Lapels Cleaners Opens the First Laundromat in Its Franchise System in East Boston

By: Lapels Cleaners® | 0 Shares 116 Reads

August 14, 2025 // Franchising.com // EAST BOSTON, Mass. -- Lapels Laundromat of East Boston is owned and operated by the duo of John Sullivan and Richard Vazza, former college roommates and Boston College graduates who have spent the past 35 years leading their own respective businesses and are now proudly joining forces to serve their community.

Located in East Boston, Sullivan, Vazza, and their staff will provide professional dry cleaning and laundry services from their full-service garment care center, as well as pick-up and delivery services that can transport items directly to and from their clients’ doorsteps. Their team is happy to help from 6 AM to 11 PM seven days a week.

Vazza is the latest in a long line of family members to have grown up and served the Boston area. His grandparents were first-generation immigrants from Italy whose family members settled in the East Boston area and then founded the first Italian-American funeral home in the city, which still operates 102 years later. After graduating from Boston College, Vazza forged his own professional path, joining the real estate industry and accumulating over 35 years of experience in property development and construction.

Sullivan is also the successful leader of his own Boston-based family business. In 1986, immediately following his Boston College graduation, he founded Sullivan Brothers Auto Mall, which includes multiple Nissan and Toyota dealerships throughout Boston’s South Shore. Under Sullivan’s leadership, the company has received numerous awards for outstanding performance in sales and customer service. Sullivan is also the recipient of the Toyota President's Award, which is the highest honor a Toyota dealership can earn.

Together, the pair have combined their business acumen to open the first-of-its-kind laundromat under the Lapels brand.

“John and I are lifelong friends, and we always knew we’d start a business together someday; it was just a matter of when,” said Vazza. “After doing some research on the Lapels network, we were ready to pull the trigger. As entrepreneurs, the brand provides us with a business opportunity that align with our own personal values. Not to mention, we’d get to carry the torch and expand upon the brand’s deep history in Massachusetts.”

With weekly pickup and delivery routes as well as seven-day-a-week business hours, nearby residents have convenient access to a wide array of professional garment care services. These services include but are not limited to dry cleaning, shirt laundry, alterations, wash and fold, bulk laundry, leather cleaning, wedding gown cleaning, wedding gown preservation, shoe repair, and comforter cleaning.

Lapels Cleaners locations utilize 100% environmentally non-toxic cleaning solutions and processes provided by GreenEarth® Cleaning, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Using GreenEarth’s solutions and the latest technology in equipment, Lapels Cleaners is one of the few dry cleaners able to claim there is no hazardous waste in their process. Their environmentally friendly cleaning process has no odor and is gentler on clothes, thus lengthening the life of clothes.

“Growing up in Boston, Richard and I have been exposed to the many diverse populations that call the city home,” said Sullivan. “Regardless of where those people come from or where they want to be, they all need convenient, reliable laundry services. We’re excited to provide everyone from blue-collar families, to Boston’s aging population, to new young tenants with a service that can make their lives much easier.”

Lapels Laundromat CEO, Kevin DuBois added “Our newest franchise offering is intended to offer a different kind of offering in a similar vertical. Our Laundromat is built today for tomorrow's customer and offers garment cleaning in whatever form is easiest for the end user.”

SOURCE Lapels Cleaners

###