Bellevue Cleaners (Gone)
Oakland, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

The old sign for Bellevue Cleaners promised “1-Day Service” to everyone passing along Piedmont Avenue. With its bold lettering and neon, it made a trip to the cleaners look a little more exciting than the laundry pile waiting at home.

Around 2005, the marquee was reworked to read French Cleaners. The original frame still stands, though its neon no longer lights up.

UPDATE: The cleaners is gone. 09-26

Georges Cleaners (Gone)
Oakland, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

On Oakland’s Lakeshore Avenue, George’s Cleaners had a marquee fit for royalty. A crown topped the sign, and its promise of shirts made the whole thing feel like a proclamation from the laundry kingdom. It’s a lot of ceremony for a freshly pressed shirt, which is exactly why the sign was so much fun to spot.

The cleaner opened in 1956 under George Cawog, known around town as the “Shirt King of Oakland” and the “Sultan of Starch.” With nicknames like those, the crown starts to make perfect sense. George ran the shop until 1992, when Liza Flores took over.

For decades, customers came and went beneath that sign with their laundry. Even if there were no shirts to drop off, the character and lettering above the storefront could make a walk along Lakeshore a little more interesting.

UPDATE: George’s Cleaners closed in early 2020. The sign remained for a time, but it was removed while work was underway at the building in 2025. The old crown no longer presides over Lakeshore Avenue. 09-26

Broadway Cleaners
Redwood City, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

Look above the storefront in Redwood City for the old Broadway Cleaners sign. Its rooftop frame has that busy, open-air look of signs built to be seen from the road. The little neon arrows light in sequence, pointing customers toward the shop below. No chance of forgetting where to take the laundry.

Broadway Cleaners began in 1938 and moved to this Main Street location later on. The sign dates from the late 1950s, with a glowing message about looking well cleaned, well pressed, and well dressed. It’s a cheerful amount of effort to put into advertising freshly cleaned clothes.

UPDATE: Broadway Cleaners is still in business on Main Street. The shop now offers more than garment cleaning, while its old rooftop sign remains the detail to watch for when passing by. 09-26

Orland Cleaners
Orland, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Along 5th Street, the old Orland Cleaners sign has a way of catching the eye. The name runs down a tall blade above the storefront, with an arrow at the bottom to make sure nobody misses the turn. A little more flair than you might expect from a trip to drop off the laundry.

The sign gives this Orland shop an old-fashioned look, though its exact age is a mystery. It’s the kind of everyday roadside detail that can make a walk through town worth slowing down for. Clean clothes are useful, but a sign like this gives you something to remember on the way home.

UPDATE: Orland Cleaners remains in business on 5th Street. The vintage sign is documented in the earlier photo, though its present condition has not been independently confirmed. 09-26

Cleaners
San Francisco, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

There’s no shop name to go by here, just a big yellow Cleaners sign hanging over a San Francisco sidewalk. The color does plenty of work on its own. Even among the city’s storefronts and street signs, this one seems determined to be noticed. 03-05

It may have pointed customers toward a neighborhood dry cleaner for years, but the photo leaves a few mysteries. Which shop did it belong to, and where in the city was it? For now, the bright yellow sign is the part of the story that sticks. Check out the different fonts on this sign.

UPDATE: The sign’s location and whether it still hangs there remain unknown. 09-26

Mercury Cleaners
Sacramento, CA
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

On 16th Street in Sacramento, Mercury Cleaners had an entrance that looked like it belonged to an old five-and-dime. The glass storefront drew you in, while the big neon sign above made sure you could find the place from down the street. Its bright arrow was especially hard to miss.

Mercury opened in the 1940s, and its sign became a familiar Midtown sight. When the original building came down, it looked as though the old arrow might disappear with it. Instead, the sign was saved and restored. Mercury moved across 16th Street, and the neon went along for the trip.

UPDATE: The restored sign was relit at its new location in June 2015, bringing a bit of the old storefront to the other side of the road. The original entrance is gone, but that glowing arrow got another chance to point the way. 09-26

Hi Hat Cleaners
Oakland, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

At MacArthur Boulevard and Maple Avenue, the tall rooftop sign made Hi Hat Cleaners hard to miss. Its arrow pointed down to the shop, while the lettering rose above the corner like a reminder from an earlier Oakland. You could spot the place well before you had any clothes to drop off.

The building had a few lives before Hi Hat came along. It was a Hagstrom’s Food Store in the 1940s and early 1950s, then housed an upholstery shop and another cleaners. By the 1990s, Hi Hat had taken over the corner, and its sign became a familiar sight above MacArthur Boulevard.

The old sign changed while the cleaners was still there. Sometime after 2011, its neon tubes were removed and the sign was repainted. It lost its glow, but the tall frame and arrow kept their place above the street.

UPDATE: Hi Hat Cleaners closed during the pandemic. A new business moved into the corner space in 2026, with the large sign structure still above it. The name on the storefront has changed, but that rooftop shape is hard to mistake. 09-26

Key Route Laundry (Demolished)
Emeryville, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

Hidden among the trees along San Pablo Avenue was the old Key Route Laundry marquee. You could drive right past without noticing it, but once you spotted the sign peeking through the branches, it was hard to forget.

The laundry stood at 5633 San Pablo Avenue, in a part of Emeryville once filled with rail lines and industrial businesses. Its name recalls the Key Route trains and streetcars that used to run through the East Bay. By the time this photo was taken, the sign was a quiet reminder of that older Emeryville.

UPDATE: The laundry building has since been demolished, and the marquee is gone too. There’s no longer a sign hiding in the trees along this stretch of San Pablo Avenue. 09-26