Miriam Gottfriend: The drive throughout the arc of car wash history has been to reduce the number of people who needed to be involved in washing a car. And with driving taking off in the '20s, '20s, and '40s, these car wash businesses looked for ways to automate. Kate Linebaugh: Pulling cars on a chain and physically washing them, that meant paying a lot of people. You know, there were all different stages of this innovation process. Miriam Gottfriend: And push them through or pull them through on a chain. Miriam Gottfriend: At the very early, early phase of car wash history, they might have 10 or 12 people who would have to actually physically wash the cars or dry the cars Car laundries crop up in all major cities and, with crews constantly scrubbing and rubbing, dusty car came clean in one minute. In regular auto laundry cars go from bath to shower and then get additional hosing down. They date back to 1914 when two guys from Detroit set up what was then called an automobile laundry. Coming up on the show, why private equity is buying up American car washes.Ĭar washes are nearly as old as cars themselves. Kate Linebaugh: Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business and power. You don't think, oh, what if this car wash is owned by private equity? But chances are these days it is because it's such a popular investment for private equity. Miriam Gottfriend: Driving around the street, you go to the car wash. Kate Linebaugh: And this evolution has caught the attention of a very different industry. And the machines do everything that you paid for. There's one person standing there who gives you the thumbs up when you're ready to go and makes sure your wheel is in the conveyor. Miriam Gottfriend: You pay by sticking your card in a machine, you pay for whichever type of wash you want. She remembers her parents going inside to pay a cashier and after they'd head out of the car wash a swarm of employees would dry the car and wax it. Kate Linebaugh: In those days, car washes were different. And then you get to watch all the brushes sweeping over the window and you come out clean. You get to like line up your wheel onto the conveyor and then you put it in neutral and you just kind of like let it go through. Miriam Gottfriend: You know, it's so fun. Miriam Gottfriend: I actually have a friend who, when he was a kid, he wanted to go to the car wash every year for his birthday and so we would go to the car wash for his birthday. Kate Linebaugh: But Miriam does have some memories of going to the car wash as a kid. I own a Vespa, which I would not recommend taking through a car wash, Kate Linebaugh: Our colleague Miriam Gottfried never goes to the car wash. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated. This transcript was prepared by a transcription service.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |