The WashingTown Laundromat, 2501 Eastlake Ave. E., closed a week ago after burglars broke in, stole the coin box off the wall, and did some other damage.
Frances Skeete, who owned the laundromat for five years, says she was going to close anyway but the burglary just moved the date up a week. She had been planning to close this weekend.
Skeete had focused on a pick-up and delivery laundry service but wasn't able to make that part of the business go. She says she was using good quality, environmentally safe laundry products for that part of the business but those made her costs a little higher and "most people are just looking for something really cheap."
Skeete also lamented that some people used the coin machine at the laundromat as a source of change and that that drove up her costs as well.
She didn't know what business might go into the laundry's space next to Hiroshi's.
"This is a great neighborhood," Skeet says. "Please thank everyone for their support and wish them the best in 2010."
WashingTown was Eastlake's only laundromat. A quick check of Google Maps shows two laundromats in the University District, one at the south end of Stone Way, a handful on Capitol Hill and one on the top of Queen Anne. Not a lot of choices for doing your laundry.
