Shop Talk: In the grimiest season, an Anchorage business that still washes cars by hand

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 7

Customers wait their turn near the entry to Big Corner Car Wash on March 15, 2018. Melting snow means and increase in business at the Big Corner Car Wash, located on the corner of Minnesota Drive near Northern Lights Boulevard. (Marc Lester / ADN)

This is an installment of Shop Talk, an occasional series of interviews with business owners and managers in Alaska, typically focusing on the state economy and how it is affecting them.

Hubcaps hang on the wall and colorful blinking string lights line the tunnel at the Big Corner Car Wash, located at the Shell station at Minnesota Drive and Northern Lights Boulevard.

This time of year, when melting snow makes Anchorage into one big, grimy slush puddle, vehicles line up for car washes done by hand. Big Corner has a staff of nine, and during breakup season they're ready for busy days.

Robert Webb, one of the managers, talked to the Anchorage Daily News about the business.

So it seems like it's probably a good season for you guys right now?

Yeah, right now it's just starting to pick up. We're pretty slow in the wintertime, but breakup season, we get real busy. We usually have about 100 to 200 cars a day.

Yesterday we only had, like, 11 cars the whole day. But now that it's sunny out we've had 11 already this morning since 8 a.m. (by 11 a.m.). Probably next week if the weather holds, all of the guys are going to be pulling 12-hour shifts, no days off. In breakup time we'll have cars that are lined up all the way around to Minnesota Drive.

So is the busiest season during March and April?

March, April, beginning of May, and it'll stay pretty steady throughout the summer. We get a lot of the tourists and people with classic cars and stuff that come in. We do interiors, too, so it's not just washing cars.

We had an old 1970s model Porsche come in the other day. We get Vipers, we get old Mustangs. In the summertime we get a lot of the Lexuses and BMWs and stuff. We pretty much rely on the tips. In the springtime, on a slow day, we'll go home with, like, $100 in tips in our pockets.

We only have one dryer at a time, and they've gone home with, like, $400 a day in tips. … When it's real busy, a lot of the guys will even forget to cash their checks because, in the breakup, they'll have so much money in their pockets.

How has the state economy (in the current recession) affected you guys?

Business — a few years back, it used to be a lot busier, more steady. With the way things are now, we, like I said, we get days like yesterday where we only had 11 cars. So, it affects us.

The owner used to have a mobile detailing business out of here and he did away with that because he just can't afford it anymore.

I'm curious how you guys compete with places like Alaska Laser Wash, places that are automated?

Our prices have been set for years. … When it's real busy, people that just want a quick wash, they'll go to the Laser and stuff. … A lot of people will take the time and just wait in line to come here if they want a good job.

So sounds like those types of places aren't that much of a threat to you guys?

No. I mean, we have, like, return customers that are here constantly, too, and we don't do really any advertising anymore. Everything is word of mouth.

Do people typically want more basic stuff, or more detailing?

It's a mixture. … A lot of people with kids and their kids have destroyed their cars. And they're like, "I just want it clean." … And like, we have a contract with the Municipality of Anchorage, they bring all their vehicles in, the police come in, the post office right behind us, their vehicles come in.

Right now, (people) are like, "We just want the basic wash because we'll be back tomorrow." During breakup time, they'll come in and by the end of the day, their car is so dirty that first thing in the morning, they're back again.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and brevity.