History
In The Beginning
March 1999–Originally founded as CleanSleeves, PurpleTie started as a part time experiment to determine the viability of a revolutionary new idea in the fabric care industry. CleanSleeves would be the first online dry cleaning service in the nation to offer internet based, on-demand pick-up and delivery of dry cleaning and laundry orders. As it turned out, the consumer response to CleanSleeves’ offering was tremendous, and what started out as an experiment, soon turned into full time jobs for our founders.
@Work
March 2000–Our customers quickly became hooked on the convenience and reliability of their CleanSleeves home service and helped us branch out into a brand new market of offering onsite cleaning for employees at their workplace. HR Managers quickly saw how CleanSleeves could help their employees strike that elusive work/life balance by having delivery service at their office. And so, our @WORK program was quietly launched to rave reviews and organic word of mouth growth that has carried our company to becoming the largest @WORK provider in our industry.
PURPLETIE
June 2000–Our founders were caught in the middle of a classic David vs. Goliath scenario, as a competing company called PurpleTie announced its entry into the identical business and market as CleanSleeves. The big difference was that PurpleTie had the backing of venture capitalists and wealthy investors who planned on owning the market in big way. As fate would have it, David would win again, as PurpleTie quickly folded and taught its investors a lesson in the complexities of what otherwise seems like a simple business. CleanSleeves would go on to purchase the assets of PurpleTie and we re-branded our company, as the new and improved PurpleTie in March 2001.
COVID and beyond
March 2020–Needless to say, COVID rocked our world, but we’re still standing. Having just built-out and moved into our bigger and better headquarters (think Disneyland of garment care) that very month, we didn’t have time to celebrate the milestone. Instead we scrambled, prayed, made some very tough decisions and quickly pivoted to a broader @Home offering. Thanks for our loyal customers (of course!), by 2022 we were once again on stable footing and regained our hopes and dreams of being at your service for many more years to come.
Acquisitions
March 2001–CleanSleeves purchased the assets of PurpleTie and introduced the New PurpleTie.
October 2004–We acquired Pressing Business…a competing @WORK service provider.
March 2006–We acquired Silicon Valley Cleaners…another competing @WORK and @HOME service provider.
March 2020–Does buying and building a new headquarters count as an acquisition? Well, it was a huge achievement in our minds, so we’re adding it to the list. 🙂
Green
2007–The year that we became Green! PurpleTie launched a series of green initiatives that would make us environmentally conscious and accountable in every area of our business.
– 100% perc-free cleaning process.
– Efficient lighting and steam generation.
– A recycling/reuse program for nearly all our used hangers and plastic bags.
– A carbon offset program to help us achieve a ZERO Carbon footprint for our fleet of vans.
The Future
Thanks to our loyal customers, we continue to grow and expand our service area and customer base through near 100% word of mouth referrals. Although no one knows what the future holds, you can count on us to continue to be of service to you, whenever and wherever it’s convenient for you. This commitment to serving you, our customer, and giving you world class Customer Service in everything we do, is what you’ve told us matters to you most. We’ll never lose that focus, no matter how far we spread our wings.