When the spring 2020 shutdowns and Stay at Home orders took place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, business dropped by almost 40 percent overnight. That was due to many professionals and others working from home and not needing dry cleaning services as often.

Business had started to pick up again in the last couple of months, but by then COVID-19 had already created other issues. Fassler said in recent months it has been harder to get needed supplies. When they are available, the cost of those things has increased as well. Fassler said for months it has been almost impossible to find employees, creating one more challenge.

Fassler said to stay in business, prices would have to be increased to a level she knows the community couldn’t support.

Linen Services Dry Cleaning took over when the former Ken’s Dry Cleaning closed at the same location in 2018. The business had been in operation since the 1950s.

Fassler’s will keep their commercial location on Northeast Aviation Drive open. That part of the business has contracts with CHI Mercy Medical Center and other medical offices to take care of their needs. It began in 2011.

According to staff with the City of Roseburg, there is no record of another dry cleaner in the area. It appears residents who still need dry cleaning will now have to head to Eugene or Grants Pass.