Sonny Shah, President of Four Seasons Cleaners, recently returned from an international conference of gown care specialists held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Sonny Shah
805-416-1793
sonny@4seasonscleaners.net

Sonny Shah, President of Four Seasons Cleaners, recently returned from an international conference of gown care specialists held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
A highlight of the meeting was the presentation of the first annual Jack Barth Memorial Award of Excellence. The award recognizes a member of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists for advancement, promotion, and development of industry standards for wedding gown care and for outstanding contributions and service to the Association and its members.
The honoree, Malcolm MacGregor of Browns Cleaners and Tailors Ltd. in Ottawa, Ontario, has been a member of the Association since its inception in 1987 and twice served as president. MacGregor has also served as president of the International Drycleaning Congress, which twice recognized him as International Dry Cleaner of the Year, the Ontario Fabricare Association, and the Rotary Club of Ottawa, Ottawa’s senior service organization established in 1916. When asked about his long, distinguished career in the both the fabricare industry and in the community, MacGregor said: “Perhaps the responsibility I most enjoyed was my term as the first international member of the Board of Directors of the Drycleaners and Laundry Institute. It was an opportunity to bring together cleaners from all countries, especially cleaners in the United States and Canada, and show them the benefits of international cooperation.”
Shah said, “Traveling to Albuquerque to meet with the leaders in our industry was well worth the time. We here at Four Seasons Cleaners are committed to providing our brides with the best possible care for their gowns. That’s why we offer the Association’s trademarked MuseumCare gown preservations with a completely acid-free wedding chest. We take pride in the quality of our work,” said Shah, “and our affiliation with the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists is a natural extension of our determination to provide consumers with the best available product. Our brides know we are the gown preservation service they can trust!”
Shah is a recognized expert in the industry and cleans hundreds of specialty gowns each year. Among Shah’s most recent projects were Coats For Kids and Prom Dress Relief for local girls, who can’t afford to buy new ones. Serving the Ventura and Oxnard area for more than Ten (10), Shah has three (3) Locations and is a member of Rotary Club of Ventura.
Speakers at the meeting included Katie Martin of Elegance and Simplicity, Inc. and Brian Lawrence, founder of Local Traffic Builder. Martin and her team have designed thousands of luxury and green wedding events, and she is also editor-in-chief of Eco-BeautifulWeddings.com, an international magazine and blog, as well as a contributor to more than 75 blogs, magazines, and websites worldwide. Lawrence, well-known author and speaker in the wedding industry reviewed the websites of those who attended the meeting and showed them how to use their websites to build brand recognition.
Andrea Lown, co-founder of SmartBrideBoutique.com where brides past and
present buy and sell used wedding gowns and other discounted wedding items, explained how gown care specialists can maximize their exposure in this fast-growing segment of the gown care market. Following Lown’s presentation, Sonny Ganguly, Chief Marketing Officer of WeddingWire.com spoke about the need to include social, local, and especially mobile media in an effective marketing plan.
The three-day meeting opened with a tour of The Cleanery, the Association’s member in Albuquerque, where the group enjoyed a unique opportunity to observe one of the first Solvon K4 Systems to be installed anywhere in the world. The system features a non-halogenated, biodegradable alternative to the widely-used perchloroethylene solvent now considered a possible carcinogen. Richard Fitzpatrick, vice president of Kreussler, spoke about the history of the company’s interest in developing this new solvent.
Nancy Jones, president, and Kathy Daniels, general manager of Foster-Stephens Company reminded the group of their long-standing relationship with the Association and used the occasion to mark the 75th anniversary of the company’s complete line of archival-quality storage solutions with special offers.
Members of the Association, a not-for-profit trade group with members located in the United States, Canada, Ecuador and Mexico specialize in gown cleaning and preservation. Each member honors the guarantee of every other member, which includes taking the gown out of the container and pressing it at no charge when the gown is to be worn again. For brides outside of market areas with local service, the Association offers AWGS Courier Service, which makes the Association’s trademarked gown preservations available via both telephone and the Internet.
The Association partners with Carbonfund.org, the leading nonprofit carbon offset and climate solutions organization, to offer truly green, ZeroCarbonTM gown preservations, and more than seventy specialty gown manufacturers currently recommend MuseumCareTM ZeroCarbonTM preservations. MuseumCareTM ZeroCarbontTM gown preservations are also Endorsed by the Association of Bridal Consultants, the professional organization dedicated to wedding professionals worldwide.

Four Seasons Cleaners is a local Dry Cleaners

4020 East Main St., Suite B-3-2
Ventura, CA 93003

This release was published on openPR.