Knowles family opens The Laundry Co. to lighten load for Tea residents— Couple aims to bring convenience with self-serve laundromat on Main Avenue

Less than one month into opening, The Laundry Co. is helping everyone enjoy more moments in the sun without the stress of household chores.

Busy parents of two, Andy and Chandra Knowles, spend their days working and keeping up with all the activities that come with parenthood. 

“Andy is a contractor by trade; he does home renovations and additions all over the area and I am a Dental Assistant for an Endodontist where I spend most of my days doing root canal treatments. When we are not at work, we are with our two children, the youngest is going into third grade and our oldest will be a junior in high school this year,” Chandra Knowles said. 

The family of four spends their free time together swimming and making family memories at home in Tea. 

With both working busy days in their fields, the couple noticed the town was missing something that they could provide. 

“Tea has been without a laundromat for years, which has been hard on the community, it’s a service that is needed and reflected through people of the community asking on the Tea Connect Facebook page,” she said.

The couple began having more and more conversations about what their dream laundromat would look like before finally, Andy made the first move. 

“Andy is definitely the risk taker of our marriage, and finally he looked at me and said let’s do this,” Knowles said. 

After agreeing on the dream, Chandra and Andy began driving up and down the roads of Tea looking for a location that would benefit the most people in town. 

“We looked at multiple spots in town before finding our dream location at 1500 North Main Avenue,” Knowles said. 

The location itself was perfect as it is located in central Tea, but for the Knowles’ the neighbors are the greatest asset. 

“When we looked at this location, we knew it was going to be a perfect spot for us as it is close to so many apartment buildings and with Andy working for himself, we knew that he could pop in if something was needed throughout the day,” she said.

Entering the doors, customers are greeted with fresh paint, large machines, and a clean atmosphere. 

“Right now, we are a self-serve laundromat that our customers can enjoy from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” Knowles said. 

With 40- and 60-pound washers, customers can cut their time down with each load. 

“I’ve seen people come in and use five machines at a time, so it only takes an hour to do the laundry. Time with our kids is so precious in the summer, and laundry shouldn’t get in the way,” Knowles said.

To make the self-service option even easier for customers, The Laundry Co. has partnered with an app company to bring more benefits to their customers. 

“Our Payrange app is a convenient way of not having to bring cash with you to The Laundry Co, you can just download the app and pay by phone. Andy’s phone number is posted in the laundromat, so if anyone does have troubles or need help, we can walk you though it,” she said. 

Looking forward to meeting all those in the Tea community, the Knowle’s encourage all to see what benefits The Laundry Co. has to offer. 

“We want to be as welcoming to our customers as the community of Tea has been to us. We want to make everyone’s day easier whether it’s by providing detergent or dryer sheets if you forgot or just having a clean ready to use environment to catch up on your chores,” Knowles said.