Would You Use A Tide-Branded Laundry Pickup Service?

Back in 2000, Procter & Gamble tested something interesting: it was a laundry pickup and delivery service called Juvian. That didn’t really take off, but the growth of app-based laundry services has apparently made the company give the idea another try. This time, it’s being tested in one neighborhood in Chicago, and the service is called Tide Spin.

You may have heard of category leader Wash.io, which uses an app to schedule laundry pickups and drop-offs. Wash-and-fold laundry services certainly aren’t a new idea, though, and Tide’s service charges around the average price nationwide. $1.59 per pound.

While you might think of Tide as a detergent company, they’ve made multiple attempts to get into selling services to customers as well as their products. While the Juvian test in Atlanta didn’t work out, Tide Dry Cleaners have survived, with maybe 30 stores scattered across the country.

P&G’s competitor in the consumer goods mega-conglomerate business, Unilever, also tried something similar back in the day, and may be considering partnering with one of the current popular startups instead of starting their own laundry service from scratch.

P&G Tests Tide Pickup Laundry Service in Chicago [AdAge]
P&G, Unilever aim to take consumers to the cleaners [AdAge back in 2001]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist