Nation’s oldest Chinese-owned laundry closes: Daughter reflects on Ching Lee Laundry, 140-year-old San Mateo business

Yee, who worked alongside her father Jack for 30 years, said the 87-year-old patriarch’s ailing health and the challenges of running a small business prompted them to close.

But there’s much to be proud of — the business was revived after a devastating fire in 1928, was once the main laundry for the entire Peninsula from Palo Alto to San Francisco, and survived longer than any other similar Chinese-owned laundry, Yee said.

“I’m very proud. Hard work, perseverance and just being part of the community I think allowed us to thrive,” the 53-year-old Yee said while reflecting on her time in San Mateo. “Being a family business, the last 30 years I was just working alongside my father, and I would never trade it for anything else.”

It was her father, who after receiving notice his congestive heart failure had worsened in May, that ultimately suggested the family close the doors to Ching Lee, she said.

“We were spinning the wheels and not going forward. All the circumstances that are squeezing small businesses came to this decision, but it was also that in ailing health, he really requested that it’s time,” Yee said.

With the once-filled racks of clothes from clients-turned friends now standing nearly empty, Yee’s composure faltered a bit while discussing her uncertain future.

“We were actually one of the last existing Chinese businesses that existed at the start of San Mateo,” Yee said.

The story behind the Yee’s family legacy dates back to a time when the lure of striking gold in California attracted the ambitious. It also prompted the Yee family to immigrate to the United States from China. They settled on opening a business in San Mateo without any experience as launders, Yee said. Her grandfather’s uncle was one of a handful who first established the family shop originally titled San Mateo Laundry, a spot that’s today filled by a fast-food restaurant on Third Avenue near downtown.

In the 1920s, the family made deliveries via a horse and buggy and kept a small barn next door. But one day, a kerosene lamp was knocked over and the business went up in flames. At the time, her grandfather was well connected with the local Baptist church and proceeds raised by the congregation allowed them to rebuild, Yee said.

From that point on they became known as Ching Lee — meaning “victory” in Chinese, she said. They also decided to relocate to their current spot at 420 First Ave. where at the time it sat in the heart of San Mateo’s “Chinatown,” Yee said.

The family fine-tuned their profession and were some of the last in the area to have experience laundering unique items such as detachable tuxedo collars. But with rising insurance costs, restrictions on water use paired with expanding housing developments, and being at the mercy of the market for supplies such as cornstarch; the cost of doing business was challenging, she said.

“Working 70 hours a week, [Dad] thinks it will just get harder or you won’t be able to pay the bills in the future. So it was to shut it down on a high note, so that everyone remembers the quality, the camaraderie, everything,” Yee said.

While she finds comfort in the long-standing roots her family set in San Mateo, she noted she’s not sure what the future holds. Some wish to sell their family-owned building, although she’d prefer otherwise. At the moment, her father remains in hospice and grief appears to be on the horizon.

At one point, she considered going to dental school after graduating from college, but recalled committing to work with her father. Her two brothers also worked at the laundry growing up before taking on other professions. Yee said she’s even thought about penning a novel, from which she’d donate proceeds toward the San Mateo County Historical Society.

She met author John Jung, who wrote the book “Chinese Laundries,” and taught her about the history behind Chinese-owned laundries. Now, Yee hopes to maintain some type of presence in the community.

“I’ve been tied up so much with the business I haven’t done enough community service. And [a book] would be my gift to the community, and to keep history going,” Yee said, before commenting on her 30-year career. “The customers that came in and out of the laundry, they aren’t just customers. They’re friends and family. And it’s always been a blessing.”

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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