Simon at Parkway’s facility in Bethesda, Maryland (above): “The first thing I do when I come in is practice Management by Wandering Around.”
(Photo by Alyssa Schukar)

Twenty years ago, when a broker called to tell Jon Simon (MBA 1980) about the possibility of acquiring Parkway Custom Drycleaning, the broker didn’t initially reveal what it was—a high-end dry-cleaning business founded in 1926. Convinced to take a look, Simon liked what he saw, despite—or maybe because of—the challenge: “It was basically a small manufacturing company but with an output of one product each time, because every unit we process is unique,” he says. “With each garment, there are 20 opportunities for us to screw up—maybe we didn’t schedule the pick-up for the right day, we might have missed a cracked button in inspection, we didn’t fold the collar up as requested by the customer, etc.”

Parkway’s bread-and-butter business is made up of work and dress attire such as shirts, slacks, suits, and dresses; when the pandemic put a significant dent in those revenues, they pivoted—focusing more on their rug, upholstery, and drapery cleaning services to make up the difference. With their high-end and specialty focus, they also take in a number of historic, high-profile items, having cleaned Lou Gehrig’s uniform and the flag that draped Abraham Lincoln’s coffin, in addition to cleaning and restoring tapestries on-site at the Turkish Embassy. “No second grader says, ‘I want to work in dry cleaning when I grow up.’ Zero,” says Simon. But he saw an opportunity in a sleepy family company with a great reputation. He introduced systems that track customer preferences and check an order’s tiniest details, reducing the opportunity for error and improving efficiency. “I’ve built a manage-by-exception business, but mistakes will happen as long as we have human beings and machines,” he says. “I like to think I have enough systems in place to prevent those moments from happening, but when they do, the question is how quickly can we fix the problem and get the item back to you.”

First job: At age 16, Simon worked in the family’s manufacturing plant in Rochester, New York. (His grandfather and a partner invented the plastic watch crystal in the early 1900s.)

What he discovered: “I learned what ‘real work’ is and that there are many noble ways to earn a living. I was soon able to recognize who cared, and others who were just trying to punch out time.”

An art and a science: “There are probably 30 or 40 different spotting chemicals and techniques depending on the fabric, the stain, and how long it’s been there. You can’t just throw a shirt into the cleaning chamber, press two buttons like cotton, chocolate—and magically restore the garment. We have a cabinet full of dye pads and specialty tools to aid us in our cleaning and restoration processes.”

Check in: Some 25 employees work at Parkway’s newly restored 10,000-square-foot operation. “The first thing I do when I come in is practice MBWA—or Management by Wandering Around. It’s amazing how much you pick up just by that first set of hellos.”

Secret sauce: “Our tagline is ‘Experience the difference,’ and that difference is listening and customized technology. If you don’t want us to ever crease your slacks, the system picks up on that.”

Pivot: As a music major at Michigan, Simon wrote and directed a musical based on Aristophanes’ comedy The Birds. “I experienced what it was going to be like to be an artist, scoring music at 4 a.m. and then rehearsing at 8. I figured I would always have my music, so I switched my degree to industrial engineering.”

Second career: Simon still writes music and plays jazz piano. “I’ve recorded nine CDs and at one point performed a couple dozen times a year around the country. I was able to put at least one of my kids through college with my income as a musician.”

Breakout album: Hanukkah and All that Jazz. “I was driving around in my car and heard some great interpretations of Christmas songs. Then they played one for Hanukkah, but it was just so blah. I went home and started tickling the ivories, so to speak.”

Map it out: “At HBS, Ben Shapiro was a phenomenal professor. I just loved his two-by-two matrices and still sometimes build my own. Just about anything can be boiled down to a two-by-two.”

Weekend retreat: The Chesapeake Bay. “My wife and I bought a river house and then a boat, so we’re having fun—learning river life, if you will. Our three kids are all up in Brooklyn, and there are very few summer weekends when someone isn’t visiting.”

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