by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Pelican Cleaners in Independent Square, the fifth in a chain of local stores, opened for business Friday and staffers say they couldn’t be more excited to move into downtown.
“It was like divine intervention,” said Matthew Tinney Jr., Pelican Cleaners general manager. “We were thinking about all of our marketing options and eventually we found downtown. It’s a perfect fit for us and everything is working out perfectly so far.”
Pelican Cleaners CEO Phillip Smith, a Jacksonville native and Robert E. Lee High School graduate, concurred.
“When we thought of downtown, we understood that a lot of growth is taking place with respect to businesses as well as a residential market moving in,” said Smith. “Basically we wanted to make it more convenient for the men and women living here and also the business people, too. It was important to cater to them. It’s taken a little
time, but we wanted to do it right.”
Smith and Tinney said after a soft opening and advertising efforts increase, grand opening specials will be available starting as early as next week.
“Oh yes, we’re going to have a lot of special offers for our customers,” said Smith. “We want to appeal to the men and women so we’ll do something for everybody on different days.
Open from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. — the hours may change as demand grows — Pelican Cleaners also features an express service, a shoe shine station and a message therapist.
“It’s going to be good,” said Tinney. “We’re just very excited to have gotten to this point after all of our hard work.”