Mt. Kisco Company Continues to Clean Up After 70 Years
The creation of one of Mount Kisco’s longest family-owned businesses can at least partially be attributed to bowling.
George Arco started Arco Cleaning in 1946 as a part-time venture with his wife, Jean, shortly after finishing his service in the U.S. Army. Arco hoped to make some extra money on the side while working full-time at General Motors in Tarrytown.
One of his brothers had been waxing floors, and since cleaning commercial office space was done mostly in the evening, Arco was able to continue his day job and supplement his income at night.
“The story that my mother always told me was my father enjoyed bowling and wanted to bowl at night. He said if I continue doing this part-time floor waxing I can go bowling,” said their son George, the company’s current president. “He waxed floors to have a little bit extra spending money for his sport or hobby and that’s how he got started.”
Within a decade, Arco Cleaning became much more than a source of bowling money. The business became busy enough for his father that he quit his job at GM and Arco Cleaning become the couple’s full-time endeavor – and a fixture in the village. This year it celebrated its 70th anniversary in business, all of that time based in Mount Kisco.
Their son took over the operation in the early to mid-1980s, expanding Arco Cleaning’s client base to about 1,000 commercial and residential locations throughout Westchester and Putnam counties.
George Arco, 64, recalled going to work with his father as a child, starting at about 10 or 12 years old, and working during summers. He earned a business degree at Pace University, but he pretty much knew what he wanted to do.
“I definitely enjoyed working with my father,” said Arco, who lives in Mount Kisco with his wife. “When you earn the respect of your father or the admiration of your father, it’s worth more than its weight in gold, so working side by side with my father for many years was very rewarding.”
Today, Arco employs about 125 people, nearly 100 more than when his dad retired. During the past 30-plus years, he’s expanded the business from floor waxing, carpet cleaning and residential accounts. Arco recognized that commercial office cleaning was the company’s future and he made a big push for those clients.
Now about 85 percent of Arco’s work is commercial, although the company still maintains a certain number of residential customers. It is also capable of restoring properties damaged by fire, smoke or water.
“A lobby tells a lot about a building,” Arco said, “so if you’re walking into a very clean, polished lobby, and a prospective tenant or a perspective client of someone walks in the building, it’ll be a good impression on that landlord or business owner.”
Arco said many of his customers are second- or third-generation clients. He credits several business and property owners with giving his father a chance to succeed, particularly Larry Abel, owner of the old Abel Department Store, and Dan Ford. The elder Arco passed away about 20 years ago.
Arco still has Joe Amodio working for him, 62 years after his father hired him as his first employee.
“He’s a very loyal and dependable employee,” Arco said. “He was my father’s right hand man for many years.”
Arco said he hopes to make the company’s 80th anniversary, but without children there won’t be a third generation.
“I hope to keep going for another 10 years,” he said. “I’d like to be able to take some more time, and I’m working with my staff to allow me to take time away from the business. That’s been working out well. I’m a worker, just like my dad, just like Joe, so, I have no intention of retiring.”
Arco Cleaning is located at 2 Cottage Place. It is open Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call 914-666-7229 or visit www.arcocleaning.com.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/