Jeeves
M-F 8am-6pm; Sa 10am-4pm
London
“There is nothing quite like Jeeves anywhere else in New York…and possibly in the world,” Jerry Pozniak proudly stated as I walked into the spotless dry cleaners. It did not take me long to realize that he was correct.
“We clean basically the impossible,” Jerry said. After explaining that Jeeves handles the best of the best of wardrobes, he shared some of the absolute miracles that he and his staff have managed to achieve. They restored a black and white striped Herve Leger dress that someone had tried to wash a lipstick stain from, causing the stripes to bleed into each other. “It breaks my heart when people try to fix things themselves,” Jerry said. They have also transformed leather jackets that have been turned stiff by other, less experienced cleaners. The most impressive job that Jerry described, however, was when a pure white Chanel gown encrusted with real pearls arrived with a red wine stain, and they were able to remove all signs of it.
When I asked Jerry what Jeeves’s secret is, he said that it is the people that separate them from the other dry cleaners. “We have, hands-down, the best staff around.” He went on to say that “These people truly truly care for what they do. Everything else can be taught.” Jerry has been working with Jeeves for thirty-two years, ever since the New York location opened on Madison Avenue in 1983. The first Jeeves began in London in 1973, and there are now locations in thirteen major cities worldwide. Jeeves moved onto the side street in 1990 in order to settle in a more affordable location, and Jerry said that he likes it much better being off the avenue. It is quiet, and their clients can still easily find them. When I asked how business has changed over the years, Jerry explained that fifteen years ago, most of their customers came from the neighborhood, since “”high society”” was concentrated on the Upper East Side. Now, he says, customers come from all over the city, for as he so elegantly phrased it, Jeeves is “the Bentley of dry cleaners.”
