Jonathan Canites sounded distracted when I called at our previously arranged time on an unseasonably hot March afternoon. After a minute of exchanging niceties, I sensed something was off and asked if we should connect at a later time. Canites jumped at the idea – he was in the middle of fixing a washing machine, he said. He’d call me back soon.
Less than two years ago, Canites and his business partner Brian Lagman got in on a viral passive income trend, and purchased a laundromat at the edge of San Francisco’s Outer Mission.
For the uninitiated, the internet is swimming in videos showing the life-changing effects of laundromat ownership. On TikTok, these montages are usually set to peppy songs and reveal the glory in a series of neatly edited clips that usually go something like this: Someone is pushing a laundry cart, they’re unlocking metal cases, they’re dumping out hundreds upon hundreds of quarters into buckets like they just hit the mega jackpot at Dave & Buster’s…