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Touting a fifty-year legacy in the greater New York City area, Meurice has earned the reputation as New York's preeminent dry cleaning service, trusted beyond state lines by some of America's top names in fashion, entertainment, and museums, to clean and care for their fabrics. Founded in 1961 by Larry Edelman, and carried forth today by his son Wayne, Meurice, as it's now known, has dedicated itself to tackling some of the toughest projects - removing stains from valuable personal clothing of their clients, refreshing household fabrics in the form of drapery and rugs, to restoring or fixing items that are torn and damaged. But, Meurice is not just an everyday dry cleaning operation. They are a family offering a three-dimensional approach to garment care that requires brain power, problem solving and true custodianship of your most valuable items.
I was a client recently of Meurice and was beyond impressed with their services from beginning to end. I handed them a challenging project which presented problems ranging from light collar stains on expensive shirting, blood stains on cashmere, to deep-set yellowing of organic linen on a chair cover. Over the course of two weeks, Meurice brought these items back from the brink - restoring vibrancy into what could have been written off as an old stain that would never relent.
I was in touch with their client services team who sent a driver to collect the items at my office. What I love about Meurice is their professionalism and their commitment to making their clients happy. They collected my items in a purple branded reusable garment bag and carried them away to their operations center in The Bronx. A couple of days later, I received a call from their team outlining their assessment of my items and a plan of action to rectify the problems. Meurice is very communicative as they want to always remain on the same page as their clients. I appreciated this as there were no surprises or questions left unanswered.
After we agreed on the plan of action, the team at Meurice went to work - keeping me posted every step of the way. I received calls before any drastic measures were taken. For example, I was notified that one of my shirts had a stain around the collar that was thought to be makeup. It was self-tanner, in fact, which was even tougher to remove. The team at Meurice told me it would be difficult to remove, but they would try to do this by hand as not to set the stain any further or cause the shirt to become resistant to cleaning. This attention to detail is what makes them amazing because they take the time to identify each issue and come up with an appropriate solution. This is not a, "Let's just throw it in the dry-cleaning machine and hope for the best", operation. I've quite literally never seen anything like it.
My items were returned back to my office within two weeks in reusable garment backs that double as laundry bags. Operating in a way that is environmentally friendly is key for Meurice as they want to do their part in preserving the environment. This is a large commitment and initiative to take, considering there are extra costs for the company to adhere to certain guidelines. But, this is part of the reason their customers seek them out - for this level of attention to detail.
When my items returned I was truly speechless in their newness and the fact that some stains, stains I thought might never come out, had been wiped away. I've never seen this in all my years of using New York City-based dry cleaning services.
I spoke with Wayne Edelman, CEO of Meurice, to ask him a few questions about his business and its future. And, through the experience and conversation, realized that I don't believe there to be a better garment care operation in business today.
IC: Why was Meurice created?
WE: Meurice Garment Care was originally called Meurice French Dry Cleaners and purchased by my dad in 1961 as an operating dry cleaning plant store. My dad needed a plant to do the dry cleaning for various stores he owned after an uninsured fire decimated his plant, "Know How Cleaners", on West 3rd Street in New York City. The space was located next to the firehouse (hence no insurance) and is currently Il Mulino restaurant. I rebranded the business to Meurice Garment Care in 1985 because it better described what we did in terms of cleaning. It was more than just dry cleaning, we did a lot of wet cleaning, spot cleaning and hand cleaning. I tried to register the term with the FTC, however was unsuccessful as they thought the term was too broad. Many cleaners have since followed and began using the term which prompted us to rebrand again as just Meurice.
IC: What separates Meurice from other cleaning services that exist in the Tri-State area?
WE: Meurice is on the opposite spectrum of most "bang and hang" cleaners. We strive to return a garment or item to the customer in as close to new condition wherever possible. We have multiple methods of cleaning each item and choose the best process for each and every item. Sometimes hand cleaning or spot cleaning is necessary as some garments can not be cleaned using any conventional method. Our staff are essentially artisans and carefully work on each piece. We often receive items that other cleaners have tried to restore but failed. These items prove to be difficult because we do not know what methods or agents were used prior during the unsuccessful cleaning attempts and need to prevent any adverse reactions or further discoloration.
IC: What has been one of your most challenging cleaning projects to date?
WE: Our team cleaned a spider web mohair original dress from Matsuda that was stained with a fashion model's body makeup, many of Princess Diana's original gowns, the collection of gowns worn and donated by Oscar winners to benefit AMFAR at auction by Sotheby's. We've cleaned a Swarovski crystal tennis dress for Maria Sharapova, various items for the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit at MOMA that their textile lab could not restore, and countless other projects.
IC: What services do you offer your clients in New York?
WE: Our team does regular dry cleaning through our CLEAN brand, Couture dry cleaning at Meurice, purse and shoe cleaning and restoration, interior cleaning including furnishings, drapery, carpets, rugs, and fabric covered walls. We handle water, smoke, and fire damage restoration as well as fine bedding and linen laundering.
IC: We know the environment is important to you. What steps have you taken to do your part?
WE: Our company has always operated with environmental stewardship. We operate our equipment beyond manufacturers maintenance standards to ensure no impact to the environment or our employees. We have been moving toward eliminating the use of poly dry cleaning bags and now offer reusable covers to our clients to have their clothes returned in. We were recognized by Greenpeace as the first certified wet cleaning plant in the country.
IC: What has been one of the most exciting projects you worked on to date?
WE: Today I am involved in restoring a 1500-piece couture collection that was exposed to moisture during a flood. Each of the items is very unique and we needed to photograph, document and tag each piece offsite before they are packaged and moved to our facility.
