This car wash manager knows that with all the change in this world everyday, one thing that never changes is the need for a clean car.
| 2019 Q3 | story by writer Emily Mulligan| photos by Steven Hertzog
Ivan Hollins, manager of Auto Plaza Car Wash
Fortunately for Ivan Hollins, self-driving cars are not also self-cleaning, so the future of the car wash business is secure. Even with all the constantly changing trends and technology, a clean car still hasn’t gone out of style. Hollins manages the Auto Plaza Car Wash, a full-service car wash and car detailing business at 2828 Four Wheel Drive, and he sees firsthand that there is still no substitute for a shiny, clean car.
Auto Plaza Car Wash is an independent business and is the longest-running full-service car wash in Lawrence, having operated for more than 30 years. It offers hand washing, hand waxing and car detailing, as well as boat washing and detailing.
Hollins employs both full-time, year-round staff, and part-time and seasonal workers, usually about 30 employees total. Employees typically start off working the car wash line, either vacuuming cars before they go through the wash, or drying and polishing the cars after they have gone through. Most of the time, Hollins staffs the car wash line with 10 employees at a time, and they have opportunity for advancement if they are hard workers.
“I usually hire for detailing from the outside crew. I look for people who are detail oriented and who you don’t have to follow up with a lot, and who have good attendance and work ethic,” he says.
Many of the detailers are full-time, although Hollins hires a lot of students for the car wash from KU and Haskell. He plans the schedule around everyone’s class times and exams, which can be complex for him, but a convenience for the students.
“This is a first job for a lot of employees. I try to make it a fun environment and family friendly. I care about the employees, and they like it here. Some of them will sit and talk to me about personal things, and I kinda like that,” Hollins says, smiling.
Hollins’ father-in-law, Bill STEWART??, opened Auto Plaza Car Wash in January 1995, strategically choosing the location to be proximate to car dealerships and other auto businesses on Four Wheel Drive. Hollins had experience in car detailing, so he helped with that aspect of the business, not knowing it would eventually be his business to run.
“I started out just helping him out, because I had another full-time job, but here I am 24, 25 years later,” he says.
Working staff at Auto Plaza Car Wash
Stewart sold the business to Floyd McMillin in 2007, who kept Hollins on in his same role as the manager.
Hollins says that Stewart’s initial vision of placing the car wash in an automotive “neighborhood” has really paid off over the years. Until more recently, the auto dealers in the area sent almost every used vehicle to Auto Plaza to be detailed before it was sold. Now, most of them have in-house detailing bays, but the dealers still send work to Auto Plaza if it is specialized or if they get behind on their own cars.
The only downside to the location, Hollins says, is that it is a little bit off the beaten path, so people have to seek out Auto Plaza, as opposed to seeing it from the road as they are cruising through town. Hollins says that regardless of the location, their personal attention and ability to offer a range of services sets Auto Plaza apart from its competition.
“Lately, there are lots of washes in town, on every corner. My employees were starting to be worried, and I told them, ‘As long as you guys do what you’re supposed to do, customers will keep coming back,’” he says. “Recently, we won best car wash in Lawrence, so we are keeping it up.”
Hollins tries to greet personally and check in with as many customers as he can, making sure they are satisfied with the wash service.
Even with a longtime, established customer base, Hollins is not one to sit back and wait for business to come to him. He is fully aware that potentially thousands of new customers show up in Lawrence every year in August, so he has many creative marketing tactics aimed at incoming and current KU students and their parents.
Working staff at Auto Plaza Car Wash
Knowing where most of the students’ money comes from, Hollins sells booklets of car washes that KU parents can give to their students to use throughout the school year. He also uses text messages to contact students and parents and bring in repeat business.
He says that the dealerships, mechanics and body shops in the area cross-promote one anothers’ services with referrals, which is a benefit to all. He also makes a point to collaborate with other businesses and swap advertisements to display in prominent locations so that they can cross-promote.
Winter time can be a slower time for the car wash, so Hollins often advertises his detailing services, with special offers, especially during the “slushy” months.
Business has been steady for a long time, yet Hollins is always experimenting with new products and ideas. Innovative products he has adopted for the detailing side of the business include a wheel spray that doesn’t require scrubbing and a manufactured stone that scrapes out pet hair in about half the time of the combing that his detailers used to do.
Working staff at Auto Plaza Car Wash
What hasn’t changed is his high-quality wash system – for now. Hollins maintains most of the mechanical aspects of that himself, with the exception of things like electrical and hydraulics. Eventually, he plans to replace that system, and he is eying the car wash’s interior waiting room for a potential makeover, as well as the exterior pavement. Long-term, car washes will endure, he says.
“The equipment will change some day, but we’ll still be washing cars for a long time, and detailing will be around for a while,” he says.
Customers’ expectations and wishes haven’t changed a lot through the decades, he says. People still derive happiness and a sense of accomplishment from having a vehicle that is clean and neat, both inside and out.
“When a customer says it’s the greatest thing ever, I feel good. The satisfaction on their faces when you’ve done something that pleases someone is why I stayed in the business,” Hollins says.