Sudzee Dudz closes

 Owner Sharon Johnston and a handful of volunteers cut down the Sudzee Dudz sign Wednesday afternoon, ceremoniously laying the business to rest.

“Sudzee Dudz is going to the big dry cleaners in the sky,” Johnston said.

Johnston, 64, said she sold the business to two men, who plan to move it to a newer, bigger building in High Springs. Johnston said she’s had problems with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) over the old property since 2008.

“They are trying to accuse me of doing something that I didn’t do,” Johnston said.

She said she’d rather not say more about the issue because it’s still up in the air.

The property, at 14988 N.W. U.S. Highway 441, is owned by John Cloyd. Johnston said she doesn’t know what will happen to the property but thinks the building should be condemned because it’s falling apart.

Johnston said selling the business will allow her to retire, something for which she has long been planning. She’s worked in dry cleaning for 47 years, the last 14 as the owner of Sudzee Dudz in Alachua.

Johnston said closing Sudzee Dudz was a happy day because the business will still live on, just at a new location and under new ownership.

She said the business will also have a new name because Sudzee Dudz has personal meaning to her.

Johnston came up with the name when she was giving her three-year-old granddaughter a bubble bath. When Johnston’s granddaughter jumped into the tub, Johnston said, “Look at you, Sudzee Dudz.”

“I said, ‘when I get a business, I’m going to call it that,” Johnston said.

She said she will not have a financial interest in the business but will help the owners get the business going.

“I have 47 years experience to dump in their lap, and they’re going to be successful,” Johnston said.

She said the key to her success was to make the business personable to the people in the community.

“This is my family here in Alachua,” Johnston said. “Every customer that came to my business was part of my family. I knew their kids. I knew their husbands, their wives, what they did, what they wore”

She said her business was not just a cleaners, but a hangout, a haven, a sanctuary.

She said she’d often tell people, “You don’t have to bring clothes in here, just come and visit me.”

Johnston rarely had employees, but oftentimes had people helping out, many of whom were there helping out one last time, including Annie Bell Black, Tony Mantlo, Bruce Garrison, Timmy Mathis and Randy Durden.

She hopes the customers will come and see her at the High Springs location at 210 N.W. Santa Fe Boulevard.  Johnston said the new business will retain the personable feel of the old business but will also have plenty of new services and features.