Hutchinson's to clean its last suit in July
Because adults don’t gussy up like they once did and for various other reasons, a 95-year-old Butler business will close in July.
Steve Hutchinson said Hutchinson’s Dry Cleaners on Negley Avenue will starch its last shirt July 2.
“We’ve been blessed that we’ve been here this long,” Hutchinson said of the business started by his grandfather, Gordon Hutchinson. “It’s never been about making the money. It’s always been about doing a good job.”
He explained that when his grandfather opened the business in 1926, dry cleaners were a vital part of each town’s landscape because all clothing was made of wool, cotton and silk, which were taken to the dry cleaner.
In the 1950s, when his father, Jim, ran the business, men wore suits and women wore furs and gowns.
Then, machine-washable polyester hit the scene in the 1970s, and almost all households had electric washing machines.
Those factors caused a nationwide decline in the need for dry cleaning, but then the coronavirus pandemic hit.
This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Sunday’s Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.
