World’s Largest Laundromat runs on solar power

BERWYN, United States (AFP) – The most popular feature of the self-proclaimed World’s Largest Laundromat is not the massive machines that wash eight loads at a time. It is the aviary.

The 12 finches, two miniature doves and a yellow canary flirt and flitter in a cheerful glass-encased pen next to the coin machines.

Some of the older women in this suburb of Chicago will stop by to watch them even when they have no laundry to do.

“There’s babies being born in there all the time,” said owner Tom Benson, 61, who bought the laundromat in 1999. “Customers just beg me for a chick.”

But while the aviary and perks like free coffee and donuts may be the secret to the laundromat’s popularity, the secret to its financial success is the banks of solar panels on the roof.

AFP