‘Your back’s against the wall’: How two Gen-Z founders bet everything on a Brooklyn laundromat

Their answer was Launderette, a Brooklyn laundromat designed to feel more like a neighborhood café than a traditional wash-and-fold. Rather than filling every square foot with washing machines, the pair intentionally carved out space for communal seating, work tables and customers who might linger long after their laundry was done.

It was exactly the kind of decision traditional laundromat operators had warned them against.

“They said, ‘Absolutely don’t do this,'” McCaughey said of advisers who questioned giving up valuable floor space to create an area where customers could work and hang out. “They just didn’t really understand the impact that a brand has on younger generations and really see the vision.”

The bet reflects a broader shift happening across Main Street. Businesses that once competed almost exclusively on convenience are increasingly competing on brand.

California gas station Maggie’s markets itself around “gas, lattes and little treats,” while New York City-based moving company Piece of Cake has built recognizable branding around what was once a purely transactional service.

The strategy has already opened doors beyond neighborhood customers. Hotels and Pilates studios have become commercial clients, while brands including Brooklinen and Tower 28 have rented Launderette for events, turning the space into more than just a place to do laundry.

The promise vs. the reality

Not everyone is convinced the online fascination with “boring businesses” reflects what’s actually happening in the market.

Scott Shane, a professor of entrepreneurial studies at Case Western Reserve University, told Fortune the popularity of “boring businesses” has far outpaced the number of actual deals.

Americans filed 5.62 million new business applications in 2025, representing an increase of about 8% from the previous year and among the highest totals ever recorded. Meanwhile, BizBuySell, the largest business-for-sale marketplace, recorded fewer than 10,000 completed business sales in 2025, with transaction volume declining further in early 2026, according to Shane.

“Watching videos about buying a laundromat and buying a laundromat are very different activities,” Shane told Fortune. “The gap between stated intent and closed transactions is enormous, and it’s where the hype lives.”

Codie Sanchez, entrepreneur and author of the forthcoming book Own or Be Owned, sees the movement through a different lens. In the book, she argues that the biggest opportunities aren’t always in building something new, but in improving businesses that already generate customers and cash flow.

“Five years ago, the narrative was: build the next unicorn,” she told Fortune. “Venture capital owned that story. But that math doesn’t work for most people.”

Instead, Sanchez argues entrepreneurs are realizing they don’t need to invent the next billion-dollar company. Existing businesses already have customers, recurring revenue and cash flow. What changed, she said, wasn’t the opportunity itself but people’s awareness of it.

“The internet got tired of the same story,” she said.

For Sanchez, the appeal isn’t the businesses themselves. “A boring business teaches you that lesson faster than any startup ever could,” Sanchez told Fortune.

In McCaughey and Razin’s experience, building Launderette looked less like passive income and more like the messy reality of entrepreneurship: pitching investors, taking on real debt, racing to open before the free rent ran out and learning to pivot along the way.

Today, the pair are weighing what’s next. They could open another Launderette, build a warehouse to expand their commercial laundry business or eventually compete with New York City’s largest pickup-and-delivery services.

“We just need to take it step by step and keep growing the company in the right way,” Razin said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com