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Closing Door Signals End of an Era
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May 15, 2008 - 1:35:31 PM

By Melody Jameson
melody@observernews.net

RIVERVIEW – A long-open door here is going to close soon – most likely forever. 
For nearly 40 years, McMullen Dry Cleaning, a local fixture, has operated in the heart of this community.  Through its open door have passed clothing and soft goods in need of cleansing attention from Gibsonton to Wimauma, from Ruskin to Brandon.
In its doorway have stood hundreds of departing customers exchanging news and views with arriving customers, many times newcomers getting their bearings.
Out that door over the years have gone thousands upon thousands of refreshed garments, protected in plastic - the heirloom wedding gown saved for yet another ceremony, the little girl’s velvet dress ready for another holiday celebration, a man’s full suit, complete with vest, awaiting next Sunday morning, a young man’s jeans with a fine crease sharp enough to impress her folks Saturday night. 
  
 Located in the northwest corner of U.S. 301 and Riverview Drive, it was there when the ribbon of highway bisecting the community was just two lanes.  It was part of bustling little post-war Riverview, at its primary crossroads marked by the only traffic light in town, with the Rexall Drug Store south across the street, the local post office within walking distance and Riverview’s “coffee cup” up the street to the north.

But, come Monday, June 30, the door on the community landmark will close for the last time.   George and Marie “Reebo” Sledge, only the  second owner- operators during the small enterprise’s four decades of continuous service, are going to try retirement at least for a few months, Sledge said this week.  There’s a 50-year high school graduating class reunion to attend this summer, the soft-spoken native North Carolinian added.   Then, who knows?

The dry cleaners was opened on February 4, 1969, by William “Bill” McMullen at its present corner location, in a 1950s-era building owned by the late Horace Hancock, Sledge recalled. The site also was near Hancock’s service station a few steps to the north.   

McMullen, whose primary business interest was citrus production and management of his grove land east of U.S. 301, may have wanted simply to diversify, Sledge indicated, when he decided to invest in dry cleaning equipment offered by a sales rep. The enterprise developed commercial roots under McMullen ownership during the 1970s and through most of the ‘80s, drawing business from across the South County.

Then, about 20 years ago, McMullen sold part of the grove land and was interested in reorganizing his business interests, Sledge noted.  The North Carolinian was working in McMullen’s grove when the two struck a deal for the dry cleaners and Sledges took over the establishment, George handling the actual cleaning work, “Reebo” managing the books, perhaps two or three employees working the counter and providing minor alterations. 

The space rental agreement with the Hancocks was based on a handshake, Sledge remembered, and, to this day, has not been reduced to a written contract.  It’s also been a family business in the full sense. The hours always have been 7 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday and until 1 PM on Saturdays. But, Sledge pointed out, “if someone couldn’t make it during those hours and needed a garment, the phone number was on the door.  We’d come over and open up so the customer could have whatever was needed.”

For a number of years, the business provided a living – as well as an interesting livelihood – for the Sledges, plus income for their part or full-time employees.
“Your dry cleaner knows more than your hairdresser,” Sledge said impishly this week as he looked back over the last 20 years, alluding to what dry cleaners find in garment pockets when they double check clothing.

There was, for example, the strange looking medallion found in clothing dropped off by Ward Hall, an icon in the showmen’s community of Gibsonton. It hung from a heavy gold chain and was imbedded with a full-carat diamond, Sledge would learn when he returned it to his customer.  But, what on earth is that medallion, the dry cleaner wanted to know.   Hall explained, Sledge recalled, it was a tooth from a favored tiger and he was danged glad to get it back.

Then, there was the matter of the mysterious diamond stick pin.  It pricked Sledge’s finger when he cleaned a lint trap.  As he examined the piece of male jewelry often used to adorn a gentleman’s silk tie, he spotted the glittering stone.  Not knowing whether it was genuine and having no notion of the owner, he carried the pin to a jeweler friend in Brandon who advised the piece was worth several hundred dollars.  But who was its rightful owner?

Over a period of time and with deductive reasoning, Sledge came to believe the owner must be Grady Sweat.  It must have come in with one of Grady’s suits, he reasoned, dropped off by Elizabeth “Pooka” Sweat, Balm’s longtime postmaster.  Upon contacting the Sweats, he learned the studded stick pin was a gift from “Pooka” to her husband, now deceased.  It was returned safely to the couple before he died.

If Sledge waxes nostalgic about closing the business, it is on these and  other customers that he concentrates.  The showmen and the carnival community in Gibsonton helped keep the doors open during the lean times, he recollected, and the business has been supported over the years first by one generation of a family and then by a succeeding generation. “I appreciate a lot of good customers,”   he added, “who have trusted me to do my best for them.”

And, it’s not competition that is driving him to close the door for the last time, he asserted. It’s more a matter of changing society. “Casual Fridays were introduced about 15 years ago and now every day is casual,” he said.  Many folks no longer dress up for church each week, he added, and dry cleaning services are not needed as they once were. “Even funerals and weddings are casual, now,” he noted.  Business has been falling off by about 15 percent annualized in recent times and a recession could bring a drop-off of perhaps 30 percent, he estimated.

What’s more, he said, in an increasingly “green” world, some people have concerns about the chemicals used in the dry cleaning process.   Then, additionally, “the equipment’s getting old and I’m getting old.”

So, come June 30, Wanda Hall, who’s helped at the counter, done a lot of the pressing and handled alterations for the last quarter century, is going to try retirement, too, she said, and Lee Ayer, who has worked the counter for seven years all told, is going to look for a similar position.  For his part, Sledge said he plans to clean out the space, dispose of the equipment, lock the door and turn in the keys.  “I have plenty to do at home,” he added.

It’ll take time, though, for others to adjust to the permanently closed doors on the small white building under the blue awning at the corner.”
©2008 Melody Jameson


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