Craig Dakauskas, vice president of sales at Commercial Laundry Equipment Co. Inc. (CLEC) is featured as a contributing columnist at American Coin-Op magazine's Web site. His column also is scheduled to appear in the publication's print edition in November.

In his column, "When Competition Comes, Focus on Keeping Core Customers" Dakauskas discusses how owners should react to new competition in their market.

"Veterans of our business know competition means one thing - someone has identified an opportunity," Dakauskas writes.

"That opportunity may be a market that can't be fully served by one store, in which case two stores can coexist and prosper. Or it could be that the market just isn't being adequately served by your store," he added.

Dakauskas is a veteran of the laundry industry and served as Speed Queen national sales manager before joining CLEC, a full service Speed Queen distributor based in Gulf Breeze, Fla.

To read Dakauskas's column, visit americancoinop.com or to learn more about CLEC, visit clecco.com.