Parkers Dry Cleaners Attends Annual Association of Wedding Gown Specialists meeting

Added at 10:03am, Friday March 25th 2011

 
NEWS RELEASE

CONTACT: Liana Zaidman
1-877-SINCE76 (746-2376)
www.parkersdrycleaners.com

Shan Lakhani, General Manager of Parkers Custom Clothing Care, recently returned from an international conference of gown care specialists held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Lakhani said, “Traveling to Albuquerque to meet with the leaders in our industry was well worth the time. We here at Parkers Custom Clothing Care are committed to providing our brides with the best possible care for their gowns. That’s why we offer the Association’s trademarked MuseumCare gown preservations with a completely acid-free wedding chest. We take pride in the quality of our work,” said Lakhani “and our affiliation with the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists is a natural extension of our determination to provide consumers with the best available product. Our brides know we are the gown preservation service they can trust!”

Lakhani is a recognized expert in the industry and cleans hundreds of specialty gowns each year. Serving the Toronto area since 1876, Parkers Custom Clothing Care has eight locations and is a member of Dry Cleaners and Launderers Institute, National Cleaners Association, Green Cleaners Council and Ontario Fabricare Association.

Speakers at the meeting included Katie Martin of Elegance and Simplicity, Inc. and Brian Lawrence, founder of Local Traffic Builder. Martin and her team have designed thousands of luxury and green wedding events, and she is also editor-in-chief of Eco-BeautifulWeddings.com, an international magazine and blog, as well as a contributor to more than 75 blogs, magazines, and websites worldwide. Lawrence, well-known author and speaker in the wedding industry reviewed the websites of those who attended the meeting and showed them how to use their websites to build brand recognition.

Andrea Lown, co-founder of SmartBrideBoutique.com where brides past and
present buy and sell used wedding gowns and other discounted wedding items, explained how gown care specialists can maximize their exposure in this fast-growing segment of the gown care market. Following Lown’s presentation, Sonny Ganguly, Chief Marketing Officer of WeddingWire.com spoke about the need to include social, local, and especially mobile media in an effective marketing plan.

The three-day meeting opened with a tour of The Cleanery, the Association’s member in Albuquerque, where the group enjoyed a unique opportunity to observe one of the first Solvon K4 Systems to be installed anywhere in the world. The system features a non-halogenated, biodegradable alternative to the widely-used perchloroethylene solvent. Richard Fitzpatrick, vice president of Kreussler, spoke about the history of the company’s interest in developing this new solvent.

Nancy Jones, president, and Kathy Daniels, general manager of Foster-Stephens Company reminded the group of their long-standing relationship with the Association and used the occasion to mark the 75th anniversary of the company’s complete line of archival-quality storage solutions with special offers.
Members of the Association, a not-for-profit trade group with members located in the United States, Canada, Ecuador and Mexico specialize in gown cleaning and preservation. Each member honors the guarantee of every other member, which includes taking the gown out of the container and pressing it at no charge when the gown is to be worn again. For brides outside of market areas with local service, the Association offers AWGS Courier Service, which makes the Association’s trademarked gown preservations available via both telephone and the Internet.

The Association partners with Carbonfund.org, the leading nonprofit carbon offset and climate solutions organization, to offer truly green, ZeroCarbonTM gown preservations, and more than seventy specialty gown manufacturers currently recommend MuseumCareTM ZeroCarbonTM preservations. MuseumCareTM ZeroCarbontTM gown preservations are also endorsed by the Association of Bridal Consultants, the professional organization dedicated to wedding professionals worldwide.