Industry
Newsline

MOTIONS AND PROMOTIONS
American Changer Corporation of Ft. Lauderdale, FL has announced
the appointment of laundry and amusement veteran Leon Cox to inside
sales representative. Cox has over 17 years of sales experience
in the coin-op industry, bringing with him a wealth of product and
industry knowledge.
Mickey Skelton has joined the team of Nashville, TN-based NCW (National
Car Wash LLC). He will lead the company's franchising operations.
Skelton previously held a similar position at Shoney's, Captain
D's, and Corky's BBQ.
CSI's TOP DISTRIBUTORS
Cleaning Systems Inc. of De Pere, WI honored its 2001 top sales
volume distributors at
a distributor meeting held in conjunction with the recent Car Care
World Expo in Chicago.
Top sales volume CSI distributor for 2001 and the Presidential Award
winner was Craig Hanson of WashTech in Charlottesville, VA. The
Gold Award went to Jim Arvin and Bob Schaefer of Non Stop Sales
& Service of Bellingham, MA. Steve Kirkpatrick of Complete Car
Wash in Lincoln, AL received the Silver Award.
Also recognized for their accomplishments in 2001 were the CSI
Shining Star Award winners. These distributors attained the highest
percentage increase in sales over the prior year. Recipients were:
Robert Ramsdell and Pete Benford of Advanced Systems in Marietta,
GA; Mark Robinson of Car Wash Service Express in Stedman, NC; and
Robert Taylor and Moose Tyree of Mid-Tenn Mark VII in Lebanon, TN.
MACE 1Q RESULTS
Mount Laurel, NJ-based Mace Security International Inc. ("Mace")
announced net earnings of $0.03 per share and record EBITDA of over
$2.1 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2002. Revenues
were $11.8 million compared to $12.8 million in the first quarter
of 2001. The decline, the company claims, was largely the result
of a reduction in wash volume due to the divesting of two car washes
in late 2001 and the unusual lack of snow in the Northeast.
Operating income for the first quarter of 2002 increased 27 percent
to $1.6 million from $1.2 million in the same period of 2001. The
company attributes the improvement to an increase in average wash
and detail revenue per car combined with continued control of labor
and other operating costs. Direct labor costs as a percentage of
wash and detail revenues improved from 46.3 percent in the first
quarter of 2001 to 44.9 percent in 2002.
PDQ EARNS EXPORT AWARD
PDQ Manufacturing Inc. of De Pere, WI was one of eight recipients
of the 38th annual Governor's Export Achievement Awards. Charlie
Lieb, the company's president, accepted the award from Governor
Scott McCallum during a recent ceremony held in Milwaukee, WI. The
awards are given to companies that achieved extraordinary results
in international sales or have contributed to Wisconsin's increased
ability to compete in the global markets.
PDQ has 25 international distributors that sell products in more
than 50 countries. Since 1995, the company has experienced double-digit
growth in sales to foreign countries.
NCW OFFERS FRANCHISES
NCW (National Car Wash LLC) operates more than 40 car washes in
Tennessee and Kentucky, distributes a full range of self-service
and in-bay automatic car wash equipment and car wash chemicals,
and is now offering franchise opportunities to prospective car wash
operators.
NCW announced the availability of franchises at the Car Care World
Expo in Chicago and is reporting growing interest. The initial franchise
fee has been set at $25,000 per location with a
royalty fee requirement of 3 percent. For franchising information
call NCW at (866) NCW-WASH or (866) 629-9274 or visit the company's
web site at www.NCWwash.com.
EXACTA DISTRIBUTOR
Can-Am Controls LLC of Arvada, CO has announced that it has been
named the exclusive U.S. distributor of equipment manufactured by
Exacta Controls. Can-Am Controls is owned by well-known car wash
owner/operator and manufacturing veteran Harry Mathews. Exacta has
been manufacturing control systems for the car wash industry for
20 years. Its products include the Excel, Millennium, Excel ST,
and the Excel AV as well as tunnel control systems.
CCA CELEBRATES 20 YEARS
On June 5, the Connecticut Carwash Association (CCA) held its Annual
Membership Meeting, ran its second car wash tour, and celebrated
its 20 years of service to Connecticut car wash operators.
Nearly 60 attended the event that began with a tour of four Hartford-area
washes. The tour ended at the Tall Ship Pier in Hartford where members
boarded the Mark Twain cruise boat for an evening tour up and down
the Connecticut River. The tour included a short business meeting,
dinner and socializing.
During the three-hour cruise Doug Newman, outgoing association
president, was honored for this two years in office and his extensive
work as a CCA member. He was awarded an acrylic plaque by incoming
president Paul Ferruolo. The 2002/2003 CCA officer slate is as follows:
president: Paul Ferruolo of Mr. Sparkle Car Wash in S. Windsor;
vice president: Tom Mathes of Bradley Auto Wash in Windsor Locks;
treasurer: Dan Petrelle of Splash in Riverside. Pulling double duty,
Ferruolo will also serve as secretary.
VIOC ADVANCES
Midway through its fiscal year, Valvoline Instant Oil Change's
(VIOC's) franchise division reported that it has added eight new
franchisees that hold licenses for a total of eight locations and
that it has had 16 franchisee service centers open throughout the
United States. This brings the total number of franchise locations
to 324 and pushes the total system population to 687.
The new franchisees joining VIOC since October 1, 2001 are Bella
Oil Inc. of Island Lake,
IL; Bay Lube Inc. of Marshall, VA; Secor Auto Care LLC of Dundee,
MI; Golden Trout Quick Lube LLC of Eugene, OR; Clark Consultants
Inc. of Winchester, KY; Metrolube Enterprises Inc. of Marlboro,
MA; RNA Enterprises Inc. of Minneapolis, MN; and PM Lube LLC of
Oakton, VA.
VIOC's strategic plan for 2002 calls for the addition of 20 franchisees
and growth of the franchise service-center population to 50 percent
of all VIOC locations. Licenses have already been purchased for
development of another 43 locations and additional opportunities
are available in prime markets throughout the country. Further information
is available by contacting VIOC franchise sales at
(800) 622-6846 or visiting www.viocfranchise.com on the web.
JIM COLEMAN SCHOOL
Jim Coleman Company recently hosted its annual College of Knowledge
Training School at the Jim Coleman Company headquarters located
in Houston, TX. The company offered 26 attending
distributors four days of extensive hands-on training and a wealth
of knowledge on the Water Wizard Touchfree Automatic, self-serve
car wash equipment, the Entry Wizard automatic entry controller,
and the Swipe-N-Clean credit-card acceptor.
Each team of distributors received manuals, service tools, and
a certificate of completion. This special school was introduced
to better inform distributors on servicing the company's product
line for its customers.
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