ABSTRACT
Cindy Croatti is the daughter of Aldo Croatti, who founded UniFirst in the 1930s. He effectively created the value proposition that established the industry, that is, an industrial laundry rental service focused on uniforms worn by corporate employees. Aldo had an unwavering focus on the customer and built the organization on highly responsive customer service. Aldo was succeeded by his son who was CEO for 20 years until his untimely death from a heart attack. Over a 20-year span, Cintas, founded around the same time as UniFirst, made two strategic investments: expanding the product line to offer customers “one stop shopping” well beyond uniforms, and acquiring and retaining employees with management leadership skills. The two investments enabled Cintas to become the dominant player. Steve Sintros who was UniFirst CFO became CEO, the first non-family member to lead the business. Steve's mission is to build the management team that will enable UniFirst to compete effectively against a dominant competitor.
