Dry Cleaning Industry in Bangladesh

Background:

Mechanized laundry and dry cleaning services are highly developed in the advanced countries.
Bangladesh was far behind in promoting this industry till 1988. For exploring the potentiality of
such a unit in the Metropolitan City of Dhaka, dynamic and enterprising sponsors came forward
to establish such service industry in Dhaka, in the year of 1989.

Two types of laundry service- manual and mechanized laundry -- now operate in the major cities
of Bangladesh. Manual launderers use their own muscle power and basic detergents to wash and
hang-dry clothes out in the open. Almost 80 percent of traditional manual laundries wash clothes
in the fouled water of the Buriganga and other waterways, according to a source in the business.
In contrast, three new mechanized sanitary launderers in Dhaka use state-of-the-art machines and
more than 12 types of detergents to provide laundry, dry and pressing service for the health-
conscious people who can afford it.

Bangladesh now has three companies that clean house linens, including bed sheets, pillow
covers, tablecloths, towels, and garments (blazers, suits, shirts, trousers, saris, skirts, shawls).

Bandbox was the first and about half the house-linen business: It started its operation in May of
1989, with 2 outlets. It now has 38, including five outside Dhaka. Top Clean began in 1998 as a
joint venture with a Singapore-based company, holds around 30 percent house-linen business. It
is now fully locally owned and has 25 outlets all operating in Dhaka. Best Clean, started in 2004,
already boasts 18 outlets in Dhaka city.

Now-a-days peoples are becoming modern and changing their life-style. They are wearing
fashionable clothes and it’s not easy to wash these clothes at home. So people are now getting
more dependent on specialized laundry. There is a growing demand for specialized laundry shop
in Chittagong, Sylhet, Narayangonj and in different parts of Dhaka.
The market of sanitary laundry service is now growing at 15 percent in Bangladesh. The
prospects of the sector are very amazing, as the living standard of the people as well as their
health consciousness is increasing day by day. The Health-conscious city customers are more
concerned about the quality and also want a quick service, those seeking better quality, quicker
delivery or the perks that come with an improved living standard are fueling the growth, agree
industry insiders. As people get busier and increased purchasing power, especially of middle and
upper-middle class, is vital to flourishing sanitary laundry, they want home service and to protect
their international brand-name clothes. The youth are coming up fast as clients.

To cope with the modern washing & dry cleaning technology, mechanized laundry has adopted
more sophisticated and modern equipment and offering multifaceted cleaning options to the
customers which increases satisfaction of the customers day by day.

Mechanized laundry and dry-cleaning services are widespread and highly developed in wealthier
countries. Though there is little local demand for sanitary laundry in Bangladesh. But for the
growing market and new sense of dressing demand for specialized laundry is increasing day by
day. It is a new era of business here.

What kind of it is and why?

The dry cleaning industry of Bangladesh is a fragmented industry. Because the marker demand is
extensive, low entry barriers, buyers require customized product, highly specialized market, local
firms often inspire more trust in their customers etc.

Some feature of the Dry cleaning Industry that related with the fragmented industry

Extensive Demand:

Demand of the dry cleaning market increases because with the increasing standard of living
people become busier for that they choose home laundry services for having extra time to share
with family and friends. Also increased purchasing power, especially of middle and upper-middle
class, is vital to flourishing sanitary laundry.
Low entry Barrier:

Automated dry cleaning require relatively low operating costs, once the initial capital for the
facility has been acquired, and do not lend themselves to standardization. The costs involved
with entering the automated dry cleaning market are low enough that anyone with a simple bank
loan and motivation can enter the market, and expect to make back their initial costs within a few
years. So the entry const is not so high and also if anyone wants to leave the business, he can
easily comes out easily.

Local firms often inspire more trust:

There is no need for standardization, as large numbers of similar industries provide more
consumer opportunities, and as such, there is little demand for consolidation. Local firms often
inspire more trust in their consumers with the modern washing & dry cleaning technology.
The industry is young and crowded with aspiring contenders.

All of above are the characteristics of the fragmented market so from the discussion we can say
that the Dry Cleaning Industry of Bangladesh is in a fragmented market.