VALDOSTA — Jay Hughes was getting married 31 years ago and needed some work.

His sister said the owner of Big B Dry Cleaners needed some help and he got the job.

He worked at Big B Dry Cleaners until 2013 when he left to work at another cleaners. When the previous owner of Big B Dry Cleaners wanted to sell his business last December, he asked Hughes.

Hughes said the previous owner wanted to give him a chance to run the business and it be his.

Before accepting the offer, Hughes said he and his wife prayed about the decision.

“We felt like God put it in our hands for a reason,” he said.

Now, Hughes owns and operates two Big B Dry Cleaners in Valdosta.

Since taking over the company it has become a family run business.

There are a total of seven employees and three are family, he said. But one employee has been with the company for 18 years and another has been at Big Bs since the 1970s.

While the other four employees aren’t actual family, Hughes said he worked with most of them for years before becoming the owner.

“They are part of the family,” he said.

Hughes said having such longstanding employees is good for business.

“When our customers see we don’t have a high turnover, our customers recognize that,” he said.

As the operating owner, Hughes handles all the dry cleaning, he said. He does all of the cleanings, inspections and spot removal.

Because he has so much experience and works directly with all of the clothing going through the store, he tries to educate customers on how stains and starch work.

He said grease stains don’t show up immediately and sugar stains become oxidized.

Hughes used the example of an apple to explain how sugar stains work. 

He said when first biting into an apple it is nice and white, but after it sits and oxidizes, the apple begins to brown. 

Other stains can appear during the pressing process that did not appear to previously be there.

He said starch stiffens clothing and “gives it a body.” Starching clothing helps maintain creases and a “new” look.

“We have the experience and the knowledge of the problems that can and will happen,” he said.

Since coming into ownership of the stores, Hughes said he has invested about $4,000-$5,000 in repairs and upgrades.

He has refurbished the downtown store’s lobby, painted and fixed the roof, he said.

He said he wants to “revitalize” the downtown location.

“We want to keep it in line with how it was originally,” he said. “We are going to keep it as clean and lively as possible.”

Since taking over the stores, he has added several new discounts for customers.

“We are big into our church so we do church bulletins,” he said.

“Usually once they bring it in, we log it in our system and try to get (residents) to refer us.”

Big B Dry Cleaners also has discounts for military, firefighters, police officers, other emergency responders and teachers.

Hughes said if the clothes are brought in early enough Big B Dry Cleaners offers same-day pick up.

For same-day pick up, he said to drop off clothes at the store on Connell Road by 10 a.m. and at the downtown store by 9 a.m. and the garments will be ready for pick up by 4 p.m.

Along with regular dry cleaning, Big B Dry Cleaners also offers a laundry service.

The company will wash, dry and fold clothing.

“People get so busy they don’t have time to do their laundry,” Hughes said. “So, we do it for them.”

While he doesn’t currently offer shoe repair, it is something he said he may consider adding in the future.

“We get a lot of people asking about shoe repairs,” he said.

Big B Dry Cleaners is located at 375 Connell Road and is open from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m.-noon Saturday.

The downtown store is located at 301 N. Patterson St. and is open 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturday.

For more information, call (229) 219-1118 for the Connell Road store or (229) 247-7405 for the downtown store, or visit www.bigbdrycleaner.wixsite.com/home or Big B Dry Cleaners on Facebook. 

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1256.