Boise veteran Lloyd Braun has always had a keen eye for business, making several real estate purchases and start-up investments during his career, and more recently, joining CNBC's "The Street Report" daily finance show as a guest contributor during the off-season.The 37-year-old All-Star's latest venture was the purchase of the Great Basin Linen Co., a regional linen service covering Nevada, southern Oregon and Idaho and western Colorado. The deal was a reported $25M acquisition.
"My mother and father owned a few dry cleaners in New York when I was growing up," Braun told Global Business Examiner, "so I know a little bit about the business. And as weird as it sounds, I have a passion for clean laundry."
"I'm not surprised," said Gilberto Castaneda, clubhouse manager for the Boise Spuds. "Brauny is the only player who takes his uniform home to wash them and I gotta hand it to him, I've never seen such clean uniforms. We all know how dirty he gets out there too!"
It's true, Braun typically collects a few days of used jersey tops and pants and launders them himself, using what he calls "a secret soap" that his parents concocted during their days servicing their New Yorker customers. "Knowing I can get dirt or any stain out actually helps me out in the field. I'll dive for anything knowing I'll end up looking great the next day," Braun laughed.
Braun disclosed that the company would be changing their name to the Braun Linen Service and will continue to service their current customers, with hopes of expanding to the east coast by 2045.
"My career is coming to close soon and I want to make sure my family is taken care of financially, so this opportunity seemed like a no-brainer. I've always wanted to be a CEO and this will give me something to do after I retire," Braun said with a smile.
