Proctor & Gamble service-ready

Proctor & Gamble has announced that it's expanding its presence the services sector with a chain Mr. Clean car washes. It's already dabbled in the dry cleaning business with three Tide shops in Kansas City. As these contributors to the Harvard Business Review point out it's a lot harder to ensure consistency and quality in a service-based business than on a highly mechanized, monitored production line; and nonessential services like car washes and dry cleaning may take a hit as people cut their household budgets. But Mr. Clean and Tide's economies of scale and name recognition could make them powerful contenders and there's plenty of room for other product-retail linkages:

So, what's next? Olay Spas? Gillette Barbershops? And what about the competition? Sunsilk Hair Care Salons, or Slim-Fast Diet Centers? What about Huggies Day Care Centers from Kimberly-Clark?

I'd be sad to see my neighborhood dry cleaners go, but then again of the three dry cleaners within a 10 block radius of my apartment not one is open on Sunday. If the possibility of getting edged out by Tide is enough to get one of them to operate seven days a week, I'll send P&G a thank-you note.