Five years ago, GMCF initiated a brand new service to our members that many of you currently enjoy. This towel service, which allows you the convenience of leaving your personal towel at home, seemed like the right thing to do at the time, and we still believe this to be true. However, in those five years our membership numbers have grown significantly and we are experiencing some very real challenges with this member perk. These include:
- Overuse – while the towels are intentionally small for theft deterrence, many choose to grab 3 or more at a time
- Theft – Since 2020 we have had over 725 towels removed from the building
- Capacity – Despite investing in extra washers and dryers, our machines and personnel can no longer keep up with current demand
- Impact – The quantity of towel loads we launder (steady from 5 am to 9 pm) with undersized equipment carries a fairly negative ecological toll
Because this service is something you have grown to love, we want to find ways to continue offering it. The cost of outsourcing our laundry is prohibitively expensive so we are looking for ways to be able to scale-up our in-house capacity. Our current laundry room is not capable of housing industrial washer-dryer units so this will require us to build out new space within our building. This is a significant investment, and one that we need to plan and save for.
In the meantime, we have changed our policy to one towel per member, per visit. We acknowledge this is a downsizing of a member benefit, and appreciate your patience while we pursue a good long-term solution. We do invite you to bring your own personal towels from home, and thank you all for understanding the new policy.
