According to a study done in 2008, for every $100 spent at a “big box” or chain establishment (think Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc.), $14 is reinvested into the local economy.  Conversely, for every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 is pumped back into the local economy.  This is one of the reasons I make a concerted effort to spend most of my money at locally owned businesses, whether for dining, having drinks with friends, buying my shoes, or getting my car washed.  That was the impetus behind this new feature for ErieBlogs… to feature Erie’s local businesses and the people behind them.

A Little History

In 1978, Bob Osiecki was your average 16-year-old high school kid – shooting hoops in the driveway with his friends, playing on the high school soccer team, and taking his girlfriend to the drive-in on a Saturday night.  Like many teenagers back then, he had a part time job after school and on weekends but, instead of working in a fast food joint, waiting tables, or mowing grass and shoveling snow, he worked washing cars at Roth Cadillac on Peach Street in Erie.

His own car, however, was far from the kind he washed at work.  Bob drove a bright taxicab yellow 1966 Ford Custom.  He says it was a six-cylinder and could hit 55 miles per hour if he was going downhill and had a good tailwind.  It might not have been a new car, or even a very fast car, but it was always clean.  No, I take that back, it wasn’t just clean, it was spotless and it sparkled.  And I know this for a fact because I’ve known Bob since before he bought that car… and I rode in that car many times, so I can attest to the fact that it was always immaculate, inside and out.

After graduating from high school, Osiecki worked for a couple of years washing and detailing at dealerships, all the while with his eye on his ultimate goal of owning his own car wash/detailing business.  That goal was realized in 1983 when he opened Car Care at it’s original location behind Enchanted Florist on West 12th Street near Powell Avenue.

In 1990, Car Care moved east on West 12th Street (known as Car Care II) to a building located just west of Peninsula Drive next to Taki’s Restaurant.  In addition to that location, Osiecki also expanded and opened car washes at 100 State Street (known as Car Care I) and about 18 blocks south of that on State, next to the Erie Maennerchor Club (known as Car Care III).  A few years of that proved to be too much of a headache, so Bob decided to scale back, keeping only his original location on West 12th Street, along with its name – Car Care II.  It was also around this time that Bob’s parents joined his business.  His father, Tom, is his accountant and his mother, Judy, is the office manager and works at the front desk, allowing Bob to focus his energies on the operations aspect of the business.

The business was growing and Bob was anxious to make improvements.  In order to do that, though, it made more sense to own a building rather than rent.  In late 2000, Bob purchased the building at 2657 West Eighth Street, across from the Colony Plaza.  After spending nine to ten months remodeling the building to suit his specifications, which included nothing less than state-of-the-art equipment, Car Care II opened on July 2, 2001 and has remained there ever since.

The Current Picture

I met with Bob yesterday morning in his office at Car Care II.¹  It’s a small room, approximately 6’ x 8’, that includes a desk, two chairs, and three computer monitors – one for Bob to keep track of all the car wash systems, one with seven closed circuit camera views (two in the car wash tunnel, one at the tunnel entrance, one at the tunnel exit, one in the detail shop, one at the front desk, and one overall lot view), and one where he monitors his e-mail and reads the news via Internet.

Aside from Bob and his parents, Car Care II has nine employees – seven work exclusively in the car wash tunnel, one works exclusively in the detailing building, and the ninth splits his time between the two places.

If you meet Bob, and you’ve got a few hours to kill, ask him about washing cars.  He’s not just knowledgeable on the subject, the guy is passionate about it.

Being a bit of an environmentalist, I was intrigued by a sign I’d seen at Car Care II indicating that they use environmentally friendly chemicals.  I asked Bob about that sign. What it boils down to is that Bob uses products from Diamond Shine that are safe for sewer systems, as well as vehicles.  And while many car washes used to use products that contained hydrofluoric acid (and some still do) which is believed to be a cause of cancer and birth defects, Car Care has never used these kinds of products.  Additionally, Car Care only uses HydraFlow™ in its hydraulic equipment, as opposed to hydraulic oil .  Although approximately four times as expensive as hydraulic oil,  HydraFlow™ is totally water soluble, biodegradable, non-toxic, and poses no environmental risk in the event there’s a leak.

