Local business pioneered drive-though, 24-hour service, drew celebrities

Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Phil and Melvin Shapiro arrived in Las Vegas in 1964 and bought a 7-month-old dry cleaning business.

Located in Commercial Center, near Maryland Parkway and Sahara Avenue, it was called Al Phillips when they bought it. They didn’t have enough money to change the sign, so the name stuck.

The long local history of Al Phillips the Cleaner continues, but it’s now tethered to the fate of corporate giant National Dry Cleaners Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in July.

The brothers Shapiro aimed to serve their 24-hour town by offering 24-hour service and, in 1969, drive-through service.

In 1970, American Dry Cleaner Magazine named Al Phillips “the most outstanding plant in the United States.”

Their store on Sahara, the Sun had reported, became a “hangout” for celebrities such as Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Buddy Hackett, Sonny King and Elvis Presley.

The business grew to more than a dozen stores with hundreds of employees.

In the 1970s and 80s, the brothers appeared in commercials, with Mel asking, “How do we do it all?” and Phil answering, “It’s easy when we know your business.”

Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1985, Phil died 11 years later in 1996 at age 72.

Al Phillips the Cleaner is among 231 dry cleaning businesses owned by National Dry Cleaners. On July 7, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which gives a debtor time to reorganize its business affairs subject to fulfilling a court-approved plan.

In court documents filed in the District of Delaware U.S. Bankruptcy Court, National Dry Cleaners listed debts of between $10 million and $50 million with assets of less than $50,000. The company blamed its troubles on increased energy costs, environmental cleanup and litigation costs and a decline in discretionary spending by customers.

National Dry Cleaners representatives have said most of its stores will remain open. The general manager for Al Phillips stores in Las Vegas declined to comment on the bankruptcy court proceeding.