Our History

Family Owned Since 1914

In the early 1900s Athans Spiliotopoulos came to America from Greece with his brother Demosthenes in pursuit of the American Dream. The brothers delivered coats and aprons with a horse and wagon to the fish piers, local food shops and cafes in Boston.

Athans moved the business to South Boston before partnering with another linen supplier and opening his own commercial laundry in the 1920s. Our roots as one of the best linen and uniform services go deep into history, and deep into Boston and the greater Boston metro area.

In the 1930s Athans acquired a linen service from a family in Worcester and in 1933 Athans built his own laundry facility in South Boston. With a branch in Worcester and a plant in South Boston the company then became known as the Loyal Crown Linen Service. Athans and his wife Mary went on to have eight children. Three of his children, Angelo, Plato and Edith took over as the second-generation successors and led the company through the 1940s and 1950s. During World War II and the Korean War, the plant proudly manufactured garments for the US Navy.

Multiple acquisitions in the 1960s enabled the company to expand throughout New England with locations in New Hampshire, Cape Cod, and Springfield, Massachusetts. Today, we service customers throughout New England, whether they are restaurants or bars, hospitals or doctor’s offices or other healthcare facilities or biotech / research, manufacturing or food processing facilities, or other businesses. Any business that uses linens, uniforms, or other types of cloth materials that needs cleaning can benefit from outsourcing their linen service needs to us.

Athans Spiliotopoulos in the 1900s

After growing up working in the plant and aiding in deliveries, in the 1970s Plato’s sons Arthur and Chris Spilios took over operations and expanded the business exponentially.

As the linen and uniform service grew, Chris Spilios had a vision to build a state of the art facility that would enable Crown to enjoy growth and innovation in the future while keeping as many employees as possible. This dream led the company to purchase 21 acres of land in Brockton Massachusetts and invest over 18million dollars in the design and construction of a 94,000 sq ft facility.

In October 2014, Chris Spilios, his son George, Arthur Spilios and his son Plato joined in the ground-breaking ceremony for new Brockton plant which would combine the Fall River and South Boston locations. Quickly, Crown Linen has solidified its lead as the best-in-class commercial laundry service in all of New England.

Chris passed away shortly before the plant opened the award-winning facility has achieved the standard of quality that Chris envisioned and continues to function allowing for Crown to be an industry leader in innovation, sustainability and operational excellence.

Today Arthur Spilios continues to be the CEO of the company with George and Plato Spilios running operations as Co-Presidents of the organization.

Early records document Angelos delivering aprons on a bicycle at age 14 from their location in Roxbury in 1914.
Athans acquired a linen service in Lowell. A short time later a building located on Damrell Street was purchased and in 1933, Athans opened his own laundry there.
Crown fleet - 1967
Pictured here: Arthur and Chris at the ground breaking ceremony in 2014.
Athans and other linen suppliers rented space from the National Laundry Co. A fire at National in the late 1920s caused Athans to join forces with another linen supplier and they opened their own laundry on Bristol Street near the Pine Street Inn.
Crown Christmas - 1934
Crown fleet - 1978
Crown fleet - 2012