This Tiger Is Roaring Partners Expand Washes
By Jim and Elaine Norland

Partners Gregg Morgan (left) and Rollie Bartels in front of their Tiger Express with the car that demonstrates how safe their wash process is.

Menu board is on the right, mat cleaners to the left.

In a city housing the main campus of the University of Missouri, the “Tiger” name commands respect. Tiger Car Wash locations around Columbia, MO are earning respect for delivering excellent car washes both at automatic/self-serve locations and at the Tiger Express Wash on the city’s north side.

The black and gold colors of the University’s teams are prominent in each of five — soon to be six — sites. Wash packages at the express conveyor tunnel are named for the Tigers and their mascot. That same location readily helps local high school organizations and other community causes with their fund-raising needs.

Partners Rollie Bartels and Gregg Morgan are expanding their operation by opening an automatic and self-serve location on East St. Charles Road and building a new Tiger Express Wash to open next August on the south side of Columbia. Friends since childhood, they operate as Best Men LLC — they were best men at each other’s weddings.

At Tiger Express Wash on Nebraska Ave., Bartels and Morgan purchased an existing wash in April and reopened it as an improved and speedy ride-through tunnel. That wash offers exterior-only washes priced from $6 to $13 with free vacuums and mat cleaners so drivers can clean the interior of their cars.

The partners already had their feet wet in the business as co-owners of Rangeline Car Wash. Bartels launched that in 1999 with another partner who subsequently sold his interest to Morgan. That wash, on Dinwiddie Circle, has been renamed Tiger Car Wash North. It features a truck wash bay that draws big-volume business from trucks serving two nearby quarries.

Last May, just a month after they purchased Tiger Express Wash, the partners bought an existing wash at 2711 Old 63, re-equipped its automatics and dubbed it Tiger Car Wash South. The wash just completed on the east side of Columbia is Tiger Car Wash East, offering five self-serve bays and two automatics.

Their newest wash, Tiger Express Wash South, will have a 190-foot conveyor in a 250-foot tunnel and will feature not only the latest in exterior cleaning technology but also a water reclaim system expected to recapture and use between 60 and 70 percent of the operation’s water needs. That wash will be located in a high-traffic location near a new Wal-Mart Super Center and other major retailers.

Bartels and Morgan continue to look beyond their present scope of car care services. One possibility is a detail shop with a broad, slow-moving conveyor that might be built on a lot adjoining Tiger Express Wash. Drivers who want added services would exit the express wash tunnel and enter the detail tunnel where a crew could quickly perform services including exterior waxing and other treatments as well as full-service interior cleaning.

The row of yellow vacuum arches makes for an impressive sight.

Towel dispensers and free self-serve vacuums are provided for the customer’s convenience.

The transformation of Tiger Express Wash is an example of improving facilities and services to better fit motorists’ needs. Previously, the wash had just $6, $8 and $10 washes, and lacked extras such as triple polish, tire shine and adequate presoak treatments. The crew used brushes dipped in mop buckets to prep incoming cars. If inclement weather was in the near-term forecast, the wash didn’t even open. Drivers who wanted to use the vacuums as their cars emerged from the tunnel had to pay $1.

Bartels and Morgan got rid of those mop buckets (and the clunk of brushes against cars being prepped), moved the cashier booth, realigned the entrance and added a grass island in the entry area so cars could queue up in orderly fashion. They added a second presoak and incorporated triple polish. Other enhancements for the year-old Peco equipment included Rain-X and tire shine options, free vacuums easily reached from big yellow arches, and a free carpet-mat cleaner.

No matter what level wash package each car is getting, prep is equally thorough for all. “The guys in the bay have no idea what kind of wash the driver is getting,” Bartels explains. A DRB system linked to the cashier controls what wash services are delivered in the tunnel. The cashier and two attendants who do prep work at the tunnel entrance are all the staff needed to run the wash. During slow times, the attendants empty trash cans and do other maintenance chores.

“We remain open if it’s cloudy. If the roads are wet, we may close but if the radar shows we’re going to get sunshine soon, we’ll stay open.”

Tiger Express has a clean-car guarantee, and that will also be embodied in the new, larger express wash to be opened next August. If the driver sees some dirt that wasn’t removed the first time, he or she can immediately drive around and go through again until the car is clean. That applies whether the motorist is buying the $6 Tiger Express, the $9 Tiger Tail, the $11 Truman (named for the Tiger mascot), or the $13 Black and Gold wash.

