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For a long time, Jules Folse of Raceland has had a passion to serve people, whether it was in the U.S. Navy or at his own dry-cleaner in Mathews.
Folse opened Jules Cleaners in 1960 after working for his brother-in-law at Lafourche Cleaners in Raceland for many years. In the early 1940s, Phillip Curry, a Lockport man, nurtured Folse’s passion for dry-cleaning and pressing when he was just a young boy.
“He taught me all that I needed to know about dry-cleaning. He showed how to handle the clothes with care as well as how to press different materials. Old man Curry was my mentor, if I had to say I had one,” the 78-year-old said.
While working at Lafourche Cleaners, Folse meet and married his wife Shirley and together they raised nine children, five girls and four boys in the Raceland and Mathews area. The couple will celebrate 58 years of marriage and 47 years of service to the community this year.
When his brother-in-law retired in the late 1950s, Folse wanted to venture out on his own. When Jules Cleaners opened there were five other dry-cleaners in the Raceland/Lockport area. “I can say that we withstood all the other cleaners because we treat our customers like family,” Folse said.
Jules Cleaners services the area in two ways: One as a dry-cleaner and other as a delivery service dry-cleaner. When Folse was able to travel, he would pick-up and deliver clothes from Lockport to Thibodaux. Now, the business only delivers and pick-ups clothes in the Lockport area because of economic changes.
Back then Folse just wanted to start his own legacy so that he could pass it down to his children and grandchildren.
Unfortunately, eight of the Folse children came through the businesses as part-time helpers, but only one stayed for the long haul.
Folse’s daughter, Madonna Eschette, has been the owner and operator of the business for the past eight years since her father’s retirement. Eschette, her sister-in-law Karen Folse and her niece Elissa Folse run the day-to-day operations of the business the same way Folse did.
Back in 1976 when she was a senior in high school, Eschette walk into her father’s business on a part-time basis. But to her father’s surprise, Eschette showed a genuine interest in her father’s business.
“I came in one day to help my daddy because he was short handed and I never left,” she said with a smile.
Agreeing her father said, “I knew she would be the one to take over the business one day. I could see the way she used to watch me interact with the customers. She was always willing to give a helping hand without being told.”
Eschette has been a key employee for Jules Cleaners for the past 31 years. She has dedicated her life to keeping her father’s dream alive. “We have always had a family and friend type of atmosphere around the business. We pride ourselves in knowing that our customers are not just a number, but a name to us,” the 48-year-old said.
Eschette openly talks about how proud the family is that since her father opened the business, every customer is known by their first name. “I know who people are when they get out of their cars. I know exactly whose clothes I am pressing without even looking at the name on the receipt,” she said.
In fact, Eschette still uses the same equipment her father used back in 1960.
“The original pressing machines are still in place. They have had maintenance work done on them over the years, but just like the business they are still going strong,” Folse said.
“I like the fact that we are still using the old school way because the clothes look better. And with every piece of clothing we can put our own personal touch on it. There is not a machine that does it for us. We are in there doing all the work,” his daughter added.
Although, Eschette doesn’t have any plans to expand the business, she has opted to used advance technology when comes to chemical and cleaning products. When asked about their training, the father-daughter team respond, “What training?”
Just how “old man Curry” taught Folse, he taught his daughter. “We developed our skills naturally,” she said.
Everyday Eschette said she is blessed to be working in a business that her father started from scratch. She said it keeps her grounded. “I enjoy seeing the people come and go. I feel like they are apart of my family and I am a part of theirs. I always want to know what’s going on with my customers whether it’s good or bad because they were there for me when my mother and my father were sick,” Eschette said. “I never knew how much people cared about us until then.”
According to Eschette, Jules Cleaners is one of the most highly recommended cleaners in the Raceland and Lockport area. Folse and his daughter have been embedded in the community for more than 40 years.
“Everywhere I go, the customers always asked about my daddy and they say when people ask us what cleaners to go to we always say, ‘Jules Cleaners in Mathews,’” she said.
The business, she said standing out because customers are treated like family n they are not a number, but a name.
sophia Ruffin can be reached at sophia@tri-parishtimes.com.
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Jules Cleaners
Owner: Madonna Eschette
Address: 5081 Hwy. 1, Raceland
Phone: (985) 532-3513
Staff: 3 employees
Services: Garment press/cleaner’s agent dry-cleaning plant
Business Hours:
Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Staff Photo by SOPHIA RUFFIN • Tri-Parish Times * Madonna Eschette, owner of Jules Cleaners in Raceland, learned the business at her father’s side. Jules Folse learned the old-fashioned way of dry-cleaning at the side of Phillip Curry back in 1940. Many of the tried and tested ways are still in use today, Eschette said.
