New London - Shalett's Cleaners celebrated its 100th anniversary last month, making the downtown dry cleaners perhaps the oldest continuously operating retail business in the city, said co-owner Bill Keeney.

The Keeneys - including Bill's wife Bea and daughter Megan - are the third family to run the dry-cleaning business, having operated Shalett's for 23 years now. They took over from Ron Hamm, who bought the place on Montauk Avenue from the family of the original owner, Harry Shalett.

"It's a very hands-on business," Bill Keeney said in an interview in the upstairs offices at the 10,000-square-foot operation. "If it's dirty, we try to clean it."

Bill, nearing 80, is semi-retired from the business, but Bea at 77 is as gung-ho as ever, arriving every day early in the morning. She has developed a side interest in vintage-clothing restoration. She brings these projects home to what her husband calls her little "laboratory."

"I don't think I'm ever going to retire," said Bea, married to Bill for 57 years. "If you like people, you should like this business."

Hundreds of people come in and out the doors every week at Shalett's main operation in New London - where all the cleaning and pressing occurs - as well as at drop-off locations in Old Lyme, Mystic, Groton and the Coast Guard Academy. Over the years, Shalett's also opened and closed less lucrative operations in Montville, East Lyme and Foxwoods Resort Casino.

"It's been successful," Bill said. "But we have had our ups and downs like any small business."

Business was down during the Great Recession, but one of Shalett's worst periods occurred last winter, the Keeneys said, when the cleaners was closed by snow seven times.

"Once you lose a day, it never comes back," Bill said.

The cleaning business is surprisingly seasonal, said the Keeneys, but after a slow period at the beginning of each year it usually makes a comeback starting in the spring.

"We had a good summer," Bill said. "Fall is always good with the change of seasons."

The Keeneys, who both went to school in New London though they now live in East Lyme, came to the cleaning business late in life, Bea having worked as a secretary and Bill as a salesman for more than three decades. They learned the cleaning business in Atlanta, then heard that Shalett's was up for sale in their native city.

Shalett's got its start in a building on Main Street, now Eugene O'Neill Drive, on a portion of property currently occupied by The Day, another company with 100-plus years under its belt. A 1931 advertisement placed by the Shalett Cleaning and Dyeing Company congratulating The Day on its 50th year in business trumpeted Shalett's prominent place as "an important spoke in this city's wheel of progress."

Back then, said Bill, the cleaning business was much more hands on than it is today, with fewer chemicals and machines employed.

Today, Shalett's uses mechanical processes as much as possible, though hand spot cleaning is still the rule for some tough stains, the Keeneys said. Its mainstay is dry cleaning and pressing garments, but it specializes in such areas as band uniforms, theatrical costumes and church vestments.

The company also employs several tailors who can make alterations - a service hard to find these days.

"Every garment has to be treated differently," said Megan.

The U.S. Submarine Base and the Coast Guard Academy are two of Shalett's biggest customers. Its biggest competitors, the Keeneys said, are Barry's and Grimes cleaners, both based in New London.

The Keeneys, proud of their A-plus rating from the Better Business Bureau, said they try to distinguish themselves through extraordinary service. Shalett's has many regular customers, and employees often identify them by name as soon as they get out of their cars, readying their pickups by the time they reach the store.

"I'm fortunate to have a wonderful counter staff," Bill said. "We have people here who have been with us five, 10, 20 years. I'm pretty proud of that."

One recently retired employee left at age 90 after about half a century with the company. Shalett's employs 33 people, most of them full time, and can handle same-day turnarounds, though it typically requires two days for a thorough cleaning.

The Keeneys said they have learned one thing through the years: Having convenient drop-off spots in wealthier towns is the key to success. Mystic and Old Lyme are their two busiest stores.

"It's just like buying a house," Bea said. "It's location, location, location."

Keeping a business running for 100 years isn't easy, say the Keeneys, especially with all the environmental requirements today, not to mention the cost of electricity, gas and water. Shalett's water bill alone is about $1,000 a month, Bill said.

Yet, because of the slow economy locally over the past several years, the Keeneys are always reluctant to raise prices for their services. They last increased prices three years ago, Megan said, and before that had kept costs constant for about six years.

"It's an honorable business," Bill said. "If you treat your customers right and charge a fair price, they'll always come."

l.howard@theday.com

Twitter: @KingstonLeeHow