Each wash customer is handed a damp wiping towel when entering the wash so he or she can wipe down his dash or other areas of the interior while going through the wash. They can keep that cloth with them or turn it in as they leave. If they return the cloth, it’s washed and readied for another customer.

The Tiger Express wash includes two presoaks (one alkaline-based, one acid-based), spot-free rinse, and power drying. The $9 Tiger Tail wash adds underbody cleaning, clear coat, and wheel-bright treatment that removes brake dust.

The $11 Truman wash adds tire shine and triple polish to brighten colors and shine of the vehicle. The top-line Black and Gold wash adds Rain-X treatment and a Wonder Wafer air freshener.

Buyers of the top two wash packages, the Truman or Black and Gold, can also bring their cars back anytime within 48 hours following their wash and get their car cleaned again at no charge.

That return privilege is a popular selling point. Many Tiger Express customers come in on Friday, then go on weekend trips and return late Sunday to get their car recleaned free. “We have people who come in from towns up to 40 miles away to get their cars cleaned while they’re shopping in Columbia,” Bartels notes, “and others who will drive to St. Louis for a weekend football or baseball game and then get that free wash before their work week begins.”

Even the use of the floor-mat cleaner is free.

Because of the previous brush-and-mop-bucket prepping and driver worries about scratched finishes, Bartels and Morgan arranged to have a new dark-colored Suburban or Tahoe prominently displayed in front of Tiger Express, with a sign saying, “This car is washed daily by Tiger Express Wash, courtesy of Perry Chevrolet.” That dealership is right behind the wash. “Drivers can look at that car and reason, ‘Here is a $50,000 vehicle that goes through here every day, and its finish is perfect,’” Bartels says.

The improvements at Tiger Express, including more open hours, made a big difference in wash volume. “We have doubled, nearly tripled, the numbers the previous owners had in June and July, two of the worst months for wash business here,” Bartels says. Average per-car revenue through the wash is $8, but that factors in discounts for house accounts and cars using that 48-hour free wash option. Senior citizens get $2 off on Sunday washes.

Tiger Express has more than 600 house accounts and washes cars for some of the biggest governmental entities in the area. “We do all of the Columbia and University of Missouri police department cars, the fire department and Option Care, as well as at least five dealerships,” Bartels reports. House accounts are available to almost anyone who asks, and those are billed monthly. “About 80 percent of our commercial or house accounts get the Tiger Express wash, reducing their cost to $5.”

Customers also get a loyalty card at Tiger Express, enabling them to build credits toward a free 11th wash at whatever level the driver usually buys. Some 5,000 of those cards have been distributed already, and at the time of our interview, Bartels and Morgan were awaiting another shipment. Cards are presented at the cashier booth, and a printed receipt shows the driver how close he or she is to that complimentary wash. Tiger Express will also promote prepaid gift cards starting this Christmas season.

Best Men LLC, which also owns apartments in Columbia, has been thorough also in improving its freestanding automatic and self-serve washes. Adding power dryers and converting to PDQ units (LaserWash 4000 and M5) in the automatics has grown business there also, tripling previous volume.

The tunnel entrance - where the cleaning process starts.

Using a household coupon service called Doormail, the partners offered a code for a free top-level wash for a five- or seven-day period at the Tiger Wash South. That brought in 220 cars a day for the two automatics. “That lets them know about the automatics, and since those units do a good job, it will bring those first-time visitors back,” says Bartels.

“We use a lot of Doormail as well as newspaper coupons promoting Tiger Express. Doormail goes to about 40,000 homes and 20,000 rental units, and includes coupons for cleaners, steakhouses, our car wash, and other services. We probably get about 15 Doormail (coupons) a day, sometimes 30. We monitor the usage, staple the coupon to the ticket, and tally them up at the end of the day.”

Radio promotion is used creatively and cooperatively with local stations. “I have a live read on a talk show on KSRU on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Bartels reports. “A couple of weeks ago, I called in on a Tuesday and offered $5 off to customers if they said KSRU when they came in. That was at 10 a.m., and by the end of the day we had 40 new customers.”

During July and August of this year, Tiger Express and the owners of a new radio station, Jack FM, cooperated in a similar promotion: Just pull up and say Jack FM and you get half off. “We got about 15 of those a day during a couple of our slowest months, before the students get back into town.”

Bartels and Morgan seem adept at tying into other community interests and audiences and meeting the needs of commercial and retail vehicle owners. Their investment in quality car cleaning — geared to meet motorists’ needs at every level — is assuring Tiger Express and Tiger Car Washes a favorite choice in the Columbia market.

Jim and Elaine Norland are regular contributors to Auto Laundry News.