The Car Wash Life

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Sunday, December 8, 2024

Saddam and Best Price

December 1990. There are two reasons that Location A's gasoline business took off. Dad bought Location A in the Summer of 1988. The gasoline business was a loss leader. There was a lot of competition. Dad used the gasoline to draw people onto the lot to buy car washes through cheap prices and car... Sign in to see full entry.

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Thursday, December 5, 2024

The Italian Customer

You might recall when a customer used a translator on his phone so that we could speak English-Spanish to one another. I remember around 2003 working at Location A. A female customer came up to the tunnel to wash. I asked her how she was doing. She handed me her car wash ticket. Then she said, "I am... Sign in to see full entry.

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Monday, December 2, 2024

The Gas Years

From 1990 to 1999, Location A was one of the busiest gas stations in all of Maryland. We would pump 4 million gallons a year. Nowadays, that is chump change for the mega-convenience stores. Those do at least 7.2 million a year. For a mom-and-pop gas station, what we did was and still is impressive... Sign in to see full entry.

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Friday, November 29, 2024

Black, Small and Cyber

What is the impact of the different post-Thanksgiving Days on the car washes. First off, at the end of the day, weather is generally going to be the biggest economic factor that determines business performance. If it rains, we cannot give car washes away for 50 cents. That said, Black Friday can be... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by FormerStudentIntern at 10:14 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Cleaning Out Vacs

I myself do not clean out the vacuums. I never volunteered for the job because I knew it was a dirty job. Even with a face mask and gozzles, there's still a lot of vacuum grime on clothing. Dad did ask me if I wanted to clean the vacuums when he decided not to have John Booth clean the vacs out at... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by FormerStudentIntern at 11:11 AM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

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About this Blog

This is a blog about my experiences working for my father in the car wash business and the people who are a part of our work lives.

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