President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Unifirst
Search every verified Steven Sintros interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. On UniFirst’s Q3 2025 earnings call, Sintros reported consolidated revenues of $610.8 million, a 1.2% increase from the prior year. He stated that the company installed more new business than a year ago and that customer retention improved compared to the third quarter of 2024. Sintros said recent investments are beginning to yield measurable returns, evidenced by gross margin improvement and more effective execution. He noted that core laundry operations’ key operational costs continue to trend favorably. Regarding tariffs, Sintros said the company has not experienced significant headwinds but has seen some vendors increasing prices related to additional sourcing costs, with potential for future increases. He characterized the existing customer base as somewhat cautious in terms of investments in heads, with targeted reductions seen in some manufacturing sector companies. In a separate biographical interview, Sintros discussed his background as a founder and CEO in the gaming industry. He described learning from a commercially unsuccessful game that “passion will never make it on its own” and must be paired with humility about commercial aspects. He emphasized that “team play is so key” and that building a modern company involves using the maximum potential of teams to take better decisions. Sintros said the most important thing in a business is the people in it, and that motivated individuals applying interpersonal skills in teams produce outstanding results.
“Our third quarter consolidated revenues were $610.8 million, an increase of 1.2% from fiscal '24.”
“It is rewarding to see our recent investments beginning to yield measurable returns evidenced by gross margin improvement and more effective execution across the business.”
“To date, we have not experienced significant headwinds from the newly imposed tariffs. However, we have started to see some of our vendors increasing prices related to their additional sourcing costs and we foresee potential for future increases.”
“Our mission is to enable those employees and their organizations by providing the right products and services to do their job successfully and safely.”
“Core laundry operations' key operational costs continue to trend favorably, which benefits are being recognized in both merchandise and plant production expenses.”
“I would characterize the mood of the existing customer base as somewhat cautious in terms of investments in heads and we have seen some targeted reductions from some ... manufacturing sector companies.”
“We're sort of in this in‑between state right now where companies are still looking to recover from a lot of the inflation they experienced over the last couple of years, obviously with an eye toward what might be coming with respect to tariffs; it's unclear how that's going to play out over the next quarter or two.”
“We are working to take advantage of the opportunities available to us in the midterm and setting ourselves up for more robust improvements post deployment [of our new ERP system].”
“We installed more new business than a year ago by a solid margin, and consistent with our expectations, customer retention improved compared to the third quarter of 2024.”
“I learned so much from running my first venture that was listed back in the heydays at the millennial shift. One of the things was that team play is so key and how you take decisions — we were far too monolithic, I took too many decisions myself which was obviously not the right thing to do.”
“I built what I will describe as the best game ever, but unfortunately it didn't work out — commercially it flopped completely. It led me to really understand and value risk: passion will never make it on its own, you have to pair that passion with being humble about the commercial aspects.”
“Team play is so key and to build what I call the modern company is the opposite actually — use the maximum potential of the team and the teams that are in a context such as a company to take better decisions, to learn more from each other.”
“With Stillfront we bring together the beauty of games with the vision of the modern company which is people-centric and team-centric. The most by far important thing with the business is the people in it; when motivated individuals come into teams and interact and apply their interpersonal skills the results are outsta...”
“Many years ago I had the opportunity to learn about the internet and was blown away by the opportunities I saw — I was so passionate about the outlook of building my own company.”
“My father was a great inspiration for me — he moved from above the Arctic Circle to Stockholm to go to the Royal Academy for Music, and his passion and drive to do things close to your heart inspired me. His passing when I was 24 taught me to value the moments when you have your inspirational people around you.”
07/02/2025 Q&A: 13:43 UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, ...
Let's go back to the beginning. For Jörgen Larsson, games are a passion, and they are about socializing, competing and building ...
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