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Dun-Rite still doing it right

By Toby Thorpe

Few businesses in Albemarle and Stanly County have exceeded the century mark in longevity, but Dun-Rite Cleaners, currently in its 103rd year of existence, has maintained a strong tradition of quality service to the community.

Key ingredients to this success have been the firm’s commitment to customer satisfaction and its willingness to change with the times, according to Mark Dry, who along with older brother Benton, are the current officers of the organization.

“People appreciated the service we provided back in the early days, and we have tried to keep that service at a top level ever since,” he said.

In its years of operation, Dun-Rite has been able to change with the times, as the needs of its customers have evolved.

For the first three decades of its operation, the company operated both a commercial laundry division and a dry cleaning division.

“Our commercial division provided linens for hospitals, hotels, restaurants and nursing facilities, and at one time, we had three route drivers who picked up and delivered laundry and dry cleaning five days a week,” said Mark, referring to a photo taken at the cleaners’ original location which showed the three panel trucks used for deliveries, along with their drivers.

The original Dun-Rite building, located immediately to the left of the current plant, served as the company’s headquarters until 1968.

“When the original building was first built (by Ben H. Dry, who took over from founder Finley O. Dry in 1922), it was actually outside the city limits, and people told my grandfather that the business would never make it out there,” Mark recalled.

In 1948, Gene Dry (Mark’s father) joined the operation, eventually becoming head of the dry cleaning division. Since the old laundry building featured a coal-fired boiler, it required someone to keep it stoked, and Gene often called upon Mark to fulfill that duty.

“I had to shovel a lot of coal when I was growing up,” Mark said, adding that because he was small enough to get inside, he was also called upon to assist when the boiler’s fire chamber needed to be relined with bricks.

As more families installed washers and dryers, Dun-Rite’s pickup and delivery services eventually were discontinued, but under Gene’s leadership, the company eventually established a fire and smoke restoration division, which continued through 2020. Meanwhile, the company had established a carpet care division, headed by Mark’s brother Benton, who re-joined the family business in 1988 following stints with Gillette and Black and Decker. The carpet care division continues to be a key facet of the cleaners’ operations, offering both in-plant rug cleaning and mobile carpet cleaning via a truck-mounted machine.

Dry cleaning, however, remains the company’s core business, and the company continues to operate a location in Locust, having done so since 2002.

When asked how Dun-Rite has thrived while numerous other dry cleaners have faded away, Mark identified the key ingredient.

“Quality has always been our top priority, and it’s that quality that has kept us in business since 1922,” he said.

Dun-Rite Laundry and Cleaners is at 1223 Pee Dee Ave., Albemarle. Call 704-982-3511. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.