Commuter Cleaners Opens in Ridgewood After Many Failed Attempts

Marwan Amaisse has been waiting years to bring his unique dry cleaning business into Ridgewood. And for just as long, the energetic Paramus native has met challenges in the form of high rents and permit strife.

But he's here now, and the young entrepreneur doesn't intend on moving from his location at 14 W. Ridgewood Ave. any time soon.

Commuter Cleaners in Ridgewood is just the latest in the burgeoning empire of the Amaisse family.

An immigrant from Lebanon in the 1980s, Amaisse's father, a professional tailor, opened his first store in Paterson in 1983, .

Following in his father's footsteps, Marwan now owns and operates Commuter Cleaners in Park Ridge, Pearl River and as of last week, Ridgewood.

Still young in age, Amaisse is no rookie in the dry cleaning industry. As a junior in high school, Marwan took over the Park Ridge store. He apparently hasn't forgotten his time there, as his hours of operation are the same in Ridgewood as they were 15 years ago.

With his location perched on the doorstep of the biggest train station in the county, the unique hours (4 to 8 p.m. M-F; 8 to 4 p.m. Saturday) target a very specific type of customer – commuters.

"We are targeting commuters, people who are coming back from work," he says. "So many people leave very early in the morning that even some of the other dry cleaners don't open that early. A lot of times when people come back home those dry cleaners have closed."

Amaisse is considering adding a drop-off box for those preferring to drop clothes off early and pick them up later.

"Nothing is done on premises," he says. "Everything is done off-site. It's a family-owned business; my brother does the wholesale work for us" at the plant in Garfield."

Amaisse's operation can accommodate alterations but not fittings or sizings, he says.

Aside from the enticing offer to grab new customers by offering a free cleaning of any three items with no attached obligation, Amaisse says one other very critical factor will make Commuter Cleaners a fixture in Ridgewood for quite some time.

"Our prices are really unbeatable, especially for this town in particular," he remarks. Most items like shirts, pants, scarfs, blouses are cleaned for $3.50 while prices for dresses, coats and suits hover around $7-8 with some exceptions.

"The prices at the other dry cleaners are near 50 percent more than us," he says, pointing to a large green sign spelling out the deals overhead in the fairly bare-but-bright store.

But because it's an operation of scale, overhead is far lower than those who perform the cleaning and pressing on site, he says.

He may not even need all 900 square feet at his Ridgewood location. But because a favorable deal with the landlord, he was able to gobble up a space that had been vacant for over three years.

"What we got here is beyond what you could even fathom as far as pricing," he said, adding the building department still was able to give him the Ridgewood welcome and made the permit process difficult.

What's next for the entrepreneurial cleaner?

"Well I've been trying to get into Paramus for a while too," he commented with a smile. With the Ridgewood goal finally realized and a streak of dogged persistence, it wouldn't be wise to bet against Amaisse.

Commuter Cleaners is located at 14 W. Ridgewood Ave. Hours are 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The phone number is 201-857-0200 and the staff can be reached at CommunityCleaners@Yahoo.com

[Editor's note: Correction – The business was misidentified as 'Community Cleaners,' not 'Commuter Cleaners.' The error has been corrected.]