Siloam Springs' oldest dry cleaning business -- B&M Cleaners -- closed its doors this week after 50 years of operation.
Monday was the last day of operation for the business, owned by Bob and Donna Ochs. The couple said they plan to retire.
Donna's parents Bill and Martha Galloway started the cleaning business in 1967. The Galloways were living in Wichita, Kan., when Donna's father read a newspaper advertisement that Frasier's Cleaners, located in the current 28 Springs building, was for sale, according to a 2007 article in the Herald-Leader. The family decided buy the business, and packed up and moved to Siloam Springs.
Donna was just a freshman in high school when the family started operating the cleaning business, named after her parent's initials. She remembers working for her dad after school.
Donna took a 10-year break from the cleaning business in her early adulthood to work at Arkansas State Bank, but came back to work with her dad when he began to have health problems.
B&M Cleaners moved from the corner of University Street and Mt. Olive Street to its current location at 816 S. Mt. Olive in 1977, and Donna officially bought the business from her father in 1992. In 2007, Bob retired from La-Z-Boy and started helping Donna with the business.
In addition to dry cleaning, B&M Cleaners starched jeans and shirts, washed and folded laundry, cleaned leather, did alterations and offered deliveries.
Donna said her family has always been committed to providing quality service.
"My mom, she was always about the quality," Donna said. "She could spot a double crease like a mile away in somebody's pants and so we've always tried to concentrate on quality because that's what people are paying for, not just the convenience of it. They're paying to get good service and good quality work."
Donna said her best memories of running the business stem from having the opportunity to work with her family and extended family members every day.
"My mom sat there at that sewing machine until she was 83-years-old," Donna said, pointing to a machine in the corner. "There was nothing she couldn't fix," Bob added.
Some customers have been coming once or even twice a week since 1967, while others have been coming for generations.
"I like seeing familiar faces around town, people I've known forever," Donna said. "It is a family really, an extended family."
Customers have reacted to the news that B&M Cleaners is closing with tears and hugs, Donna said.
"For me it's pretty emotional," Donna said.
The couple isn't sure what is in store for them when they retire, but they are looking forward to traveling -- especially to Memphis, Tenn. Donna explained that she is a die-hard Elvis fan. Bob said the couple has never been able to take a trip that was more than a few days long.
"We're going to go somewhere and not worry about when to come back," he said with a big smile.
Donna said that customers have until the end of the week to pick their clothes up at the front of the office. Clothes will be held in the back for 30 days, then donated to a local charity. Donna explained that it is usually their policy to keep clothes up to a year.
"We'll make every effort to contact everybody," she said.
The most important thing the Ochs want their customers to know is how much they have appreciated them over the years.
"I would just like them to know how much I have appreciated their being loyal customers for all these years," she said. "I've truly enjoyed the people."
General News on 01/17/2018