Our Story
How Alex's Began
Alex's Dry Cleaning Valet started the way the best family businesses do — with a problem worth solving, and a willingness to go door to door to solve it.
While earning his master's in business at the University of San Francisco, Alex Najafi launched the business alongside his mother and father. It was a true family endeavor from the very first garment — and it remains one to this day.
The turning point came from a classmate. When she learned Alex's family ran a cleaning business, she mentioned how she wished there were a truly good cleaning service in the city. Alex offered to take her clothes back to the family facility and deliver them — cleaned and pressed — right back to her in San Francisco.
In the 1980s, this was unheard of. There was no pickup-and-delivery service for dry cleaning, let alone one that came to your home on a regular schedule. So Alex began going door to door across the city, offering something no one else did: couture-level garment care, collected from your home and returned to your door.
Word traveled the way it does among people who value quality. One client became a building. One neighborhood became a region. Today, Alex's serves the entire Bay Area — from the Peninsula to Wine Country — with the same promise the business was founded on: unparalleled care for clients who prioritize quality above all else.
The business Alex built is now a two-generation family endeavor. His son, Mark, is the company's operations manager — bringing a background in digital media and data engineering, after moving back from New York City, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Columbia University, to help carry the family business forward.
More than forty years later, Alex's remains family-run and personally overseen. Every garment is still treated as if it were our own — because the relationships behind them are personal, and always have been.
We built this business one doorstep at a time, on a simple promise: to treat every client as if they were our only one — and every garment as if it were our own.— The Najafi family,
Alex's Dry Cleaning Valet
From One Doorstep to the Whole Bay Area
Four Decades of Door-to-Door Care
A family business that grew the only way that lasts — one trusted relationship at a time.
While completing his MBA at the University of San Francisco, Alex Najafi founds Alex's Dry Cleaning Valet with his mother and father — a family business from day one.
A USF classmate wishes for a better cleaning service in the city. Alex collects her garments, cleans them at the family facility, and delivers them back to her door in San Francisco.
With no pickup-and-delivery dry cleaning to be found in 1980s San Francisco, Alex takes the service directly to the city's doorsteps — one home, one client at a time.
Demand grows by word of mouth among households that value quality. Alex's expands from San Francisco to the Peninsula, Marin, the East Bay, the South Bay, and Wine Country.
Alex's son, Mark, returns from New York City — and a bachelor's degree in economics from Columbia University — to work alongside his father as the family business's operations manager, bringing a background in digital media and data engineering as it moves into its next chapter.
Over 40 years on, Alex's remains family-run — now a two-generation family business caring for couture wardrobes and estate households across the Bay Area with the same white-glove standard it started with.
What Has Never Changed
The Standard Behind Every Garment
The business has grown from one doorstep to the entire Bay Area, but the promise that started it is exactly the same.
Family-Run, Personally Overseen
Founded by Alex Najafi with his parents in 1984 and still family-run today — now alongside his son Mark, who returned from Columbia University in New York to join the business. The people who care about your garments are the same ones who built it.
Quality Above All
Alex's exists for clients who prioritize quality and service — couture, cashmere, silk, and designer pieces handled with fabric-specific, hand-finished care, never a one-size process.
The Service That Started It All
Door-to-door pickup and delivery wasn't an add-on for Alex's — it's how the business began. White-glove valet service has been in our DNA from the very first garment.
Pickup & Delivery
Door-to-Door Across the Bay Area
The same white-glove standard travels everywhere we serve. Pickup from your front door, doorman, or garage — returned cleaned, pressed, and ready to wear.
San Francisco
Monday – Saturday
Next-business-day return; Saturday pickups return Tuesday morning.
Peninsula & South Bay
Monday · Wednesday · Friday
Returned on the next scheduled service day.
Marin County
Monday – Saturday
Same-day return is the standard Mon–Fri — morning pickups come back the same afternoon. Saturday pickups return Monday; closed Sundays.
East Bay
Thursday & Saturday
Returned on the next service day.
Wine Country
Monday & Thursday
Sonoma & the Napa Valley — $300 service minimum, or a $75 delivery charge each way.
$75 minimum per pickup with free pickup and delivery across San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, and the East Bay. Wine Country (Napa, Sonoma & St. Helena): $300 service minimum, or a $75 delivery charge each way. Same-day service available in most areas for an additional fee.
Common Questions
About Alex's — Common Questions
Who founded Alex's Dry Cleaning Valet?
Alex's was founded by Alex Najafi in 1984, while he was earning his master's in business at the University of San Francisco. He started the business with his mother and father, and it remains family-run and personally overseen today.
How did Alex's pickup-and-delivery service start?
It began with a single USF classmate who wished for a better cleaning service in the city. Alex offered to take her garments to the family facility and deliver them back to her door in San Francisco. In the 1980s there was no door-to-door dry cleaning, so Alex went door to door across the city — and a valet service was born.
Is Alex's still family-run?
Yes. More than 40 years after it was founded, Alex's remains a family business, personally overseen, caring for each garment as if it were our own.
Who runs Alex's Dry Cleaning Valet today?
Alex's remains a family business. Founder Alex Najafi runs it alongside his son, Mark — the company's operations manager, with a background in digital media and data engineering — who joined after moving back from New York City, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Columbia University. The same family that built the business still personally oversees it.
What areas does Alex's serve?
Alex's serves the entire San Francisco Bay Area with door-to-door pickup and delivery — San Francisco, the Peninsula, the South Bay, Marin, the East Bay, and Wine Country. We collect from your front door, doorman, or garage. Text 415-338-9318 to confirm your address.