Steve Marcionetti sits down with Steve Michalec, Vice President of Sales at The M&L Equipment Company and H-M Company, to discuss how commercial laundry distribution has evolved—and why strong customer relationships remain the foundation of the business.

Steve shares how he entered his family’s third-generation company, progressed from sales representative to leadership, and ultimately helped guide M&L through its acquisition by H-M. He explains how the two organizations are combining territories, expanding into new markets, developing salespeople, and balancing opportunities across both vended laundry and on-premise laundry.

The conversation also explores how distributors generate leads, compete against lower-cost alternatives, evaluate new-store and retool opportunities, and build equipment packages around demographics, customer needs, and changing consumer preferences. Steve also shares lessons from becoming a multi-store laundromat owner himself, including why he chose larger-capacity machines and a completely coinless payment model.

Finally, the two Steves discuss distributor consolidation, the growing sophistication of laundromat investors, and why local sales, service, and support will continue to make distribution essential to the industry.

This episode offers practical insight for distributors, sales professionals, manufacturers, and anyone interested in how successful laundromat projects come together.