NORMAN — Sharp’s Cleaners on Lindsey Street has been in business, in one shape or another, in Norman for the past half-century.
Ott Sharp said he first opened a store in Norman at Campus Corner — the only location he and his wife, Marie, could find. They were coming from Abilene, Texas.
The year was 1960.
“We had never even been to Norman, Okla.,” said Sharp, who’ll turn 87 soon. “It (the couple’s first store) was right across the street from one of the biggest cleaners in town (Clark’s Cleaners), and there was another cleaners (University Cleaners) two doors down from us.”
Sharp said a college town like Norman, at least back in 1960, was a great place to open a dry cleaning store. He said everybody, including college students, dressed “more formally” — even when they went out socially.
“That’s where we got the idea to come here,” Sharp said. “When we heard about the store near the UT (University of Texas) campus and how busy and successful they were, we just decided to take the chance.”
Around the time the Sharps were making their move to Oklahoma, the dry cleaning business was going through a major change.
In fact, when the couple arrived, they were franchisees of Martinizing Dry Cleaning, a company that had pioneered a new cleaning process that used non-flammable chemicals and smaller machines.
Before that, dry cleaning companies used flammable chemicals to launder clothes and plants were frequently located outside of town. Clothes took days to come back to customers.
So, at the time, the concept of a “one-hour” dry cleaners was something new, Sharp said, and some folks truly didn’t get it.
“People were shocked to death,” he said. “Usually, they didn’t even want it that fast. They’d say, ‘That’s OK’ But even back then, people were starting to get in a hurry.”
Sharp also added that being in a hurry in 1960 was nothing compared with being in a hurry today.
“Not even close,” he said. “People are certainly busier today then they were back then, but they were starting to get that way.”
Challenges come and go
Over the years, Sharp said several things have threatened the dry cleaning business as a whole.
In the mid-1990s, his first store closed down at Campus Corner, leaving him with one location, 1704 W. Lindsey St., which has been open for the past 40 years.
“The first fad that hit that hurt our business was ‘wash and wear,’” he said. “Once we got past that and survived that, blue jeans came around and we had to get past that.”
Now, the Great Recession is having its way with the business.
“It’s affected it somewhat, I think,” Sharp said of his business and the recession’s effect on it. “People cut back on dry cleaning, they’ll wear more washable clothes, things like that. But overall, the industry’s down as a whole over the past few years.”
Whatever happens, Sharp said it was a good business to be in for him and his family.
Today, his son owns a Sharp’s Cleaners in Moore and his sister works at his store in Norman.
“It’s a good business, it used to be better,” Sharp said. “But overall, it’s been pretty good to me.”
Andrew Knittle 366-3540 aknittle@normantranscript.com
