Family Carwash Profile: Whistle Clean Car Wash

(From left) The Grauers: Fred and Christopher.

Answers submitted by Fred Grauer

Headquarters: Fort Collins, Colo.
Year Founded: Early 1970s by Fred Grauer and John H. “Turk” Thacher (cousins); February 2007 by Fred Grauer and Christopher Grauer (father and son)
Founders: Fred Grauer and Turk Thacher (cousins)
Number of Locations Then: Several
Number of Locations Now: One
Carwash Services Offered: Full service, exterior wash, hand washes
Add-on Profit Centers: Detailing, express detail, lobby sales
Number of Family Members Currently Working for Your Organization: Two

Why carwashing? How did your family get started in the carwash business?
Our uncle Bill Thacher got the ball rolling in 1948 when he bought his first carwash in Camden, N.J. Other locations followed shortly thereafter in Philadelphia. In the early ’50s, Bill bought a carwash manufacturing company from its founder, Sherman Larsen and began expanding the retail, manufacturing and equipment distribution aspects of the business.

Turk and I joined Bill during summer vacations, either working in the carwashes or at the factory. Eventually, we bought out Bill and Sherman. By the mid ’70s, Sherman Industries had manufacturing plants in New Jersey, California and Canada, with additional licensed operations in the Pacific Rim and Germany. Over the years we supplied carwash systems and components to more than 20,000 locations.

At the same time, we also quietly went ahead with additional retail sites as either partners or owners. By the time we began branding our own sites as Whistle Clean during the 1970s, we owned several tunnel and self-serve carwashes in New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania. Including partnerships, we had about 100 self-serve bays, more than 20 tunnels, a number of petroleum sites and one convenience store.

In 1993, Turk and I sold Sherman Industries and began selling or leasing our carwash locations. The last one was sold around 1996. I moved to Colorado and purchased an interest in Mark VII Equipment, where I remained until 2004.

It didn’t take long before I wanted to get back into the retail business. In 2006, a full-service wash came up for sale in Fort Collins, Colo., and I asked my son Christopher, who was managing a microbrewery in Long Beach Calif., to consider the opportunity. In February 2007, we officially renamed the Fort Collins location Whistle Clean and brought back the original logo from the early ’70s.

Since your family has been in the carwash industry, what are the three most significant developments that have helped the success of your business?
I think the three most significant developments that have helped in the success of our business would have to be information systems, relationships with other operators who so willingly share, and the team around us who not only supplies goods and services but offers tremendous insight as to what, where and how we can become better operators.

What is the biggest challenge facing carwash operators today? How do you/will you strategically confront this challenge to ensure the continued success of your operation?
Without a doubt, the proliferation of locations without the consideration of market opportunity for existing businesses, the lack of carwash business knowledge from some people representing suppliers, labor and health issues, and the ongoing challenge in a tightening economy are enormous opportunities.

We will face these challenges by being better tomorrow at what we are doing today. We are very fortunate to have an excellent workforce and team. Everyone understands our mission and is committed to “clean cars, quickly and safely, in a clean, safe environment.”

Please discuss the impact that the carwash business has had on your family or the significance of having family contribute to the success of your carwash business.
Carwashing is a family business; you can’t be successful without the full understanding of what you are committed to! This support is critical, not only for us as owners and managers but for all the stakeholders of our enterprise. If your family isn’t onboard, it will certainly add a new dimension to the word “challenge.”

My son, Christopher, is a third-generation carwasher, and I am enormously proud that he has joined our business. I know Uncle Bill is up there smiling, giving us a big thumbs up. Carwashing is not for the faint of heart. It is honest, hard, rewarding and fun. As my dear friend Fred Frattarolli once said, “In every seed of adversity, there is a seed of equal opportunity.” Those of us who have walked in those shoes sure understand what he was talking about.

I don’t know any other business where my family could have had such terrific opportunities and established so many lifelong relationships. We are very grateful.

Timeline

1940s

• 1948, Bill Thacher buys his first carwash in Camden, N.J.

1950s

• Bill Thacher buys Sherman Supersonic Industries.

1970s

• Fred Grauer and John H. “Turk” Thacher buy Sherman Industries.
• Whistle Clean name launched.

1990s

• 1993, Fred Grauer and Turk Thacher sell Sherman Industries and begin selling and leasing carwash locations.

2000s

• 2007, Fred Grauer and Christopher Grauer purchase existing full-service location in Fort Collins, Colo., and relaunch Whistle Clean name.

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