Melanie Tinsley folds laundry. Andy Amborn, Robert Amborn Sr. and Robert Amborn Jr.
In 1946, the store was moved to a location across the street. It was at this second location that Charles Amborn, Amborn Sr.’ s father, first went to work for Pichetto.
“ He worked there and became a partner in the business. He was there up until 1985 when he passed away. And my dad came to work there in 1975,” Amborn Jr. said.
He added that it has been a privilege for the business to serve Vicksburg for almost a century and to work with his father for two decades.
“ We ' ve been working side-by-side with our dad for almost 20 years, which has been great,” he said.
The company has continued to innovate and change with the times.
“ We ' ve been 100 % environmentally friendly since 2016,” Amborn Jr. said.“ We have state-of-the-art dry cleaning machines, which use solvents that are environmentally friendly( and) hypoallergenic.”
United Cleaners opened a second location in Jackson, Mississippi, in February of this year.
The company also offers wet cleaning services. A newer process that is gentler on certain fabrics and, crucially, can remove some water-based stains that normal dry cleaning can’ t remove.
United Cleaners also recently opened a self-service kiosk in the same plaza that is home to Corner Market grocery store. The kiosk is open seven days a week from 7 a. m. to 7 p. m. Amborn said it is a way to make doing business with United Cleaners more convenient for customers.
“( We’ ve) got some customers that work in Jackson or work in Monroe or, you know, they travel a lot and they just can ' t make it back in time to pick up their garment,” Amborn Jr. said.“ So we came together and we said,‘ let ' s try this( self-service kiosk) out.’ And it ' s working great for people with time restraints.”
The company has also moved into the digital age, offering its pick-up services through the use of an app. Amborn Jr. said his favorite part of the job is working with his employees every day.
“ Working with my employees every day. That ' s a lot of fun. We might be looking at a whole bunch of laundry,” he said.“ We all get together and we just knock them out. We value teamwork down there. And we have a great team.”
He also said that working in the family business has been an excellent way to get to know the community.
“ It ' s really great to meet so many people. Me and my brother worked the front counter in high school, so we got acquainted with everybody. We knew everybody, you know? Now we ' re starting to see their kids come back to town and we ' re servicing them,” Amoborn Jr. said.“ And it ' s great for us because we just kind of watch everybody grow and watch their families grow.”
For more information, you can check out unitedcleanersinc. com
22 • THE VICKSBURG POST & VICKSBURG-WARREN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE