Spotless Cleaners' dry cleaning days are numbered. The company will shut its doors permanently as early as this week, closing eight stores in New Providence and leaving 42 persons unemployed. Owner of the laundry chain Samantha Harajchi told Guardian Business that the economic climate played a large role in the move. "The economy has been rough on us and unfortunately it got to the point where we had to close down," Harajchi said. "I hate that it had to come to this, but doing business in the current economy is very tough."

Harajchi didn't give a concrete timetable as to when Spotless Cleaners will officially be shut down, but she mentioned that all customers have been advised to pick up their orders as soon as possible. She said persons have been notified through e-mail about the closure, as well as newspaper advertisements printed since Monday. Some employees expressed dismay about the closure and said they didn't see any writing on the wall. "I had no idea that this was going to happen.

I came to work and treated it like a normal day and I found out that we were closing down," said an employee who spoke under the condition of anonymity. "We didn't get any notice in advance that this was going to happen, so now we have no other choice but to move on. It is what it is." Spotless Cleaners is the second laundry chain to close its doors in recent months. Jiffy Cleaners was forced to shut down in 2011 due to tough economic times coupled with road works that hindered operations.

Oriental Cleaners and Superwash are the only large laundry chains left in The Bahamas. Harajchi said that the closure of Spotless Cleaners is a sign of the times and hopefully economic conditions will improve so other businesses don't suffer the same fate. "You look at some of the other stores that have been here for some time, such as General Hardware and Jiffy Cleaners, and they had to shut their businesses down too," she said. "I would like to thank our customers for their loyal support over the years and if the opportunity presents itself it won't be the end of Spotless Cleaners forever."

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