Varsity Cleaners begun as a small garment cleaning and alterations business at 216 West 11th Street in Waterloo in 1930. During the 1930's and 40's small drycleaners and laundry shops were very common, there were certainly over a dozen such shops in the Cedar Falls / Waterloo area. The Sailor family initially owned and operated Varsity Cleaners and developed the company over the next 15 years with the help of Route Salesman named Alvin Schmidt. In the early 1950's Alvin Schmidt and his wife Margaret began purchasing Varsity Cleaners from the Sailor family, and by 1955 owned the complete company.

Margaret and Alvin Schmidt were very successful business partners and as the drycleaning industry began to shake out the smaller operators during the 1960's (the age of polyester), Varsity Cleaners emerged as the dominant cleaner in the Cedar Valley market and continues in that role to this day.

To help diversify, Varsity Cleaners purchased Milroy's Formal Wear in 1970 and moved the Milroy's store location from downtown Waterloo to 1216 Commercial Street. Varsity Formal Wear now conducts business as Milroy's Tuxedos and has stores in Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Ames, Dubuque and Des Moines. Milroy's also services over 300 men's clothing stores throughout the upper Midwest with wholesale tuxedo rentals, which makes Milroy's one of the largest suppliers of Tuxedos and Formalwear Accessories in the upper Midwest.

Margaret and Alvin eventually passed ownership and operations to their son Craig Schmidt, who has spent the majority of his younger years learning the trade. Craig Schmidt was instrumental in helping with the plant and equipment improvements during the extensive expansion of Varsity and Milroy's during the late 1970's and early 1980's. As President of the company from 1980-2002 Craig oversaw all aspects of company operations, and has now turned those responsibilities over to his son, Richard (Rick) Schmidt. Craig Schmidt is now semi-retired but continues as Chief Executive Officer for both Varsity Cleaners and Milroy's Tuxedos.

Rick Schmidt has been working at Varsity Cleaners on a regular basis since his High School days since the early 1980's. After graduation from West High in 1985, Rick went to study at the International Fabricare Institute to learn advanced cleaning, spotting and finishing techniques, and returned to Varsity Cleaners upon graduation. Rick was appointed President of Varsity Cleaners in 2002 and continues in that capacity to this day.