December 12, 2008

Effie’s Cleaners provides quality service to Evergreen

Effie’s Cleaners opened in 1994 in the shopping mall at the entrance of The Villages. As it prepares to celebrate fifteen years in business, Effie Masoumi and her husband, Mosen, continue to greet customers as if they are family and friends.

Effie Masoumi

Effie says she is very pleased with the location and happy to have a business in Evergreen. “We have very good customers,” Effie says, “and we provide quality service at reasonable prices.”

Effie came to the U.S. from Iran in 1986 to visit her brother and met his friend, Mosen, whom she later married. Effie had earned a master’s degree in accounting in Iran, but realized that here she would need better English skills, American business classes, and to learn the very complex U.S. tax laws to be employed as an accountant.

Her hobby had been alterations and a friend asked her to help out at Nordstrom’s. She worked there for a while. Knowing that alterations alone would not support a business, she and Mosen decided to open a drycleaners. Effie has a full-time tailor on site, but insists on doing all measurements herself. “I’m responsible for the work and my customers know I care about the results.”

Quality and cost are the reasons that business at Effie’s remains stable. Customers can pick up their cleaning in two days and a one-day turnaround is possible in some cases. The dry cleaning and laundry plant is in Milpitas and deliveries are made each day around 1 p.m. Effie stresses that all cleaning agents are non-toxic and that the plant’s machines are new.

Effie’s Cleaners is a good corporate citizen, supporting local activities. “We are a small business, but it’s important that we give back to the level we can,” says Effie.

Most of the customers are from the surrounding area, including The Villages and Silver Creek Valley Country Club. But persons seeking quality alterations and service drive in from other areas. Effie’s also does the alterations on bridal attire for Trudy’s.

Effie’s Cleaners is a local business that provides a values service to the Evergreen community.