A popular YouTube family decked out their new business with Christmas decorations to celebrate the holidays — and it might be the brightest building in all of Newark.
Smile More Laundry and Tan, 169 S. 30th St., has been hard to miss in recent weeks. It is decorated from front to back with lights, with a trio of Christmas tree structures on the roof.
The holiday makeover comes months after Roman Atwood, a YouTube personality with more than 15 million subscribers across his channels, and his family bought the property and opened it as a laundry and tanning business.
Atwood’s family – wife Brittney and three children – are regularly featured in some videos, most notably on their vlog channel which has amassed nearly 500,000 subscribers and 95 million views.
A native of Millersport, Roman spent part of the early part of his career as a content creator performing pranks for his YouTube channel, which helped him amass millions of subscribers.
In a May video, the couple shared some details about their laundromat purchase, including their plans for the space and the inspiration behind it.
“I want to show you these things to show you that they are achievable and open you up to ways to make money,” Atwood said in the video. “There are so many ways.”
The couple bought the building from Randall Levengood for $450,000, property records show. Atwood is listed as the registered agent for Smile More Laundry, according to Ohio corporate records.
Levengood owned and operated Colonial Laundry before the Atwoods rebranded the facility as Smile More, a merchandise brand Roman founded in 2013.
In a Facebook post, Brittney wrote that she knew Levengood growing up and said she had the “pleasure of calling him dad” since she was 12, while she was friends with his daughter.
After the Atwoods bought a car wash in Buckeye Lake, Levengood urged them to purchase the laundromat, she wrote.
Dozens of Atwoods fans, if not hundreds, showed up for a September meet and greet at the laundromat. Someone said they came from Boston to see them.
In recent weeks, even more fans have stopped by the building to take photos of the lights after the couple and their team installed them last month.
“I guarantee there has never been a laundromat in history with more Christmas lights than what we’re going to do,” Roman said in a November video. “In a week, hopefully less, you might be able to see it from your home. Just look at the beam of light coming from the Earth.”
Lawyer reporter Josué Perez can be reached at jhperez@newarkadvocate.com.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Roman Atwood is getting festive with his family’s new business in Newark
