Laundromat in Albion has new owner after 52 years with Scibetta family

Photo by Tom Rivers: Miguel and Adryan (Cheeseboro) Ruiz are shown at the Helpee Selfee Laundromat in Albion on Sunday afternoon. They are the new owners of the business after Jim Scibetta and his late father Harry ran it for 52 years.

ALBION – There are new owners of a longtime Albion business at 131 South Main St.

For 52 years the Scibetta family owned and operated the Helpee Selfee Laundromat. Adryan (Cheeseboro) Ruiz, a 29-year-old Albion native, and her husband Miguel have purchased the laundromat.

Sunday was their first day in business after closing the site for a few days for cleaning and some repainting. They also put new seals on the drying machines to make the clothes dry faster.

Mr. and Mrs. Ruiz commended Jim Scibetta and his late father Harry for their more than half century of service to the Albion community.

“It’s been an honor working with Jim and his family,” Mrs. Ruiz said on Sunday at the laundromat. “I grew up right here in Albion, and being able to come back and invest in this community means the world to me. This is more than just a business purchase for us — it is a chance to give back to the place that shaped who I am, and to keep an important neighborhood staple alive and thriving for the next generation.”

The new owners live in Miami, Fla., but they visit Albion often and Mrs. Ruiz has family in town to help run the operation.

Mrs. Ruiz graduated from Albion in 2015. The then Adryan Cheeseboro was an honors student at Albion who was a cheerleader and track athlete. She also sang in the school chorus and select choir. She worked at Crosby’s in Albion for her first job while in high school.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental policy and law from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. She was working in Miami when she met her husband, who works in quality insurance management and as a mechanic.

Mr. Ruiz also is an entrepreneur who owned a car wash and has long had a dream of owning a coin-operated laundromat.

He often checks out the laundromats when he travels. While visiting his wife’s hometown he was impressed by the laundromat.

However, it wasn’t for sale. For three years they kept in touch with Jim Scibetta, the owner, letting him know they were interested if he ever wanted to sell.

Scibetta recently let them know he was ready and reached a deal with Mr. and Mrs. Ruiz.

“This is a true legacy business — one that so many families in Orleans County have relied on for decades — and we are honored to carry that tradition forward,” Mrs. Ruiz said.

The laundromat opens daily at 5 a.m. and closes at midnight. There were people waiting outside when it opened on Sunday at 5 a.m. after closing for the cleaning, painting and some work on the machines.

Provided photo: Miguel Ruiz, front  left, shakes hands with Jim Babcock. In back from left are Steve Babcock, Adryan Ruiz, Patricia Scibetta and Jim Scibetta. Steve and Jim are Patricia’s sons. They celebrated the change in ownership with this photo taken at Hoag Library.