Mr. Clean Takes Car-Wash Gig
Now Procter & Gamble wants to wash your car.
The giant manufacturer of household staples including Pampers diapers, Crest toothpaste and Gillette razors is forging a new business model: franchising car washes.
To jump-start plans for a nationwide chain of Mr. Clean Car Wash franchises, P&G in December acquired the franchise assets of Atlanta-based Carnett’s Car Wash, which has 14 locations.
“We need to look for new opportunities to allow us to grow,” says Bruce Brown, P&G’s chief technology officer. “That isn’t limited to things within our current business model.”
Known for exhaustively testing new ideas, Procter & Gamble has been quietly experimenting with service businesses in recent years. Since 2007, it has operated two Mr. Clean Car Washes near its Cincinnati headquarters.
Professional car washing, which rings up about $35 billion in sales a year in the U.S., according to P&G estimates, won out as the company’s first major franchise push. “We want to blow this out to a national network of car washes,” Brown says.
The car-washing business has a handful of competitive advantages, says Nathan Estruth, vice president of P&G’s FutureWorks, which develops new business ventures. It lacks a dominant national chain, aging baby boomers are reluctant to wash cars themselves and more water-strapped communities are pushing professional car cleaning as a conservation measure.
Photo by Procter & Gamble.
Jaclyn on February 10th, 2009 11:15 am
I have alway’s liked mr. clean products, i think they are some of the best cleaning products out there on the market, however…their prices depending on where you go can be very pricey. so i wonder what the cost of a simple car wash may run you at mr. clean car washes. i think that the cost at regular car washes is a little over the top…so it makes me wonder what mr. clean would charge you.
Dana Keith on February 10th, 2009 2:39 pm
[...] i agree to it! It’s worth the price you can really prove it when you used it already… but the prices are depending on the place that you go…
cassy on February 10th, 2009 3:58 pm
I think 1 thing they used mr. clean is that the name is already there, it already exist and people knows that its a nice products. So when people see Mr. Clean Car Wash, surely they will try it!
John Flynn on February 11th, 2009 6:12 am
I think this is a great idea for the Mr. Clean brand. Car washes are know for being pretty good business models and by adding teh Mr. Clean brand I think it will do very well. They can have 50% off if you shave your head and wear one ear ring day!
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