Where is my $1.50 Dry Cleaner?

We had a bit of “sticker shock” when we first got over here. Most of the prices are about the same number-wise as in the States, but when converting from dollars to pounds sterling, you about double the price. So, £5 lunch is $10; £40 jeans are $80; £70 taxi ride is $140. After a while, in order to maintain your sanity, you stop converting and just think in pounds. Luckily, we have gotten past that point… and then we went looking for a dry cleaner.

Now, back in North Carolina we had a dry cleaner around the corner from our house that charged $1.50 per item for everything. The name of the place was called $1.50 Dry Cleaners. Now, to be fair, they raised their prices from time to time (and changed their name accordingly). I think when we left they were up to $1.99 — still a good deal.

Now I dream of cheap dry cleaning. I went shopping for dry cleaners this week and collected their price lists. First of all, they charge different prices for different items and it isn’t always clear what is what (i.e. women’s shirt vs. blouse or suit vs. dinner suit) — very confusing. And brace your self for the prices.

Shirts, trousers, and such range from £5 – £10 a piece. Suits, coats and dresses are £12 – £20+ a piece. Even if those prices were in dollars I would be sticker shocked. Now double them. I feel sorry for the bloke getting his leather coat cleaned at £65 a pop. I think I could buy a new one for $130.

It is funny talking to people from the States that have been over here for a while. They all say that they used to think Banana Republic was expensive — now when they go back to visit the prices seem reasonable. A shirt that it $70 — ah, that’s only £35.

Speaking of clothing, I think this is a good time to interject another story. Apparantly “pants” in the US are “trousers” here in the UK. “Pants” in the UK actually means underwear. You should ask K about when she was telling her classmates about her pants…

So what do you think is a reasonable price for dry cleaning?