To Wash U Wash owner Jack Feldman, there are two types of clothes. Not formal or casual. Not cheap or pricey. Just dirty and clean.
“People think we are judging what they are wearing, but we’re not,” said Feldman, a senior who is studying history in Arts & Sciences. “To us, it’s all just laundry. It comes in dirty, we give it back clean.”
Feldman and senior Etan Weinstein, who is studying economics in Arts & Sciences, recently sold their shares of Wash U Wash, a thriving member business in the Student Entrepreneurial Program (StEP). Since acquiring the student business two years ago, Feldman, Weinstein and their partners have washed some 132,000 pounds of laundry and have grown net income by a whopping 84 percent.
But the money hasn’t been the biggest reward, Feldman said.
“The opportunity to be creative and find new ways to be successful has been really satisfying,” Feldman said. “The financial success has just been a bonus for us. What really matters is that we’ve been able to share this incredible learning experience in so many ways.”