Queen Street Laundry: A 40-year Old Establishment That Puts Its Neighbours First

While the term “small business” certainly describes everything from e-commerce retailers to startups, we sometimes forget the true heart and soul of the category. The Mom and Pop shops around the corner; the ones that sell our favourite coffee and hand made soaps, run by the people who learn our names, our favourite products, and whether we prefer milk or cream. They offer the services that shape our day-to-day experiences and help define our community identity from a grassroots level; in some cases, over the course of several decades. 

Queen Street Laundry is one of these institutions. The local laundromat is located in the artsy-cool neighbourhood of Queen West of Toronto (even Vogue Magazine agrees). There, they’ve served customers for over 40 years. The business maintains its neighbourly roots, typically seeing customers who live within a 1 kilometre radius stopping by their establishment for either self-serve laundry, or for the wash-and-serve service that they offer. They want to make sure their environment is clean, safe, and welcoming for all, including artists like Deadmau5 and publication FY Magazine, who rented the establishment for their own shoots.

Small Business Facebook Marketing Should Include Video Ads

As the marketing landscape evolves on digital platforms, small businesses need to be more current in their marketing initiatives and efforts. Ash Parmar, the current owner of Queen Street Laundry thinks that traditional, direct marketing like handing out fliers is becoming an ancient and antiquated practice. “Everybody’s on Facebook, Snapchat, or Instagram you know,” he said. “Having ads there within a targeted radius, it just comes up in your feed.” Small businesses need to be where those customers are, and sharing their messages in the channels that their customers use. 

The content used to deliver messages matters, especially in small business Facebook marketing strategies. Ash experimented with Facebook Ads to promote their services. He used static content because it was easier to produce, and while he saw some spikes in business, he wanted to create something that would help him stand out. He explained that though interested in the world of video ads, investing time to learn the skills and equipment seemed like an overwhelming and daunting task. This is why he appreciated the intuitiveness of Cinemagraph Pro for iOS and having the app on his phone, which made the process of ad creation a lot less intimidating, especially after seeing the results.

“You have the stillness of 90% of the photo, and you have that one, it can be an abstract or a very focused piece of your advertisement, that’s literally moving,” said Ash. “That stands out. To me, that was the factor that made me say this is what I want to be using. It creates that separation from other ads.”