Founders: Tom Hoffman and Carole Hoffman
Current President/CEO: Tom Hoffman Jr.
Number of Locations: 18
Carwashes Located in: Albany, N.Y. area, then one hour south to Kingston and one hour north to Queensbury, and points in between.
Wash Process: Full service, flex service, exteriors, in-bay automatics and self service.
Carwash Equipment Used: AVW Equipment, Jim Coleman Co., PDQ Manufacturing and our own self-service equipment.
Add-on Profit Centers: We are a Jiffy Lube franchisee with 10 locations. Three of them stand alone and seven have our carwash operations on-site. We also operate a landscape division for both residential and commercial services. They start the season preparing our locations, then head out to serve the Albany area’s landscaping needs.
MCC: To what do you attribute your company’s success?
Hoffman: The great people we work with. We work very hard treating our people well. We promote from within as often as possible. We pay competitive wages and offer very good benefits.
MCC: What sets your carwashes apart from the competition?
Hoffman: The entire customer experience starting from the moment they drive on the property. Curb appeal, facility cleanliness, the appearance of our staff and, of course, the quality of the product we deliver.
Hoffman: In the Northeast? The weather, the weather and, of course, the weather. 2008 may have been a year dominated by “recession” talk, but in the Northeast, the poor weather really affected our business. February and December were two of the worst months in our company’s history. We rarely have two months in a single year that are that bad.
Here we are in 2009, with every story about the economy being negative, and the Northeast is enjoying the best winter washing season in five years.
We also have worked very hard controlling our expenses.
MCC: What has been your most successful or rewarding marketing program?
Hoffman: Selling discount wash books with a lower price point. Several years ago we started reducing the number of wash tickets in our books from five to four, and finally to three. Again, this allows for a lower price point which, in turn, allows for a higher percentage of our customers purchasing them.
MCC: How important has environmental stewardship become in your business practices and marketing messages?
Hoffman: We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously in our carwash and Jiffy Lube operations. We also include some environmental messages in our marketing messages from time to time.
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