In May 2023, Wash Friends opened a store in Vinhomes D’Capitale, a luxury mixed-use apartment complex located in the heart of Hanoi on Trần Duy Hưng Street.
This residential complex consists of 1,800 units and is located near the Korean town, making it home to many Koreans and upper-middle-class Vietnamese residents. |
| Vinhomes D'.Capitale, a high-end residential complex in Hanoi, Vietnam |
Wash Friends enters the competitive premium market in Hanoi’s Vinhomes D’.Capitale
Before Wash Friends opened its store, a laundry brand referred to here as “S” had already been operating in the D’Capitale complex for nearly two years. Despite surviving through the COVID-19 period and establishing a certain presence, customers consistently voiced dissatisfaction with the service quality. Even regular customers of Wash Friends had no choice but to use “S” due to the lack of alternatives.
At the time, Wash Friends was focusing more on maintaining quality in existing stores rather than expanding aggressively, given the challenges of the pandemic. Moreover, the rent in the D’Capitale commercial area exceeded $1,800/month, making it a difficult location to enter. Fortunately, we had a lucky break: an opportunity arose to lease a well-located unit at a more reasonable rate. In May 2023, Wash Friends D’Capitale officially opened its doors.
News of Wash Friends entering the complex quickly generated excitement not only among existing customers but also among many residents. The “S” laundry brand, in particular, viewed the arrival of Wash Friends as a threat—and indeed, both brands operated side by side for only two months. Unable to match the service difference, “S” ultimately decided to shut down its store and soon exited the Vietnamese market altogether, selling the brand to a local company.
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| Wash Friends Store at Vinhomes D'.Capitale in Hanoi, Vietnam |
Internal Issues and Unexpected Setbacks
Initially, operations at the D’Capitale branch ran smoothly, but in early 2024, unexpected issues began to surface. Customer complaints increased, and the store’s reputation started to suffer. The headquarters team conducted an on-site investigation and discovered that the store manager had been unofficially accepting laundry orders and embezzling a portion of the revenue.
The resulting loss was approximately 150 million VND. The manager was dismissed, and another long-serving, reliable staff member was promoted to the position. However, the problems did not end there. It was later revealed that the new manager was also connected to the previous one, and within just two months, an additional loss of 50 million VND occurred.
Ultimately, the headquarters made a decisive move: they replaced the entire staff and dispatched internal personnel—including Korean staff—to oversee operations and restore customer trust.
Brand Misuse and Organized Interference
While addressing internal problems, an even more shocking incident came to light. A customer remarked, “I don’t think you need to hand out flyers anymore,” noting that staff members were distributing flyers at the entrances of each lobby. However, Wash Friends had never conducted flyer advertising in that complex—and notably, the individuals handing them out were male, even though very few male staff were employed at the time.
Further investigation revealed that a local laundry business had illegally used the Wash Friends logo to distribute flyers and personally collect laundry orders from residents. Headquarters immediately issued a notice to the community warning them about the impersonators.
Then, around the 2025 Tet holiday (Vietnam’s largest national celebration), technicians began resigning en masse without clear explanation. Initially dismissed as a simple job change trend, it soon became clear that the “S” brand had opened a new store in a nearby building. All the technicians who had left had moved there, offering services based on the expertise and training they had gained over years at Wash Friends, presenting it as their own.
As of May 2025, Wash Friends is actively hiring new staff to fill these vacancies and is investing heavily in company-wide training and operational improvement.
The background of this mass departure lies in Wash Friends’ strong revenue performance and operational expertise. From the perspective of employees, operating their own store or switching to a competitor promising better short-term returns may have seemed more lucrative.
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| A photo of the “S” brand store showing identical interior design, promotional materials, and operational systems—everything copied from Wash Friends, except the logo. |
Regaining Trust and Building for the Long Term
Despite facing both internal and external challenges, Wash Friends has not given up. We are continuing to hire new staff and are focusing all efforts on restoring service quality through rigorous training and supervision. While services can be copied, sincerity and customer care cannot be easily imitated. This belief remains central to the Wash Friends philosophy.
New employees undergo a professional training course provided by headquarters, followed by hands-on practice at actual stores and regular quality inspections before they are allowed to interact with customers. This system ensures consistent service across all branches and reinforces a unified customer experience.
Though not enough time has passed to collect comprehensive feedback, there are already signs of positive change within the team. All HQ staff are doing their best to regain customer trust. Wash Friends continues to believe that authentic operations and honest communication—not advertising—are the keys to restoring customer relationships.
Meanwhile, the re-emergence of the “S” brand—boosted by the defection of trained staff—has allowed it to reopen quickly and gain short-term profitability. It’s true that employees who witnessed high sales at Wash Friends may be tempted by the potential financial gain from running their own shop or switching to a competitor offering better compensation. However, stores that lack brand philosophy and structured systems will inevitably face sustainability challenges.
No matter how strict your management is, when someone is determined to deceive and steal, the entire system can collapse in an instant. As a result, there are still unresolved issues at some Wash Friends stores—and customers who continue to suffer.
These issues are exactly what Wash Friends must resolve moving forward. This is part of the journey to regain trust and grow into an even stronger brand, based on sincerity and accountability.
We are responding not with short-term competition but with a long-term strategy focused on brand value and system stability. We are committed to regaining our place at the heart of the market, step by step.
A Message to Store Owners and Investors
Most Wash Friends locations enjoy high revenue—but these results are never coincidental. Some stores have recovered their investment in less than a year, while others have struggled and considered closing after just a few months.
Premium laundry businesses are significantly more profitable than standard laundromats or traditional cleaners, but that profitability depends on operations, staff management, and customer service—all of which require human value. If you expect only profit and rely entirely on the system, even at Wash Friends, failure is possible.
Preparing for the Future
In Vietnam, the self-service laundromat market is now opening in earnest. Rising labor costs, difficulties in managing staff, and increasing customer complaints are pushing some brands to switch to unmanned operations. But even unmanned stores cannot succeed without proper oversight.
Wash Friends is preparing to protect its brand credibility even in the age of automation, by continuing to build people-centered laundry service models.
Running a washing machine takes technology, but winning a customer’s heart takes attitude.
Wash Friends considers “Attitude” to be its most important competitive advantage.
