Growing up, my mother schooled me in the art of buying clothes. Check the seams, stitching, etc. She went so far as to make sure it wasn’t made in China! The other detail was the “Dry Clean Only” tag. Unless it was a special occasion outfit, we were instructed to stay away from buying clothes that required dry cleaning. An expense she did not want to deal with.

As a working professional owning clothing that is dry clean only s just
part of the gig. During my 1.5 years of “funemployment” (will blog about that later), all those clothes stayed in the closet with some still in the bright orange dry cleaners bag. My wardrobe simplified drastically. Yoga pants, tech tops, and the occasional pair of jeans and hoodies. That all came to an end last December when I was returned to an office environment. With that also came the need to get my “dry clean only” clothes cleaned.

I had been a patron of Cherry Creek Cleaners for almost 10 years. They moved from their original location at 1st & Madison St due to the widespread development of high rise rental properties taking over. Their current spot on Leetsdale Dr. is just as if not more convenient. When I walked in with my bag of clothes, Sue – the owner of the shop, was overjoyed and surprised to see me.

“Hey girl! I haven’t seen you in so long!” – she said in her broken English. We chatted for a few minutes with her asking questions about where I’d been, if I was married yet (ha), etc. This is why I will continue to give her my business. In a decently sized city as Denver, it’s nice to know that small businesses can feel like they are a part of the family.

I don’t know much about Sue and her husband, other than they are originally from Korea…but every time I drop off my clothes, I know I’ll have a cheerful greeting…and another excuse to get to know her better.