Southwest Florida cleaners and laundromats running out of hangers

Those hangers you always seem to be looking for and never have enough of are now in short supply. Dry cleaners and laundromats across Southwest Florida are running low on clothes hangers.

The rising demand for steel is impacting the ability to get hangers along with, of course, supply chain issues. These things are hurting small businesses.

For Nabil Youssef with Tisch Laundry and Dry Cleaning, it’s all about the customers. “I’m here for customers. Not for me. If I closed this down or something happened, it would be really bad,” Youssef said.

Supply chain issues are hurting his business. “We couldn’t get hangers. Some other supplies couldn’t get ’em. Still telling us they are on containers,” Youssef said.

He says that he’s never seen the issue this bad in the 26 years he’s worked at Tisch Laundry and Dry Cleaning in Bonita Springs. “Prices went up also. It does take a bite out of you,” Youssef said.

Youssef says other laundromats have had to close their doors because of it.

“There was a little laundry by the park, they went out of business. They definitely closed the doors. They couldn’t do it,” said Youssef.

He hopes that the supply chain issue resolves itself soon.

“We’ve been told it’s lightened up a little bit, but still didn’t get any hangers. I really don’t know. I hope it gets over next week, but we don’t really know,” Youssef said.

Some laundromats are requesting help by asking the public to bring their hangers back.

On Wednesday, President Biden is expected to go to the Port of Baltimore in Maryland to talk about how his infrastructure deal will upgrade the nation’s ports and help smooth out supply chain disruptions.