Cleaner than Clean

Cleaner Than Clean

The Maids Home Services of Goleta, owned by James and Vickie Moser, was recently honored at the international housecleaning chain’s US convention as the fastest-growing franchise in the company’s history–earning the distinction in a field of 160 in the US and Canada. Owned by James and Vickie Moser, the Goleta franchise was raking in $75,000 in annual revenue within two years of their April 2005 opening. The Maids bills itself as the only residential cleaning company to specialize in environmentally and health-conscious equipment and supplies; Vickie Moser attributed her success in part to the fact that it’s just a good fit with the area’s culture. She talks it up, too. One of the things she likes best about the enterprise is that it protects the health of her employees, who will not develop lung problems from breathing ammonia fumes all day, nor from inhaling vacuum cleaner blowback, because the company uses state-of-the-art HEPA filtration systems to capture even the tiniest dust particles. The award was given to the entire Goleta group, not just the owners. “The professionally trained four-member teams arrive at each home,” reads the press release announcing the Goleta group’s President’s Club Award, “in the company’s signature yellow cars,” uniformed and supervised by a team leader who makes sure that the person specializing in kitchens does not also clean the bathroom, for instance, so that there is no risk of rag mix-up. Besides their Goleta franchise the Mosers have two other stores, a total of 36 employees, and 330 regular clients in Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, and the South County. They are preparing to add another four-person team to expand their service into Buellton, and someday, Ventura.