7 Flags Car Wash Banks on First Impressions

“All of a sudden it was popular,” Anthony says.

History

Carwashing has likely been typical dinner-time conversation for the Anthony family since the early 1960s. Anthony’s father, Jack Sr., built the family’s first self-serve carwashes in northern California in 1964. Even then, in his early teens, Anthony was involved in the family business, whether it was helping paint a fence or performing small tasks to help make things run smoothly.

Within 18 months, the family had three carwashes.

While it remained a summer job for Anthony throughout high school and college, the tide turned after he graduated from California State University at Chico. Jack Sr. had picked up a fourth self-serve carwash and was “heavily involved” in the Lions Club, running for a district office. He needed someone to help run the carwash business in order to have the time he needed to serve the Lions.

“I said I’d be happy to do that,” Anthony remembers. “[Dad] gave me a lot of freedom and latitude. I enjoyed what I was doing and just grabbed the ball and ran with it.”

Anthony started with upgrades to each facility: equipment, physical plant, landscaping and remodeling.

Growth came easy to the Anthonys. Jack says he was good with his hands and good with construction, so he was able to act as his own general contractor, which he did in 1988 when the company remodeled its Fairfield store.

“My thought process was to do the McDonald’s concept: quick, simple, easy. You drive through and, boom, you’re done,” Anthony says.

For all the changes demanded from his own customers, Anthony has also seen industry-driven changes. One of the biggest, he says, has been energy and resource conservation.

“Anybody who doesn’t recycle [water] or prepare to recycle is foolish,” he proclaims.

From an economic standpoint, it makes sense to reuse water since companies not only pay for the water, but also pay to dispose of it. While water reclamation systems had a poor reputation during the 1980s and into 1990s, Anthony says the technology has advanced tremendously. Water can now be cleaned up to the point where it doesn’t smell and can be reused for everything except the final rinse.

Aside from the economics, Anthony says recycling water also conserves natural resources. Taking advantage of other natural resources, such as the sun, is another way 7 Flags wants to lead the industry. In fact, Anthony says he is planning to introduce solar power to his carwashes.

“Let the sun help pay for our electrical bills,” he says.

One trend Anthony has worked hard to adapt to is customers’ increased time constraints.

“People want it faster, cheaper, better,” he says. “Everybody’s pulled in every direction time-wise. So if you can do something to help them save time, such as getting their car washed, you’re providing a needed service.”

Always Getting Better

7 Flags has changed dramatically from its early beginnings with three self-serve locations. The company now boasts a mix of full-serve, self-serve, express detailing and fast lube and maintains a staff of 160 employees.

There is no single aspect to the company that Anthony can pinpoint as being the secret to 7 Flags’ success; however, it’s clear that customer relations and not getting stuck in a rut contribute to its popularity.

“Our motto is, ‘Always getting better,’” notes Anthony. “We really strive to do that.”

During the past three years, the company has remodeled each of its conveyor carwashes in order to make them more user-friendly and to be able to offer the express exterior service again. The company also offers its full-service vacuums for free between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., and changed one of its point-of-sale systems so its service advisers can greet customers and perform duties with hand-held units to save time and money.

“You’ve just got to keep moving forward,” Anthony says. “You’ve got to keep changing things and keep up with technology.”