A Roxburgh woman is frustrated that her planned laundromat is stuck on the hold cycle as she searches for a building to house it.
Alyssa Serignese has organised finance, a business plan and a supplier, but has not had any success finding a building.
While there were empty buildings in the town some were too small, another too big, but perfection was not her goal, just a landlord willing to lease their space.
“The building doesn’t have to be perfect. I can kind of work with what’s there.”
What she did need was a water supply, electricity and, preferably, a concrete floor but even that was negotiable. She was prepared to do any modifications needed to a suitable building.
“I would like it to be nice, like maybe not your typical industrial laundromat. Like, it would have that Roxburgh quirky feel. Somewhere comfortable. You know, if it’s a rainy day, but you’ve got to do your laundry, you could just go sit in the laundromat, read a book, get your laundry done, and then be done with it, not have it hanging around.
She had been looking at rental options on Scotland St but was now willing to consider something off the main street and even possibly buying a building.
Her plan was to have the laundromat close to the town centre to encourage people to start a load then be able to walk to the cafes and shops while their clothes were washed.
The idea came to her through personal experience, Ms Serignese said.
She and her partner are living in a caravan while they build their tiny house in Roxburgh East. They have a business in Alexandra, so every week take their laundry to work with them and use the Alexandra laundromat.
There had been plenty of interest in the venture, Ms Serignese said.
Orchardists had said their seasonal workers would be keen, farm workers had said they had items they would prefer not go through the family washing machine and animal owners had said they would like somewhere to wash horse covers and dog beds.
Machines would be set up for heavy, dirty items separate to household laundry, she said.
Other people were keen to be able to wash duvets and pillows too big for a household washer.
Then there were cyclists and people travelling in campervans who could be encouraged to stay longer in Roxburgh if they could clean up in town, Ms Serignese said.
Down the track, she envisioned a serviced laundromat where people could drop off, or have their items collected, for washing, drying and folding before being returned.
It was possible older people might use a collection service as washing linen became difficult.
Staying nimble and offering what people wanted was easier in a town like Roxburgh, she said.
“[I’d be open to] whatever the community need. I guess that’s the good thing about being in a small community. You can kind of listen to what people need or what they want, and then go from there.”