Stain on your pinstriped suit? Your favorite French-cuffed shirt look like it’s been through the wringer? If you’re like most office workers, you take it to the drycleaners.
But if you don’t have that salary coming in anymore, plunking down even a few bucks to clean and press a shirt might not be an option.
No one knows this better than Bart Casiello, one of the founders of Maryland’s ZIPS Dry Cleaners. It’s why the 30-store chain is offering free drycleaning to unemployed people. Customers can get up to three garments free.
Casiello said he started offering the service because he saw many customers leave ZIPS after they lost their jobs. He said the unemployed need clean clothes even more than the average person.
“It’s tough to compete to begin with,” Casiello said. “First impressions can be lasting ones. You don’t want to be disqualified because you can’t afford drycleaning.”
Casiello said he hasn’t calculated the cost of the giveaways. ZIPS charges $1.99 per garment. He sees it as a community service.
“We’re trying to help where we can,” he said.
Click here to find a ZIPS location.