MOUNT VERNON — A job well done is a good recipe to having a successful business. And that’s no more apparent than it is at Gault’s Plaza Cleaners, which is marking its 90th anniversary in the cleaning business. Doing the best job they know how, and keeping their customers happy, has been their family motto now for nine decades.
Gault Brothers Cleaners was founded by brothers Floyd, Clarence and Elsworth Gault in 1922 in Ashland. “The business was born out of necessity for my grandfather who lost the fingers on his right hand in a factory accident,” said Jim Gault. After a few years in business, Floyd assumed ownership of the cleaners from his brothers. At a young age, Floyd’s son, Larry, learned the family business and was helping out at the cleaners on a regular basis, eventually taking over the business in the 1950s.
Floyd explained that in the early days in the business that gasoline was used as a solvent before the advent of dry-cleaning fluids. This took place in a garage before the business took off and grew. “We went through some progressive changes,” said Larry.
Larry and his wife, Pat, purchased Swanson Cleaners on Jan. 2, 1977, in Mount Vernon. This location was started by Floyd Swanson in the early 1960s.
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