At 40, Johnson turns his life around again
By Ben Rubendall
The Register Star


Two months ago Don Johnson, 40 made a midlife career change, giving up a promising career selling food wholesale to restaurants to take over Fitz Cleaners, 410 Mulberry St.

Since then he has purchased a second business, the Roscoe Cleaners and Laundry, 5757 Elevator Road, and established pickup and delivery service with two coin-operated laundries in Rockford.

"I was looking back and realized that at age 40, all I had been doing was building up for some other company. All I've earned is a weekly paycheck while I built someone else's business," Johnson said.

"I plan on being the best dry cleaners with quality tacked on to it - I have increased business 46 percent since March and with two new (pickup) locations that should be 100 percent," he said.

At least for now, Johnson has some help from his wife, Judy, who is also a fifth-grade teacher at Ralston School. While Judy minds the store at times he tours neighborhoods offering pickup and delivery cleaning service to residents.

Johnson said he made the transition from food to clothing by keeping his management principles: Both sales and laundry work are service-oriented occupations with a premium on integrity. The second move was to make sure he had good employees who understand the work and then keep them happy.

"The key factor is to have the right people on the inside with the right attitude. If you treat them right then they follow through," he said.

There is some overlap between Johnson's two careers. Some of his old restaurant clients are now bringing their clothes in.

Like food service, the cleaning business is practically recession proof. Come what may, people must eat and get their clothes cleaned, he said.

If there is a demon driving Johnson to excel it is probably the ghost of his childhood. He grew up in an apartment over a tavern just two blocks away from his Rockford location.

The child of two alcoholic parents, Johnson said he was often driven to steal food and clothes when he was a child.

By the time he was 15, he said, he ceased to care if he got caught or not - jail would be better than homelife.

He ended up at the Durand Farm School where his life turned around as the staff instilled two traits into him: leadership and pride.

Since that time, Johnson said, he has been driven by the desire to excel in whatever job he had - ranging from wrapping paper at the age of 16 to peddling soda pop and then wholesale food.

There is one other mark of his childhood - to this day he doesn't smoke or drink.