History of "The Quality Cleaners", Canton, Ohio

The Quality Cleaners announced today that with the beginning of 2009
they are celebrating their 62nd anniversary in business. The “family
owned” firm was started in 1947 by husband and wife Harley and Ella
Phares. Mr. Phares had been a supervisor at the Hoover Company in
North Canton, Ohio during World War II and when the war ended, he
and his wife Ella decided to open a dry cleaning company. From the
beginning, The Quality Cleaners was founded on the principles of
“Quality workmanship” and dedication to the “little details” that set
their cleaning service apart from all of the other dry cleaning and
laundry service firms in the area.

The business was originally operated out of the home that Harley and Ella
owned in Jackson Township. At that time... the rural community was mostly
comprised of farm property and was sparsely populated... so the Phares’
decided to build their “new venture” by offering their cleaning service through
pick-up and delivery service. Harley would go “door to door” offering dry
cleaning service to the residents of Canton, Massillon, and North Canton. He
would take the work that he had collected to a friend who owned another dry
cleaning firm who would do the initial cleaning of the clothes. After the
clothing had been cleaned, he would pick-up the now clean clothes and take
them back to his home where he and Ella would then press each item
individually and do the final “finishing touches” before delivering the clothing
back to their growing list of customers

.

As the business began to grow, both Harley and Ella wanted more control
over the “Quality” of their finished product of “freshly cleaned clothing”.
They decided to build a small building on the property next to their home in
Jackson Township where they could install their own dry cleaning equipment
and control the “Quality” of their service from the beginning to the end of the
process. The business was located at 6525 Hills & Dales Road just about
halfway between Canton and Massillon. Also, as a part of this expansion,
they opened a store in the building that now housed The Quality Cleaners.

Along the way of building their new business, Harley and Ella also started a
family. Over the course of the late 1940’s and early 1950’s they had three
children. Don and Jim were the two older sons of Harley and Ella and as the
business continued to grow, they helped out and learned the business from
the ground up. Jim Phares is now the President of the company and Don is
Vice-President.

The reputation of the business continued to grow at a pace that even
surpassed Harley and Ella’s initial expectations! Expansions were made to the
original building many times over the course of the past 60 years but the
original location of that first “small building” has never changed. As the now
President of the company, Jim Phares says… “I guess you could say we have
been on the same ‘spot’ for 62 years now.“ While the service of picking up
and delivering customers cleaning has always been a very important part of
the “mainstay” of the service offered by The Quality Cleaners, the cleaning
that was being brought into the “store location” at the production plant on
Hills & Dales Road was also greatly contributing to the growth and success
of the growing business. Jackson Township was fast becoming a high
growth area... many of the large farms in the area were being bought and
turned into housing areas... this also lead to the growth of The Quality
Cleaners.

In June of 1965, the business was incorporated as H. W. Phares & Sons,
Inc.   DBA/ The Quality Cleaners. The two sons, Don and Jim, continued to
learn the day to day operations of the “family business” and have since taken
over “the reins” of running the business. “Mom and Dad taught us the
principles of how to live our lives and run the business”, said James D.
Phares. “We saw every day what it takes to operate a successful business...
and how to treat our employees and customers”, commented Donald W.
Phares. Adding to the “true” meaning of “family owned”... Jim’s wife Jane is
the businesses Office Manager.   Also, Don met his wife Gail as a result of
the business… as she had been hired as a seamstress, a position she now
supervises.

As a result of “62 years” of experience in the fabricare industry, The Quality
Cleaners has developed several specialties in addition to the normal services.
Bridal gown cleaning, restoration, and preservation as well as leather and
suede cleaning, refinishing, and repairing have been two of the specialty
services that The Quality Cleaners has been known for over the years.
Over the past “61 years” many changes have occurred as a result of the
growth of The Quality Cleaners.   However, those early principles of “Quality
Service” and “Special Attention to the little details” have been what has set
The Quality Cleaners apart.