all in the family...
There is an old adage that states the first generation builds or starts a business; the second generation grows the business, and; the third generation sells the business. In the case of the Thomas Family of Louisville Car Wash fame, all of that happened and more.
HUH? What's up with that?
Alex Thomas, 36, is a grandson of the founder of Thomas Car Wash. We sat down on a wooden bench outside the remodeling of his latest venture on a beautiful spring day for a one on one.
I hated washing cars when I was little, he lamented. I remember when I was four or five squeezing the pressure gun. Man, that thing puts out 12 hundred pounds of pressure. I worked in back in what is called, The Hole, with two guys, Ollie and Danny. It seemed like I was there all day, but, I'm sure it was just for a minute or two.
There was a time when the family owned eight car washes. Take me back to the beginning.
The Thomas Family came to America in 1927, he informed me. My grandfather went to Manual High School here in Louisville. He went into the army after he graduated where he became a sergeant. After the army, he came home and he and his brother started washing cars.
Do you think they had help to get started?
I am assuming they got the GI Bill to start out, he guessed. They opened the 13th automatic car wash in America. There were two kinds of systems being used. One was called Minute Man and the other was Mechanical Man.
You are one of four children and you have three sisters. What age were you when you started washing cars?
I started in Middle School, he said. I came in on weekends. I wiped off cars with my dad, but, I liked working in back with the cool guys. Spraying cars was fun because it was like a video game.
You worked for your dad all through high school, then you went to college.
Yes, I graduated from UK in 2010 with a degree in business management, he grinned. Honestly, it might as well have been I was hanging out for four years because I learned so much from being on the job. A management degree to me is silly.
Did you go straight to work for your dad from college?
No, I took a trip to Europe with my best friend, he replied. But, during college, I would come home on weekends and dad would say, Alex, so and so isn't coming in this weekend. Will you work? I don't ever remember telling my dad no.
So, after Europe, you were in the car wash business?
The job market back then sucked, so, yes, I got into the car wash business, he agreed. I didn't want to because I grew up with my dad working seven days a week, so, I thought we were broke. I didn't want that.
At that time your dad was operating a full serve wash that he had owned for many years.
That's right. Then, five years after I joined him we bought a wash my dad had had his eyes on for a long time on Hurstbourne Lane that was an express wash, he told me. We had just borrowed two point one million to buy a piece of property on the other side of town when Hurstbourne Lane became available. It was ironic. We got the Hurstbourne property for the amount of our loan for the other property.
At that time, you and your dad had the full serve and the two of you had just bought Hurstbourne Lane. What did you do with the property you had just bought before Hurstbourne?
We ceased construction but held onto what became known as the Fern Valley Road location, he told me.
You and your dad remodeled Hurstbourne Lane and then you took it over.
When it was built in 1987, it was Regal Car Wash and it was the gold standard of Louisville, Alex said. We bought it after it was converted to Express . In 2009, the roof caved in from an ice storm and the owner took the insurance money and made it a three dollar express. Those were really big at the time, low dollar but high volume.
Hurstbourne Lane became a huge success and you guys decided to put up Fern Valley Road.
We built Fern Valley Road and made it an express too, he concurred. We were in the building process on Fern Valley when Hurstbourne became available, so, we just went ahead and completed it.
It seems like the industry has changed.
Private equity got into the market around 2015, he disclosed. Around four years later, it got real big. Despite that, the car wash business is still 95% mom and pop. Only 5% are private equity.
A couple years ago, you and your dad owned three full serve washes and an express wash and your uncle owned a part of another express with you and your dad. What happened that a decision was made to pull the plug?
We were on a family vacation and dad and I were walking a beach, he remembered. Dad said, Man, this is nice. We should do this more often. That kind of spurred it. I said, Well, we could if you really want to do that. We agreed right then and there to pursue the idea of selling.
You in essence took advantage of the market situation.
There's a car wash bubble of what these private equities are paying, so, if it didn't work out, we could buy them back, he philosophized. That was the idea. Sell the stock at the highest and if it was a mistake, learn from that mistake and start over.
The family kept one Thomas Car Wash location, so, the name lives on and the chain has not been broken.
That's right, he smiled. We kept the full serve in Lexington.
Due to your sale contract, you cannot display the Thomas Car Wash name in Louisville for a number of years. Tell me about this project we are sitting outside of right now.
I went to a car wash show and saw a vac system called the Tommy Vac, he related to me. It had huge red balls with a hole in the center where a trash can goes. They are placed outside by the vacuum cleaners. The system also had orange balls and I thought it would be neat to open a wash called, Clementine's.
The process of washing a car is different here at Clementine's.
We don't have conveyor belts like the other washes, he explained. You pull your car in and stop when the sign tells you to stop and go when the sign says to go. Simple.
Why not another express?
A good friend in Ohio who did some consulting work for us told me going touchless is much more scalable than express, Alex said. The amount of customers looking for a touchless wash is astounding. Plus, touchless flies under the radar of the equity firms.
What is your goal with Clementine's?
Thomas core values include kindness, commitment, and, no bums, he counted off. We want you to work. The goal with Clementine's is to franchise eventually. I think one of the coolest things in life is you don't have to do something real big. You can be a very committed player in your community to help that community get better.
Alex, thanks for your time.
You got it, he smiled. When we open, come back and wash your car.
Coming up: another POS; a job$ somebody's gotta do, and; an interview with the owner of an unusual business.
And, finally. It was thrilling to see the Indiana Pacers take the NBA Championship series to the max seven games.
I would have a tidy sum of cash if I had a hundred dollars for everyone who said to me, I knew it was over when Haliburton went out.
That wasn't my thought at the time. I thought they could still win. Just another reason for me not to bet on such things.
HUH? What's up with that?
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