Classic Cleaners reopens in Charles City on Thursday

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Classic Cleaners in Charles City will reopen Thursday, after being closed for a month and a half while being caught up in court proceedings that actually had little to do with that business.

Charles Thomson, majority equity owner and manager of the limited liability company that owned the cleaners, said it would open at 8 a.m. Thursday.

Thomson said it was important that the cleaners reopen because it is one of the few companies left in the area that provides high quality dry-cleaning services.

Some customers still have clothing in the possession of the cleaners since it was closed on Dec. 10.

Classic Cleaners was owned by McQuillen Place Co. LLC, the company that also owned the McQuillen Place residential and commercial project on Charles City’s Main Street.

When a federal bankruptcy judge converted the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for McQuillen Place Co. to Chapter 7 and appointed a trustee to manage the assets, the trustee ordered that Classic Cleaners not reopen.

Thomson did get permission from the trustee for some items to be removed, such as robes that were needed by a high school choir, and Thomson had been working with the trustee to purchase the cleaners personally.

The trustee, Charles Smith of Council Bluffs, on Jan. 17 agreed to sell the cleaning business’s assets to Thomson for $2,000. The business is located at 1110 N. Grand Ave., in a building that Thomson already owns.

Smith also received permission from the bankruptcy judge to shorten the usual waiting time for creditors or other interested parties to file objections to the sale to just 10 days, which was up this week.

Thomson purchased the cleaners in 2018 from the previous owners, Steve and Sherri Dralle of Waverly, after they decided to close the Charles City business after suffering a fire in their Waverly location.

Thomson said the business isn’t a huge money-maker, but it’s important to have in the community.

He said the business had been purchased through McQuillen Place Co. LLC as a future tenant when McQuillen Place was completed.