Another thing Bob is passionate about is customer service.  From insisting that his employees address customers as “sir” or “ma’am” to requiring that they step aside to give customers the right-of-way or hold the door open for them in the hallway or office, he puts his customers first and expects the same from his staff.

Additionally, Car Care II has been set up to give customers a choice in their car wash method.  The default wash is what Bob calls the “lambswool” wash, which involves soft cloths washing the outside of the vehicle.  However, he also offers, at no additional charge, the “touchless” option, where the only thing (other than the cleaning fluids and water) that touch the vehicle is the soft curtain that gently brushes across the roof.

Osiecki also provides his customers with payment choices, too.  Customers can pay each time they wash their car, they can purchase a card with any desired number of washes on it and then reload it when it runs out, or they can purchase the unlimited membership – pay one price for a four month membership and have your car washed as often as you like.

I’ve personally tried all three payment methods and I much prefer the card or the unlimited membership to the pay-per-visit method.  For me, it’s just more convenient and faster.

To keep his costs down, most maintenance at Car Care is done in-house by Bob and/or his employees.  On rare occasions, they have to call in experts for plumbing or electrical issues, but, other than that, whether it’s repairing equipment or plowing the parking lot, Bob and his employees take care of it.

Osiecki admits that he charges slightly more than his competitors, but he doesn’t have a problem with that, as he believes he provides a superior service.  Additionally, most of his competitors have additional charges for services that are included in a car wash at Car Care II.*  For example, other places may charge extra for the undercarriage and tire washes, as well as the pre-soak.  At Car Care II, those things are always included.  His reasoning for this is two-fold:  First, he doesn’t believe in what he considers “nickel-and-diming” people to death and, second, he feels that people have to make decisions all day long – he doesn’t want to dump more on them.  So, he just includes everything in his price.

*The only extra at Car Care is the Clear Coat Protection, and that’s just because it’s not something that should be used every single time a car is washed.

In the old days of Car Care, in addition to washing the exterior of the vehicle, employees also cleaned the inside.  The interior cleaning service has, however, been dropped from the basic service and is now only provided in the Detail Shop.  Osiecki says they were running into too many problems where employees were encountering potentially dangerous personal items in cars, such as firearms.  The straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, was when Bob nearly jabbed himself on a hypodermic needle someone had left on the back seat of a car.

Now, instead of having employees clean the inside of customers’ cars, Car Care II provides free vacuum cleaners for customers to use.  They can simply drive up to one of the several vacuuming stations before or after they have the exterior of their car washed and easily clean out the interior.  Garbage receptacles are also provided at the vacuuming stations.

If a customer wants the interior of the vehicle cleaned or the car waxed, s/he takes it to Car Care II’s Detail Shop, located at the rear of the business property.

A complete range of services is available at The Detail Shop, including hand waxing, buffing, scratch removal, carpet and upholstery shampooing, and leather cleaning, to name a few.  They also provide reconditioning services for cars that have been damaged by floor or fire.

The Philosophy

Bob says he’s just always loved taking care of cars.  While he’s not what you would consider a “gearhead,” tinkering with or repairing the engine and mechanical systems, he’s all about a nice looking vehicle and says he just loves the business of maintaining cars.

He thoroughly enjoys working to maintain consistent high quality and helping people preserve their vehicles.  This includes having consultations with clients to design an individual program for them to maintain their vehicles the best way possible.  The program Bob recommends for them depends on factors like whether or not the car is usually garaged, how many different people drive the car, whether or not children are often passengers in the car, how many miles the car is usually driven, etc.  For many people, a vehicle is the second biggest investment they will make, right after a house.  Bob’s goal is to protect that investment to the best of his ability.  He says that depreciation is bad enough… there’s no need to accelerate that by not properly maintaining a car.

He doesn’t consider himself a car wash owner.  Instead, he calls himself an automobile appearance maintenance specialist.  Whatever you call him, he must be pretty good at what he does, since he’s had customers entrust him with their Ferraris, Porsches, Rolls Royces, and even a Maserati.

The Future

Although happy with his current operation, Osiecki admits that an expansion down the road is not out of the question.  He doesn’t know yet when (or even if) that will happen, but he keeps his eyes and ears open for potential opportunities both in and outside of Erie County.

¹ During my conversation with Bob, his cell phone rang twice. This is his ring tone.  Yes, really.