Fashion Cleaners (Gone)
Everett, WA
Photo courtesy John Spencer

A bright splash of turquoise and red makes Fashion Cleaners easy to spot along the street in Everett. It isn't a flashy neon spectacular, but the vintage sign has plenty of personality and looks right at home above this longtime neighborhood business.

Fashion Cleaners is the kind of place that reminds you there was a time when nearly every town had its own local dry cleaner. The shop still presses clothes, handles alterations, and has earned a loyal following over the years for its friendly service. One local story even tells of employees pinning forgotten cash from customers' pockets to the pickup ticket so it wouldn't get lost.

UPDATE: Fashion Cleaners became a United Tint and Customs around 2018. The Fashion Cleaners sign and business are gone. 07-26

Crown Cleaners (Rem.)
Lynwood, WA
Photo courtesy John Spencer

Driving along Highway 99, it's easy to overlook another neighborhood dry cleaner. Then the old marquee at Crown Cleaners catches your eye. The business has updated the sign over the years, but the vintage cabinet is still there, giving the storefront a nice reminder of an earlier roadside era.

Highway 99 has changed a lot since the days before Interstate 5 carried most of the traffic, but pieces like this still hint at what the road once looked like. Crown Cleaners has been serving the Lynnwood community for decades, offering everything from dry cleaning to alterations while quietly hanging onto one of the older signs along the strip.

UPDATE: Crown Cleaners remains open, and the vintage marquee no longer greets customers along Highway 99. 07-26

University Cleaners (Gone)
Portland, OR
Photo courtesy Jeff Raber

Back when picking up the dry cleaning could be done without leaving your car, University Cleaners was built for convenience. The low mid-century building and drive-up layout made it a perfect fit for the automobile age, and it's easy to imagine customers pulling in beneath the sign with a week's worth of clothes in the trunk.

The cleaners stood along North Lombard Street in Portland's University Park neighborhood, one of those everyday businesses that became part of the local landscape. While it never relied on flashy neon, the roadside sign and drive-up design gave it plenty of character.

The building is still there today, and if you look closely you can still recognize its original purpose despite the changes.

UPDATE: University Cleaners has closed, and the building is now home to Lombardo's Pizzeria. The old cleaners sign has been removed. 07-26

Sun Cleaner (Closed)
Seattle, WA
Photo courtesy Jim Zahniser

That bright sunburst is hard to miss. Sun Cleaners has one of those signs that instantly makes you slow down for a second look, even if you weren't planning to stop. It has been catching the attention of drivers in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood for decades. Photo date: 01-08

The building began life as a gas station before becoming a drive-in cleaners in the 1950s. By the mid-1980s it had taken on the Sun Cleaners name, and the cheerful sunburst became one of the neighborhood's most recognizable roadside landmarks. It's a great example of how even an everyday business could advertise with a little imagination.

The cleaners eventually closed, but the sign continues to brighten the corner. Hopefully it sticks around for years to come.

UPDATE: Sun Cleaners is closed, and the building remains vacant. The vintage sunburst sign still survives. 07-26