It was love at first sight for patriarch Chris Platis who came to Canada in 1958 from his native Greece all but with a photo of Carol Borovilos, his soon to be bride. The couple worked together in a drycleaner’s until 1961, when they bought Sparkle Cleaners at Bathurst Street and Wilson Avenue. Their success with Sparkle allowed them to acquire another drycleaner, buy a house, start a family and open Platis & Sons 1 Hour Cleaners, a sizable dry cleaning plant and retail outlet at 1 Bedford Road in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood in 1967.
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In the late 1960’s, the Platis’s began building and selling self-contained dry cleaning mini-plants across the city – totalling over 100 locations – as investors would seek them out through word of mouth in purchasing a newly built store in a prime location. The new shop owners would train at the Bedford Road plant learning the intricacies of cleaning and pressing clothes, marketing, salesmanship and other essentials of the trade.
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Always at the forefront, the Platis’s stopped building mini plants and instead began building and selling depots where customers drop off their garments and are then sent out be cleaned and finished at a central larger facility.

1982 – First Canadian garment care business to a adopt a cleaning system that had no direct handling of perc (perchloroethylene), the most commonly used toxic dry cleaning solvent.
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1985 – Added a Restoration service restoring garments damaged by smoke, water or mould.
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2001 – Acquired first hotel client The King Edward.
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2007 – Consolidated all plant operations to one central State of the Art Facility.

Gus Platis, current President and CEO, continues to maintain a high level of quality and service while growing the brand and staying on top of all current industry trends. As the demand for convenience continues to increase, Mr. Platis likewise continues to cater to ever growing time starved individuals by meeting their needs.