I came across something on Instagram that stopped me mid-scroll.
A breakdown of Chipotle versus Cheesecake Factory.¹ Not revenue. Not brand recognition. Profit per square foot.
The numbers: Cheesecake Factory generates about $600,000 in profit per location annually. Chipotle? Around $400,000. Sounds like Cheesecake Factory wins, right?
Here's the thing. Chipotle's locations are roughly one-third the size. Three Chipotles fit in the footprint of one Cheesecake Factory. Do the math: three Chipotles generating $1.2 million in profit versus one Cheesecake Factory generating $600,000. Same real estate. Double the profit.²
That's profit per square foot. Not revenue. Cash in your pocket relative to the space you're paying for.
It got me thinking about our industry.
Two Laundromats, Same Square Footage
Picture two 5,000 square foot laundromats. Same size. Completely different businesses.
The first one offers:
- Self-service
- Wash-and-fold (drop-off)
- Pickup and delivery
- Dry cleaning partnership
- Commercial accounts
- Vending machines (snacks, drinks, soap)
- Video games and arcade machines
- ATM
- Alterations
- Maybe another business renting space in the corner
The second one offers:
- Self-service (done exceptionally well)
- Wash-and-fold (streamlined)
That's it. Two services. Depth over breadth.
One is building a Cheesecake Factory. The other is building a Chipotle.
Neither Model Is Wrong
Let me be clear. Both models can work. Cheesecake Factory makes money. So does Chipotle.
The question isn't which model is better. The question is: did you choose your model, or did it just happen?
Many operators I've seen running Cheesecake Factory-style laundromats didn't plan it that way. They just kept adding. A vending machine here. A dry cleaning partnership there. Commercial accounts because someone asked. Pickup and delivery because everyone says you should.
Each addition felt like progress. Each one made sense in the moment.
But here's what Cheesecake Factory has that most laundromat operators don't: systems built for complexity, supply chain leverage across 200+ locations, and a brand that justifies the massive menu.
A single operator adding twelve revenue streams? They're getting Cheesecake Factory complexity without any of those advantages. I wrote about this pattern in a previous editorial about the innovation fulcrum. The point where adding more actually destroys value instead of creating it.
The Metric Nobody's Talking About
Our industry talks about turns per day. Number of locations someone has. Number of machines.
What you don't hear discussed: profit per square foot.
The CLA tracks revenue per square foot in their annual survey. The 2019 data showed a mean of $93 per square foot and a median of $78.³ But revenue isn't profit. You could be crushing it on revenue and still losing money after rent, utilities, labor, and the overhead of managing ten different service lines.
Profit per square foot is what actually matters. It's the cash hitting your pocket relative to the real estate you're paying for every month.
This doesn't mean operators need to broadcast their profits publicly. But profit per square foot could be a useful metric for evaluating your own business privately. Or in financial conversations with trusted peers. Even industry surveys could capture ranges without exposing anyone's exact numbers. The point isn't transparency for its own sake. It's having a way to know if you're actually winning or just busy.
A Different Approach
I know an operator in New York doing about $15,000 a week in a roughly 3,000 square foot store.⁴ Self-service and wash-and-fold. That's it.
Attended operation. One attendant managing the floor and handling the wash-and-fold. No pickup and delivery. No dry cleaning. No commercial accounts.
Focused. Simple. Generating around $260 per square foot in annual revenue, nearly three times the industry median. And with a profit margin around 28%, that translates to roughly $73 per square foot in actual profit. Cash in pocket.
I'm not saying everyone should copy this model. But it's proof that the focused approach works.
The Real Question
I hear operators say, "I wish I had a bigger store."
Maybe. Or maybe the question isn't whether you need more space. Maybe it's whether you're getting everything you can out of the space you're already paying for.
Are you spreading yourself across twelve revenue streams, giving each one a fraction of your attention? Or are you going deep on two or three things and doing them better than anyone else in your market?
Both paths can lead somewhere. But only one of them is usually intentional.
Thinking about the thinking of laundry:
When you realize adding more revenue streams didn't double your profit, it just doubled your workload.
Know What You're Building
I'm not here to tell you which model to run. Cheesecake Factory makes money. So does Chipotle.
But know which one you're building. And make sure it's a choice, not an accident.
That's all I got for you today.
Waleed
PS: PRESSED: A private network for serious laundry operators who are done with the noise. Invite only. Sign up to get notified when applications open: joinpressed.com
Echoing the thoughts of Peter Drucker.
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
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Footnotes:
¹ Instagram Reel: Chipotle vs. Cheesecake Factory Profit Per Square Foot Analysis
² Chipotle locations average 2,000-3,500 sq ft with restaurant-level margins in the mid-20% range. Cheesecake Factory locations average 7,500-10,000 sq ft. Sources: Chipotle Q4 2024 Earnings Report, Cheesecake Factory SEC 10-K Filing
³ CLA 2019 Industry Survey - Revenue per square foot data from Readex Research survey of 253 laundromat owners.
⁴ Based on an operator known to the author.
