Second Generation Dry Cleaners

The Kim Family are a Korean American family living in the greater Philadelphia region. The father, Dongwon Kim, first came to New York in 1988. Kim went back to South Korea to marry Jae Kyoung Kim in March 1989 and came back to the US to prepare to bring his family over. Grace, the oldest daughter, was born in Seoul, South Korea at the end of 1989. In 1991, Jae Kyoung and Grace immigrated to the US to join their father, who later relocated to Philadelphia. The Kim’s had two more children, David and Joseph, who were born in Philadelphia. The parents did not expect their children to be part of the business, and in fact, they wanted their children to go to college to pursue other career options.

But when the pandemic hit in 2020, all three children stepped in to help keep the business afloat. Even though they had to let their employees go, the family worked together to keep their dry cleaners going. They were able to purchase another dry cleaner during the pandemic because they had the funds and manpower to work.

As of 2025, all three children have officially taken over as the business owners of three dry cleaners. Though dry cleaning businesses are in decline, this one family has found a way to make it work.

This is a look into how a family came together to save their family business during a pandemic, and how five years later, they are doing better than before.

"We scaled our business and everything halted when pandemic hit and for about 4/5 months we had to do all the work like we did in the beginning of opening our stores. But when the ‘pandemic ended’ it got busier because all of the other businesses shut down for good and since we still floated, we reaped the benefits of taking all the stores shutting down so it was a blessing in disguise. We also didn't have the pressure of paying ourselves when it was slow."  - Grace, the oldest daughter.