LITTLE SILVER - Elite Cleaners and Tailors had established itself as a staple of the local community since 2018, but owner Jason Markowitz was recently put to the test, when there was a small electrical fire in the store last summer.

“We were worried at first because we wanted to make sure that the damage was minimal and it was,” Markowitz said. “We were able to quickly rebuild the section of the store that was damaged, and after a short while, we were up and running at full speed. We really owe it to our customers for their patience and understanding. It was a great help with the process as whole.”

Markowitz is a fourth-generation dry-cleaning business owner and is very proud of his family history.

“My great-grandfather started out in Brooklyn,” Markowitz said. “Both my grandfather and father are also in the business. Even though my grandfather is not alive anymore, my father still operates his business in Long Island currently and has been in business for 50 years.”

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As Markowitz grew up around the family business, he helped customers, learning how to run the entire operation through and through.

“I really enjoyed it,” Markowitz said. “I always had a dream that the business would be mine someday or that I would start my own dry-cleaning business somewhere down the line. I enjoyed meeting a lot of people with our customer base and I took it upon myself to take care of their needs. It was important to rise to the occasion when it came to making sure my customers were happy with our service. I always tried to be on point.”

'See if I could do my own thing'

Markowitz helped run the family business all the way through high school, but went to college looking for something different.

“Although I loved the idea of being an entrepreneur and having my own business someday, I also wanted to try my hand at school and see if I could do my own thing,” Markowitz said. “I went to the University of Pittsburgh as an undergrad and (New York University) for graduate school. I majored in finance and marketing at the University of Pittsburgh and economics at NYU.

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"It was a learning experience going to school and it was nice to do something different than what I grew up doing, as far as the family business," Markowitz said. "I wanted to give myself options with my future and I felt like I accomplished that goal.”

Markowitz then worked for four years at a trading desk and for a private bank in New York City.

“I handled the bank’s finances and did that for a little while,” Markowitz said. “I liked the relationships I formed and the people I worked with because it was something I excelled at that was all my own. It was all about giving something else a shot for a couple of years and seeing what I enjoyed more. I always had it in the back of my mind to do something for myself that was unrelated to what I grew up doing.”

Although Markowitz had a great time putting his college degree to good use, he ultimately decided to go back into the cleaning business in 2004, finding a spot he liked in Mercer County.

“I opened my own cleaners in Lawrenceville, New Jersey,” Markowitz said. “It was interesting because I built the store from scratch and there were no other cleaning businesses in the shopping center where we opened up. That inspired confidence in me and I grew the business from there. I ran that business until 2017, where I would sell that business and then find a new spot in Little Silver where we are now in 2018.

"Although I enjoyed building that first store from scratch and running it with success, I felt that Little Silver was a better fit for me in the long run," Markowitz said. "I wanted to be closer to the Shore towns and my own home in Marlboro.”

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'We get better every year'

Markowitz took over the Little Silver location from an existing cleaner, and he was glad to have taken over the customer base when he opened it under the new name of Elite Cleaners and Tailors.

“There was already some clientele here,” Markowitz said. “We pride ourselves on great customer service and we get better every year. We try to do whatever we can to give back to the community as well, in addition to running an honest business. It feels like home.”

Markowitz and his business were particularly affected by COVID-19. When people were not going into the office for a long time, he had very little dress clothing to dry clean.

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“The whole working-from-home thing definitely changed our business,” Markowitz said. “We were always open, but we did not have a lot of business due to people not needing to wear suits and ties and work clothing because they were not going into the office. Even though it was a setback, we slowly began to build back up with our clientele and got back to normalcy eventually. There were a couple of ups and downs, but we made it through on the other side with everything intact.”

Elite Cleaners and Tailors provides many different types of cleaning services, such as same-day services, expert alterations, cleaning for comforters, tablecloths, linens, draperies and couch covers, wedding gown preservation, winter and summer storage, and suede and leather and organic dry cleaning.

“One thing that we pride ourselves on is pickup and delivery, which we do a lot of at this store,” Markowitz said. “We started doing it in 2019 and it is a large part of our business. Not all stores do it, but we are committed to it because it’s easier for the customer and it comes in handy that they don’t have to make a trip out to the store just to get something cleaned.”

Markowitz has taken over Sea Breeze Cleaners in Rumson already and made it his second location. A partner operates shops under the Elite Cleaners name in Langhorne and Yardley, Pennsylvania.

“After taking over the business, we kept their original staff,” Markowitz said. “It has been a smooth transition thus far and we are already off and running with this location. We will run this location just like our Little Silver store and we look forward to reaching our goals and pleasing the customer. We are very committed to excellent service.”

Elite Cleaners and Tailors

Owner: Jason Markowitz

Locations: 601 Branch Avenue, Little Silver and 91 E. River Road, Rumson

Phone: 732-933-4031 (Little Silver) and 732-758-8408 (Rumson)

Website: www.elitecleanerstailors.com

Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Elite Cleaners in Little Silver NJ has four generations of experience