At the car wash
Fort Worth couple goes ‘green’ with new business
Charles and Mary Rogers have tried their hands at several businesses throughout their marriage, but when the two found themselves in the car wash business recently, they decided to add some green to their clean.
Longtime Fort Worth residents Charles and Mary Rogers recently opened the Big Green Car Wash Machine in Hurst as the area’s first green car wash option. And despite some rainy days, the business is good, they say.
“The car wash business is definitely different, but we’re getting a feel for it,” Charles Rogers said.
Charles Rogers has his own real estate business, C. W. Rogers Real Estate Investments Ltd., and has a long career in Fort Worth real estate that began in 1968. He has served as president of Wm. Rigg Inc. Realtors and has dabbled in all parts of the business, from developing to brokering.
Mary Rogers worked for 20 years as a journalist at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, as a professional “cheek-kisser” as she refers to the position of society columnist and as a features writer.
The long list of ventures the couple has launched includes River Crest Landing, an exclusive residential development with homes ranging from $1 million to $3 million; managing office buildings in the late ‘80s; the construction and management of a Fort Worth parking garage; a mill shop; and a heating and air conditioning company. But both insist the Big Green Car Wash Machine is a beast all its own.
“We’ve done a lot of things; we’ve had a mill shop, a heating and air conditioning company at one point, but this is not like any business I’ve ever seen,” said Mary Rogers. “It can be a lot of fun when it’s busy and maddening when it’s not.”
The Big Green Car Wash Machine, at 8409 Bedford Euless Road in Hurst, is the first of its kind in the Metroplex as a ‘green’ car wash, according to the couple.
According to Mary Rogers, Big Green reclaims about 60 percent of all water used, filters then sanitizes it to use again. Water that cannot be recycled is captured in a system that does not pollute the environment. A separate holding tank system at the car wash allows Big Green, as it’s referred to, to use only 28 gallons of fresh water per car plus some recycled water versus the 100 to 140 gallons that can be used in a single at-home car wash.
Big Green uses a line of environmentally friendly cleaning products produced by Blendco Systems LLC and also was certified ‘green’ by Green Teen, the city of North Richland Hill’s certification for environmentally friendly businesses.
“We’re green now. We’re not as green as we will be. We’ll be greener,” Mary Rogers said.
Big Green currently has nine full-time employees and a handful of part-time employees. And though many facets of the car wash industry have been surprising to Rogers, she said one of the most surprising aspect has been the job applicants, Mary Rogers said.
“You would be surprised at who wants to dry off cars and vacuum out cars,” Rogers said. “Just people needing jobs and they will do anything that you ask them to and they are happy to have the work and they are willing to work for minimum wage. It’s a sad comment on our economy. Nearly all of them work two jobs. They work for us and somebody else. Working for us is hard work, let me tell you. When you’ve got a busy day and you’re vacuuming out and drying out cars, it’s physical and tiring and it’s hard work … We’ve had a licensed plumber, an electrician, an attorney.”
Trying to make a splash
Charles and Mary Rogers bought the 8,000-square-foot former Goodyear Tires store two years ago with plans for a car wash. The property is across from Northeast Mall and had an “unbelievable traffic count,” Mary Rogers said.
But delays from permitting and an involved renovation of the building pushed the opening of the car wash to this year.
“It has been an enormous challenge,” Mary Rogers said. “… By the time we got up to where we could open our doors, the economy had become very anemic, but we were sort of like the Romans at the cliffs of Dover – we had to burn the ships and go ahead, so that’s what we’re doing.”
Since its opening in mid-June, however, Charles Rogers said the car wash has lost seven weeks of potential income to rain. But, like in any business, there are good days and bad, he said.
“If you’re doing real estate or a car wash or whatever, business is pretty much business,” he said. “It’s all a lot of hard work and learning what you’re doing.”
Big Green offers three types of washes: good, which costs $6 and uses basic soap and water; better, which costs $11 and includes one coat of wax or polish and a clear coat sealant; and best, which retails at $15 and includes everything from wax coats and clear coat sealant to tire dressing and wheel blaster cleaning. All washes have the option to add upgrades such as interior packages and weather guard products.
And if all goes well, the car wash soon will add wine to its list of options.
The car wash building features a few thousand square feet of retail space that Mary and Charles Rogers have brainstormed over long and hard. But the two are almost positive they’ll fill it with wine – bottles, not poured.
Another busy part of the business for Mary Rogers has been the growing number of people who take advantage of the free shuttle service to nearby Northeast Mall.
Eventually, Mary Rogers said she would like to buy an electric car to use as the shuttle service – something that would fit in nicely with the green car wash.
“We’re not there yet and won’t be for months and months, but I have explored it,” she said.
Mary Rogers said despite the rain, the business has built a solid base of repeat customers – many of whom have asked about the possibility of franchising.
“You wouldn’t believe how many people think it’s a franchise,” Mary Rogers said. “… People just say ‘this feels like a franchise. Are you going to franchise this?’ A guy who was moving to New York asked if we would sell him a franchise and we said ‘not ‘til we figure out how to do this ourselves.’ I’m on the other end of the line. I hate to say no because one never knows, but a franchise? I don’t know.”
