Kimbark Coin Laundry, the laundromat located in Kimbark Plaza on 53rd Street, closed last week to move to a new location at 7118 S. Yates Boulevard, according to owner Darryl Crawford. When it reopens, the business will primarily be a dry-cleaning service.
Crawford cited multiple reasons for the closure, but said money was at the forefront of the decision.
“Basically, we’re a family owned business and got priced out of the market,” Crawford said. The business was hit “with a 28 percent water tax a few years ago…. It was just getting too expensive. Small businesses are being priced out of the neighborhood; we decided to go somewhere more affordable.”
In September 2016, City Council passed a water and sewer tax proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel that raised the tax on water and sewer bills to 29.5 percent over a four-year period.
Though the new location will focus primarily on dry cleaning, “we are still doing our wash and fold, and pickup and delivery services,” Crawford said.
Kimbark Coin Laundry has already opened in its new space.
At the time of publication, The Maroon was unable to contact Floyd Cohen, landlord of the laundry’s former 53rd Street location.