Full steam ahead for Stanley

FORT COLLINS — John Robinson has big plans for Stanley Steemer in 1999.

This month, the Fort Collins-based carpet-cleaning business will break ground for a new location that will more than double the size of its current space, and this fall, Stanley Steemer will offer air-duct cleaning as a new service. The company also plans to extend its services into Laramie this May.

Robinson purchased his carpet-cleaning franchise from Stanley Steemer International, an Ohio-based franchiser that licenses both carpet-cleaning and air-duct cleaning businesses. He now plans to buy a second franchise from the company and add residential and commercial air-duct cleaning to his services.

The company also plans to relocate in June to the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport. The new location has 8,000 square feet — 5,000 square feet more than the company¹s current location at 209 Racquette Drive.

Stanley Steemer moved to the Racquette Drive location only a year and a half ago and has already outgrown the space. Last October, the business was forced to lease 1,000 additional square feet across the street.

“Splitting up the business makes it hard to manage,” Robinson said.

Wheeler Commercial Property Services LLC will own the new building, which is being built by Wheeler Construction Services LLC.

Offices will occupy 2,000 square feet, and the remaining 6,000 square feet will be warehouse space.

The goal is to have the building ready to move into June 1, said Linda Perry, broker associate at Wheeler Commercial. Stanley Steemer will share the 32,000-square-foot building with St. Vrain Moving and Storage Inc., a Longmont moving company. St. Vrain will lease 20,000 square feet.

The remaining 8,000 square feet has not yet been leased, but it will go to another industrial user, Perry said.

In three years, Stanley Steemer has the option of taking over the additional 8,000 square feet.

At the new location, the business will be in the middle of its service area, Robinson said. Stanley Steemer does business in Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley and Cheyenne. The company will add Laramie to its market this summer.

Robinson also bought a Stanley Steemer franchise in the Vail/Breckenridge area last May. Trucks used on the Western Slope are housed in Fort Collins, and the new location will be closer to the mountain market, he said.

To accommodate the air-duct service, Robinson will buy two trucks. For the growing carpet-cleaning business, he will buy four more trucks this year.

While the competition is strong in all the markets, the company has seen huge amounts of growth over the last year and a half, Robinson said.

Since he bought the franchise in April 1997, Robinson quickly increased sales. The sales for 1996 were only $169,000 and between April and December 1997, the business generated $522,000. In 1998, sales reached $1 million, and projected sales for 1999 are $1.35 million.

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