Entrepreneurial Partnerships with the Rueters and Byrd Watson
The owners of Westside Laundry in Centralia and Central City also own over 150 real estate units – including both residential and commercial spaces - Tyler and Traci Rueter are among the most prolific investors in the Greater Centralia Area.
The couple’s journey in entrepreneurialism began in 2018, after moving to Centralia following their graduation from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville.
The Rueters began by purchasing one apartment complex and then another eight-unit complex in the same area shortly thereafter, quickly growing from zero apartments to 20 units.
“We kind of ripped the band-aid off,” Tyler said of his and Traci’s beginnings.
As the Rueters got more involved in real estate, they began to notice a striking similarity among their prospects.
“A ton of the apartments we looked at did not have washers and dryers,” Traci recalled. “That’s when we found out people were going to Salem, Sandoval and Mt. Vernon. We knew we needed washers and dryers in town.”
Putting the community’s needs at the forefront, the couple launched Westside Laundry in 2020, a location Tyler and Traci were more than happy with.
“We felt that the 123 W. Broadway location was perfect,” Tyler said. “We saw that it was positioned to accommodate everyone.”
The first laundromat, which they own with family members Curtis, Helen, Brad and Tisha Rueter, led to a second Westside Laundry location which was established in Central City in 2024. They also entered the storage unit business, which currently includes 125 storage units in the Centralia area.
In addition to growing their own reach and impact in the community, the Rueters have used their resources to help local businesses start new chapters of their own.
The next step was to partner with local businesses to help start new chapters of their own. Tyler and Traci partnered with Byrd Watson Pharmacy, Bradford National Bank, and Johannes Construction to introduce Byrd Watson’s brand-new location at 790 W. McCord St., which is a property owned by the Reuters since 2019.
Traci followed by saying,” We had always dreamed of developing something there, we just didn’t know what.”
“One day, I got a call from Diane Cole at Bradford National Bank. The next week we met with her and Randy Alderman, Kim Weiter from Byrd Watson, and Dan Cole from Johannes Construction.” Tyler recalled, “we all worked together for an entire year to make it what it is now.”
Having found success in the three different markets and suggesting their portfolio could grow over to 200 units by the start of 2026, the Rueter’s say they are pleased with their journey thus far, and excited to see where it takes them next.
“It means everything for us to doing this here, in Centralia,” said Traci. “We have two children, and making Centralia better for them and the generations after that means a lot to us. We’ve always been brought up to leave places better than we found them.”
Tyler added. “Our foundation of belief is doing the right thing, loving our neighbors as ourselves and taking our business and applying that in the community. If everybody in the community has that mindset, then we have a beautiful community that people want to come to.”
