New Ann Arbor car wash owner mixes philanthropy with suds
A first-time entrepreneur is blending standard operations with a community-service mission as he tries to turn around the fortunes of a struggling Ann Arbor car wash.
Ross Carey took over the former Big Daddy’s Full Service Auto Wash on South Industrial in February. He’s since invested more than $100,000 in new equipment, enacted a host of customer-loyalty promotional programs and renamed the business Community Auto Wash.
The business is taking on a philanthropic mission: The car wash donates 5 percent of its sales to charities like the Ronald McDonald House, Meals on Wheels and Habitat for Humanity. It’s so far donated more than $5,000 to charity.
“The word is getting around, and it’s all starting to pay off,” Carey said. “Our wash count is going up each week.”
Washing automobiles has become a second career for Carey, who is also a partner and vice president at Minnesota Title Agency in Livonia. That business has whittled down from 45 employees to eight in the past few years as real estate activity in Michigan slowed.
Looking to diversify, Carey offered to take a reduced role and salary with the title and escrow firm where he has worked for 17 years while he explored other options to help support his wife and four kids at home in Farmington Hills. He now divides his time between the two businesses.
“I’ve witnessed over the last four or five years the exodus from Michigan,” Carey said. “I didn’t feel like leaving… I didn’t want to go somewhere else and start over at 45.”
Having initially considered opening a national restaurant franchise, Carey stumbled across the newly vacant car wash. By leasing it instead of buying the business, he could instead focus on investing in upgrades.
Carey said he dipped into his savings and 401(k) retirement account to help install new equipment, including a touchless 70-horsepower air-cannon dryer, quick-fire wash arms, and new service arches for applying soaps and waxes.
The economy is affecting car washes, according to an industry report in late 2008, which noted that many are putting off equipment upgrades - which is hurting business retention and growth.
Meanwhile, the car wash’s community service component is making some local nonprofits take notice.
At the Ann Arbor Community Center, director and Rev. Yolanda Whiten said Carey has personally delivered nearly $700 in checks on two occasions.
“I can’t think of any better way than if every business would give 5 percent," she said. "... It adds up to a lot for a place like the community center or any other nonprofit.”
Carey said he wanted to run something that was more than just a traditional for-profit business. The car wash’s oak-tree logo symbolizes branches and roots in the community, he said.
“This is a time everyone is feeling the crunch of the economy, especially nonprofits,” Carey said. “I think people like to see that.”
• Contact Sven Gustafson at sventg123@gmail.com or follow him at twitter.com/sveng.
Comments
fabfan
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 : 4:41 p.m.
been to community car wash it is great fabfan
miman
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 : 10:13 a.m.
I went to his carwash for the first time a couple of weeks ago and found him and his staff to be great. I have lived in the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area for almost 30 years and that was the first time that I ever went to that location to wash my car. In the past the business never to seem very inviting to me considering there are other locations in town. I will be returning.