Commercial Uniform Company Expands Into Houston Market With Holistic Financing

What are the biggest challenges you face as a business?

At Ace ImageWear, we provide customized uniform and supply service programs to approximately 4,000 commercial customers from our two locations in Kansas City, Missouri and Houston, Texas. The laundry and sorting equipment necessary to wash and process 200,000 pounds of laundry per week makes our business extremely capital-intensive. As a third-generation family business, we have to strategically adapt and grow to maintain our competitive advantage and stay out of harm’s way with larger competitors. The ability to finance major decisions is essential to achieving both of those objectives.

How did Enterprise help solve these challenges?

We saw the majority of our growth was occurring in Houston and knew, from a strategic standpoint, we needed to increase our presence there. Establishing a new plant and moving from our previous one is a large project with a significant capital undertaking. Enterprise understood our vision of expansion in the Texas market and stepped in to partner with us throughout the venture. They helped us locate -and finance -a plant that suited our goals and needs. With their financial support, we are now installing state-of-the-art equipment in our new Houston facility.

What is the impact on your business?

As we’re working towards our goals and taking new steps as a business, Enterprise is just a phone call away. Not only have they helped us grow physically, but also in our volume of business. Just recently, we were awarded the opportunity to take on an account with a sizeable profit-potential, requiring new equipment installations. Enterprise was eager to jump in. We’re lucky to have a flexible partnership with Enterprise, which allows us to pull the trigger whenever we need it.