![]() ![]() The market embraced this system well into the late 1970s, but it was a limited concept. Maytag, the primary manufacturer of nearly all Mac-Gray laundry appliances, created the ticket system. The 1960s brought an expansion of the Cambridge, Massachusetts, corporate headquarters and the introduction of cashless electronic ticket systems, a precursor to Smart Cards. The company provided liability insurance purchased, installed, and maintained laundry equipment and by the 1990s provided coinless systems. Multi-housing complexes used the services of Mac-Gray to avoid the issues involved in running a laundry service. In the 1950s, Mac-Gray became the leading laundry service provider to colleges and multi-housing communities and New England's top commercial laundry equipment company. MacDonald brought creativity, a commitment to customer satisfaction, and a strong work ethic to the job. Gray asked Stewart MacDonald to run the new entity, and they renamed the company "Mac-Gray" to reflect the dual leadership. It established a store division and helped launch many self-service laundromats. In 1952, the company de-emphasized selling appliances to homeowners. population, with its movement to the suburbs, would spike the need for public laundromats. They were looking for easy access to washing machines and dryers.ฤก950s: the Leading College Laundry Service Provider Consumers, whether they lived in apartments, college housing, or their own houses, became enamored with convenience. The interstate highway system changed the landscape and made the automobile essential to U.S. After World War II, suburban development increased at a rapid rate. MacDonald, born in 1925, helped steer the company through a time of rapid change. Gray brought in Stewart MacDonald (the father of Stewart Gray MacDonald, Jr.) to help run the company. "That was a major turn of the road where adversity pushed the company in a different direction." "At this time, the coin operated laundry business was born out of desperation," explained Stewart Gray MacDonald, Jr., the company CEO in 2001. ![]() Gray to make his appliances available in common areas, put a metering device on them, and allow people to "rent" the washer or dryer by the hour. This lack of individual sales spurred H.S. People did not have the funds to make a major purchase like an appliance. When the depression hit bottom in 1933, 16 million people (one third of the labor force) were unemployed. In the 1920s and 1930s, selling equipment was often a door-to-door business. The biggest challenge faced by the company in its early years was the Great Depression. ![]() Examples included adopting European water-efficient technology and leading the change to coinless washers and dryers. The company devoted time to redefine or innovate and catch the early wave on industry trends. In the 1930s, Gray installed coin boxes on washers, pioneering the "pay-as-you-use" laundry service. The company leaders tended to be entrepreneurial and creative. Throughout its history, Mac-Gray was a technology leader in its industry. Gray remained active in the company into the late 1970s and died in 1994. Gray, born in 1900, bought a pick-up truck cut a deal with Maytag, the appliance manufacturer and began selling wringer washing machines and ice boxes door-to-door in the Boston area. (Stewart) Gray left his insurance sales job to found the company that later became Mac-Gray Corporation. It also distributes commercial washers and dryers to laundromats, hotels, hospitals, and restaurants sells a line of combination refrigerators, freezers, and microwaves and provides vended reprographic services to colleges and libraries. Mac-Gray owns and operates about 170,000 washer and dryers in some 30,000 multiple housing laundry rooms across 33 states in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast. Most of the company's laundry equipment is Maytag-brand. The company is the largest provider of laundry services to the U.S. Most of its clients are apartment buildings, condominiums, colleges, assisted living communities, military housing, and public housing complexes. Mac-Gray Corporation provides debit card and coin-operated laundry services and other amenities to multiple housing facilities. ![]()
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