Switzerland: Tons of textiles are transported miles to cheaper companies abroad

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Shirts, suits and party dresses have been in the shadows since the outbreak of the pandemic. There were few opportunities to wear the classy wardrobe during this time. One or the other cultural event is now back on the agenda, and business meetings are sometimes taking place physically again. Because of the risk of infection, people still spend a lot of time at home - and jeans or sweatpants usually rule there.

The dry cleaners feel this particularly. For several months now they have received significantly fewer clothes from their customers to clean. According to reports, the orders at most companies are currently between 50 and 60 percent compared to the previous year. Some cleaners have therefore already had to close branches, for example the internationally active franchise company 5àsec, which is the market leader in Switzerland

"Home office propaganda is really bad for us"

In second and third place are Zürcher Terlinden AG (27 branches) and Lucerne Texpress AG (14 branches). The latter has prominent customers such as Circus Knie and FC Luzern, but also many business customers.

The current home office propaganda is very bad for us, says managing director Patrick Meier. And further: but we also lack the musicians' coats and shirts from the catering and tourism staff.

Texpress works partly directly with hotels, the shipping company for Lake Lucerne and companies from other sectors and offers their employees special conditions. Among other things, it is thanks to this cooperation, believes Meier, that the company is doing better than the competition.

He said, this strategy costs us a lot of energy, but it is now showing that it is worthwhile. Our order volume is now back at 90 percent.

Fewer orders from hotels and restaurants

Not only dry cleaning companies have to contend with, but also large laundries. In Switzerland this is the French Elis group, the Bodensee laundry or the Bardusch company based in Basel . The laundries live from orders from restaurants and hotels, but also from cleaning clothes from industry and the healthcare sector.

During the lockdown, when restaurants had to close overnight and many hotels dragged along due to the lack of guests, the market for the washing of tablecloths, sheets and duvet covers collapsed completely.

Now it is slowly picking up again. But only slowly. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the hotels still recorded 26 percent fewer overnight stays in July than in the previous year. There are no more recent figures yet.

The boss of Elis Switzerland, Thomas Hollinger, says on request, tThe hotel industry in cities in particular is still at a very low level. The catering segment is now not doing badly.

At the moment one of the 12 production sites is still closed, the order volume is 20 to 25 percent lower than in the previous year. Since the company serves a wide range of customers, it should be better off than smaller laundries with a focus on gastronomy and the hotel industry especially with a view to the cold season, when there will be fewer outside seating and thus fewer tablecloths and serviettes for washing.

Sheets and tablecloths are increasingly being washed abroad

The consolidation process that has been going on for years is therefore likely to be accelerated by the crisis. Some laundries will expand into larger ones or disappear. The same applies to dry cleaning. According to the Swiss Textile Care Association, around 7,000 people are still employed in the industry today.

The tough price war and displacement is now also intensifying the following development: Hotels, restaurants and co. Are increasingly having their laundry washed in neighboring countries. Lots of sheets, tablecloths and uniforms are picked up every day by cheaper providers from Germany, France and Liechtenstein and transported for kilometers by truck. According to the industry association, more than 30 tons of laundry cross the Swiss border every day.

From an ecological point of view, this is “total nonsense”, criticize several industry representatives. The development worries them above all with regard to their own future: They cannot keep up with such low prices due to the higher personnel costs in this country. The association's “Textiles washed in Switzerland” label is now intended to remedy the situation and strengthen the Swiss production location and awareness of environmentally friendly laundry in Switzerland.

Hospitals are switching due to delivery bottlenecks

Elis Switzerland boss Hollinger also believes that the fear of interrupted supply chains, as there were in some cases due to the closed borders, could lead to a rethink in one or the other company. In hospitals, for example, one can already see that they are increasingly relying on reusable instead of disposable clothing for staff and patients. There were delivery bottlenecks for the cheaper disposable clothing during the lockdown.

Patrick Meier from Texpress in Lucerne sees another medium-term opportunity in the current crisis: “The past has shown that people don't buy new clothes during a crisis, but rather bring their old winter coats, suits, etc. to the dry cleaners. This trend could be reinforced with growing environmental awareness. "