Fire leaves Skokie dry cleaners business Kenny The Kleener heavily damaged

SKOKIE, Ill. (WLS) -- Kenny the Kleener on Dempster Street in Skokie is now all boarded up after it was gutted by an early morning fire Wednesday.

The owner is trying his best to stay positive given the difficult situation and even took ABC7 inside to see the damage.

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Ken Davis never expected to start the work day this way, showing ABC7 the bones of his longtime Skokie dry cleaning plant, now left charred from an overnight fire.

Everywhere, fire damaged clothing can be seen covered in a black sludge of water, ash and mud on the ground..., scene Davis is still trying to wrap his head around.

"We don't know why the fire started," Davis said. "It's devastating in there."

Plumes of smoke billowed from Kenny The Kleener's windows in the middle of the night, with Skokie firefighters inside assessing damage.

Davis has owned Kenny The Kleener for more than two decades with four other locations in nearby Evanston and Wilmette.

But the Skokie location. near busy Dempster Street and McCormick Boulevard. was the very first to open. Davis says his focus right now is on his employees and longtime customers.

"I'm at the end of my life and my career here," Davis said. "This is going to impact me and raise my aggravation level but my real concern is about them and our customers."

And it's those customers and this community that's been at the center of Davis' operation for years.

In fact, during the COVID pandemic, Kenny The Kleener and Davis stepped up to stitch together cloth masks to sell to the public, an operation he said helped his business stay afloat during those uncertain years.

"We try to provide the customer with the fastest service they need," he said in 2020. "They come in four colors and are six dollars each. You get as many as you want."

For now, Davis is left to pick up the pieces of what's left of Skokie's Kenny The Kleener, optimistic about what the future holds...for the beloved dry cleaning plant.

"This is a glitch in our giddyup and we'll fix this up and get back on our feet," Davis said.

Davis says he has no idea how the fire started and wants to know what happened.

Skokie fire officials say the cause is under investigation.