About Us
Who we are.
Since 1953
The Couture Cleaner
Artisans in the care of all thing’s couture.
Discover Margaret's
Margaret's is a family-run company spanning six decades, with the Horst family having owned and operated dry cleaning establishments for four generations. Since it is privately- owned and financially independent, the company takes a long-term vision and strategy to its brands, with an ethos of attention to detail in all aspects of its business.
As the nation's first Five Star Certified Cleaner, our guiding principle is to provide unparalleled quality dry cleaning with an uncompromising commitment to offering the highest standards of outstanding service, experience, and value to every customer.
The Story of Margaret's
Margaret Clutter founded Margaret's Knit Blocking in 1953 with just a pair of pants and a sweater. It was three years after the passing of her husband, and her son's plane having been shot down in the Korean war. Not knowing his condition, she wanted to be financially able to take care of him when he returned. "Margaret's" quickly became known for delicate pressing and knit blocking and was filled with some of the finest clothing in the city.
For the next 34 years, with her extensive skill at hand washing, stain removal, alterations, pressing, knit blocking, and knit repair, her business earned the reputation for being the best in the prestigious La Jolla community.
The Horst Family
Margaret's is a family-run company spanning six decades, with the Horst family having owned and operated dry cleaning establishments for four generations. Since it is privately- owned and financially independent, the company takes a long-term vision and strategy to its brands, with an ethos of attention to detail in all aspects of its business.
As the nation's first Five Star Certified Cleaner, our guiding principle is to provide unparalleled quality dry cleaning with an uncompromising commitment to offering the highest standards of outstanding service, experience, and value to every customer.
Our Values
Our core values reflect what matters to us, both as a company and as the group of individuals who make up Margaret's family. Our values are the solid foundation and guiding principles of our company culture.
By consistently working hard to maintain our values, we endeavor to preserve what makes Margaret's so special: a commitment to each other, the customers we serve, and the communities in which we work and live.
Our Goals
- EXCELLENCE through CRAFTSMANSHIP
- Continual DEVELOPMENT setting the state-of-the-art standard
- Consistently deliver the BEST WORKMANSHIP possible
- ENHANCE our customer's experience with their wardrobe investment
- HONOR our employees who deliver their BEST
- Provide a UNIQUE and UNMATCHED cleaning service
- Frequent donations to CHARITABLE organizations
The Margaret's Difference
Margaret's Cleaners is family-owned and operated. Our family of eight participates in every aspect of daily operations, from cleaning through inspection. Because we specialize in delicate garments and discerning consumers, Margaret's has continued pursuit of excellence for 64 years. We have achieved that excellence through old-time craftsmanship.
- Our cleaning solutions are kept pure through continuous distillation and constant monitoring.
- All garment finishing is accomplished with hand pressing by skilled craftsmen for every garmen
- Our inspectors ensure that every detail is attended to.
Our innovative use of technology has created a cutting-edge, proprietary system that continually sets the state-of-the-art standard for the industry.
We have relied upon our quality of work, promoting itself to maintain a steady business growth even through past recessions, and, unlike other dry cleaners, we do almost no advertising. Likewise, we do not rely on discounting and coupons to get new customers in the door. Instead, we've spent 25 years training artisans and developing the techniques and tooling to enable us to be a single, one-stop service provider for every type of garment and service need.
We were the first in the nation to provide complete service cleaning and repair of handbags and to offer the specialty packaging we developed for multiple types of garments. Our breathable sweater bags and custom-made elongated tie boxes with clear lids are now widely used throughout the couture dry cleaning industry. We receive CleanByMail® packages daily from across the nation. Many other dry cleaners have come to rely on Margaret's for their most demanding cleaning challenges. We are also the preferred service provider for over 300 designer boutiques and fine department stores.
Our patent-pending software, self-designed award-winning plant, and the development of our proprietary processes have come to make Margaret's the nation's largest couture cleaner. Our proprietary techniques are used regularly for gown inspection, garment drying, and leather and handbag refinishing, to name just a few. As a result, we have the widest disbursement of locations and services in much of Southern California. In addition, we offer a more comprehensive variety of services than any other dry cleaner in North America.