French Cleaners

French Cleaners Inc., originally French Dye Works, was founded in 1911 by Morris Gassner. In 1925 Gassner joined with Benjamin Mellman and a third friend, Jacob Ritvoe, to incorporate French Dye Works at the location it currently sits today, 935 Farmington Ave. Both Morris Gassner's son, Harry, and Jacob Mellman's son, Sidney, joined the business in the 1940s. The Gassner and Mellman families toiled long hours to transform the business into a retail dry cleaning shop. Fast forward to 1987 when Sidney Mellman offered to sell the business to Harry's son, Michael, who had two established electrical businesses at the time. Michael "Mickey" Gassner approached his son-in-law, Phil Cote, to ask if he would like to partner with him. Phil said yes and the two quickly began modernizing the facility by installing new equipment and retrofitting the existing building. Continuing the tradition of quality and customer service excellence, French Cleaners quickly gained a national reputation as a drycleaning showcase.