DELIA’S Founder Phil D’Elia takes his valued customers through his journey in becoming Tide Cleaners
Fifty thousand Valley-wide residents have gone through the doors of DELIA’S Dry Cleaners over the past nearly 25 years. Many of these valued guests may have noticed a revamped look and a new name being rolled out over the past few months. If you haven’t heard yet, we are excited to announce that DELIA’S has rebranded to Tide Cleaners. Founder and president of DELIA’S, Phil D’Elia, recently shared his journey in the dry cleaning business, and explains whyhe has made the move to become Tide Cleaners.
Phil’s dad was in the dry cleaning business in 1969 in the Bay Area where Phil was born and raised. His father grew a chain of 80 locations in the Greater Bay Area, and Phil’s first job was sweeping sidewalks on Saturdays outside of those dry cleaning stores.
He worked in the family business in high school, and when he graduated college, the last thing Phil thought he wanted to do was work in the dry cleaning sector – but life has a funny way of working out. Phil’s dad made him a proverbial offer in 1980 that he just couldn’t refuse, and Phil thought it would be for a year or two. Phil officially started his career in the dry cleaning business that very year. He worked with his dad closely for over a decade and developed a strong management team.
The team in place was running the show so well that Phil decided to replicate the business model in another market. Phil explored San Jose, Seattle, San Diego, Portland and Phoenix. In 1995, Phil put a real estate package together and opened up six locations in Phoenix and has planted roots here since. Today, he has 19 total locations.
The dry cleaning concept Phil built is different because he has a central production facility with several ‘drop stores’. The number one reason he has been successful is because he built the model around the customer experience. Phil took production out of the storefront, and in its place created a nice retail environment that is comfortable for customers.
Because he is an expert in this innovative model, coupled with the evolving dry cleaning industry, Phil was approached by Tide.
“I have a high level of respect for Tide,” said Phil D’Elia. “What Tide and Procter & Gamble (P&G) do really well is clean clothes. They are household names, and having P&G’s research department backing me up is a huge advantage too, particularly factoring in the potential for future innovation to make the customer experience even better.”
So, Phil acquired three Tide Cleaners locations and rebranded – or will be rebranding – all of his locations across the Phoenix-area to Tide Cleaners by Spring 2019.
He and his management team will remain at the helm. And with him, Phil will maintain his family of 200 employees, some of whom have been part of his team for 30 years.
It’s the same great service, now backed by the power of Tide®.
We are grateful for our valued customers, from our new fresh faces to guests that have been with us over many years. Thank you all for being part of this journey with us. We look forward to continuing to give you exceptional experiences, with even more benefits and services to come.