Darren Spenst, founder and CEO of The Laundry Guy, recently appeared on Daily Dealer Live to break down where dealerships are losing money on uniform and supply costs, and why a pending acquisition in the uniform rental industry may be the best negotiating opportunity dealers have seen in years.
Here are the five strongest signals from his conversation:
1. Most dealers have no real visibility into what they're being charged.
Dealerships typically rent their shop uniforms, towels, mats, and other supplies through large national providers who handle pickup, cleaning, and restocking on a recurring contract. The invoices are detailed and complex, which is why Spenst says most dealer groups never scrutinize them line by line.
"When we're able to dive into their invoices and explain to them [there are] five ways to charge for a shop towel, the light goes off, and they go, ‘Okay, I knew there was something there, but I didn't actually know exactly."
Without that breakdown, most dealers are comparing their current bill to nothing, which means there's no way to know whether it's fair.
2. A long-running vendor relationship isn't the same as a fair one.
Dealers who've been with the same uniform supplier for years tend to assume the relationship is fine.
"All I ever have said is: compared to what?"
Spenst's point is that tenure and accuracy are two different things, and that the absence of a benchmark is exactly what allows overcharges to persist unnoticed.
3. Invoices change, but contracts don't.
Even dealers who negotiate favorable terms at signing tend to find their bill drifting upward over time. Uniform rental contracts typically include language allowing suppliers to raise prices, meaning the number a dealer agreed to at signing and the number showing up on next month's invoice can be very different things.
"Invoices change, contracts don't. And that's what happens, right? Is the inception of the contract does not change, and what it says in there is that they can raise prices."
Small charges accumulate too: inventory billed for employees who no longer work there, or incremental price increases that compound quietly over months.
4. Cintas’ acquisition of UniFirst has created an unusual window for customers on both sides.
Cintas, the largest uniform rental company in the country, recently agreed to acquire UniFirst (the third largest) for $5.5 billion. The deal is still pending FTC approval, but if it closes, it would give a single supplier more than half the marketplace.
Spenst says that shift changes the negotiating math entirely, and that both UniFirst and Cintas customers have more leverage right now than they're likely to have once the dust settles.
"The closer you are to your expiration date, let's say you're over 50% of your term, you want to discuss it. The other thing is what happens when Unifirst is off the table and Cintas—now you're sitting with Cintas, and you don't have any leverage anymore."
UniFirst in particular, he says, is motivated to get agreements locked in before the deal is decided.
5. Fewer suppliers means less ability to push back on pricing.
The uniform rental market was already concentrated before this deal and dominated by a handful of large national providers that most dealerships have little choice but to work with.
Spenst's concern is that once consolidation further reduces it, the dynamic that allows customers to negotiate or walk away largely disappears.
"If I go to the car dealership and there are only two options, it's a lot different than having five, right? And this is what we're getting to—it's a very small pool, and it's not advantage to the client. It's advantage to the supplier."
Still, for dealers who want to act, he says the starting point is this: pull the contract, find out how far into the term you are, and find out what you're actually paying.
OUTSMART THE CAR MARKET IN 5 MINUTES A WEEK
Get insights trusted by 55,000+ car dealers. Free, fast, and built for automotive leaders.
