Car care product supplier expands to Detail Garage retail franchise model

Sept. 12, 2017
Chemical Guys, a supplier in a 300,000-square-foot facility hosting its own Smart Detailing University, is expanding its global reach through Detail Garage retail franchises aimed at imparting detailing knowledge to a walk-in car-buffing customer base.

Many trainers will tell you that it’s all in the details, and this adage is especially true when learning how to detail a vehicle.

Chemical Guys, a Gardena, Calif.-based supplier in a 300,000-square-foot facility hosting its own Smart Detailing University, specializes in providing a complete educational program for professional detailers along with marketing its line of car care products.

The company is further expanding its global reach through Detail Garage retail franchises aimed at imparting detailing knowledge to a walk-in car-buffing customer base.

Established in 2008, more than a dozen Detail Garages are up and rubbing in California, Utah, Hawaii and Florida, with locations pending in Las Vegas, Houston and Charlotte, N.C.

Appearance-obsessed owners of new and used cars are patronizing the establishments to glean the latest DIY detailing techniques while purchasing the necessary materials for maintaining their prized vehicles in showroom condition.

“Detail Garage is built under the premise that when you create a destination people will come from far and near because what you have is not a brand – it’s a lifestyle,” explains Paul Schneider, the co-founder of Chemical Guys – and its proprietary Smartwax Torq, Hex-Logic and Detail Garage lines – along with David Knotek. Each store “brings together the perfect blend of products, tools, accessories and education combined with passionate people that show the world how to shine.”

“It’s a gathering place in your community where people go for expert advice,” adds National Franchising Manager Chad Zani.

Additional franchisees are being actively recruited, including those who are interested in opening overseas locations.

“We already have international distributors for our products, and a lot of them are wanting to get on board with a Detail Garage,” says Zani.

Echoing Schneider, Zani points out that for franchising candidates under consideration “the biggest qualification is passion – you have to be passionate about all things car care.”

The company said it offers franchisees exclusive territories, marketing & advertising guidance and support, brand recognition, industry research & trend reports, comprehensive initial and ongoing product & industry training, plus sales tools & management plans originating from “our proven business model and the successful results of our product testing and research.”

A $25,000 Detail Garage franchise fee includes the $4,000 tuition for two people to attend a weeklong, certification-granting Master Training Course at Smart Detailing University (SDU).

Taught by experienced professionals, SDU’s curriculum encompasses subjects such as overall detailing procedures, high-speed buffing and polishing, proper use of chemicals, headlight restoration, windshield repair and sales & marketing strategies geared toward assisting entrepreneurs interested in opening a detailing and reconditioning service.

“Any franchisee in the course gets a slightly altered program,” says Zani, “because they’re operating a business” that requires enhanced retail management expertise and customer relations skills.

No more than six students are enrolled in each class to offer individualized attention; customized courses for specific clients are available as well.

SDU/Chemical Guys also hosts 700 instructional clips on YouTube. “People can learn an awful lot just by looking at the YouTube videos, but there’s nothing like hands-on experience” to properly learn the finer points of professional detailing and product retailing, he notes.

Focus on the products

“You can go into any auto parts store in America and be left to fend for yourself,” says Zani, emphasizing that meeting and greeting each customer and offering advice in a friendly manner are important components along with conducting in-house product demonstrations, instructional sessions and other events amid a relaxed atmosphere.

Yet ringing up car care product sales is the overriding goal. “It’s exclusively car care products,” he says. “There are no wiper blades or engine oil.”

Carrying merchandise outside of the Chemical Guys family is a possibility if the proffer meets the company’s standards. “We have our own manufacturer in China that we have an exclusive agreement with, but some of the products we sell are not manufactured by us.” If a product pitch seems promising, “we would test it, and if we think it looks good it would get the green light.”

Averaging 2,500 square feet, with the smallest measuring 1,600 square feet, the stores are gleaming and the employees present a neat appearance. Locations are positioned in high-traffic, retail-oriented “community centers” rather than sited in industrial areas of town where rugged repair shops tend to reside.

“Part of my role in supporting the franchisees is supporting them in selecting the facilities,” Zani says. “The key for us is that the building has adequate parking, and the parking lot allows us to do events.” “Show ‘n’ Shine” and “Cars ‘n’ Coffee” are among the out-front activities.

One such event at Detail Garage Los Angeles in Gardena was an All-Toyota Detailing Tech Day and Car Meet. “It was an awesome turnout of Toyota and Lexus owners who came out to learn about the best tips and tricks at keeping their car looking its best. Tech Days at Detail Garage are great because not only do you get to meet with other auto enthusiasts, but you also get some tips and detailing knowledge while you attend.”

Twice a month each store teaches a basic course and an advanced course to help local car owners take better care of their vehicles.

“We’d love to see an old gas station repurposed, but we haven’t found one yet” with the desired space and other attributes, according to Zani. The properties can’t be too big or too small, and the sites need to be in well-populated communities possessing suitable economic demographics, as in people who own nice vehicles and are willing to spend some money to keep them looking that way.

“We have a couple of potential franchisees who operate body shops who want to dedicate half of their space for a Detail Garage,” Zani reports. Acceptance of these proposals is dependent upon the attractiveness of the site and ownership’s willingness to devote the proper amount of resources to hands-on, customer-centric car care retailing instead of serving as a sideline to fixing vehicles up on the rack.

Existing detailing businesses are less likely to be awarded a franchise for similar reasons – the proprietor shouldn’t be distracted and disconnected while contorted inside a cabin scrubbing an air vent with a toothbrush. “We want our franchisees to focus on the products, not detailing cars,” says Zani.

“The Detail Garage franchise is more than a store, it is a destination,” he declares. “It is a community of people who care about cars.”

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