Rojo Red’s.

Yesterday I went to a car wash called Rojo Red’s. It’s about 10 minutes from my apartment. There are at least 2 other car washes between my apartment and Rojo Red’s. I bet I could clean my car as well at these closer car washes. But I’m loyal to Rojo Red’s.

Rojo Red’s isn’t special upon first glance. You pull up and, by all accounts, it seems like an ordinary self-service car wash.

It has maybe 8 bays outfitted with pressure washer nozzles and foaming brushes, several giant red vacuums, and an air compressor around the building’s side. 

But as you begin to use the different components of the car wash, you notice its charm. It won’t jump out and grab you the way a brand new building with an attention grabbing color scheme might. It won’t try to upsell you with 10 different soap settings on the foaming brush or 10 different interior scents emitting from the vacuum while you use it the way newer corporate car washes do. 

You notice someone cares a lot about this place. 

The equipment is old. My guess is most of it is from the 80’s. But everything works. And even though it all seems to be at least 30 years old, it’s been kept in excellent condition. 

What’s more, everything’s got it’s own little set of instructions. Everywhere you look, there’s a custom-made sign that tells you what to do and how to do it. 

It feels as though there’s a ghost of a man wearing a pair of oil stained overalls, a baseball cap set gently atop his head, and wire rimmed glasses guiding you through each task. That’s a rough description of the way my grandpa looked. And when I’m at Rojo Red’s and when I’m reading that signage, that’s the way it feels.

My grandpa cared about the way I did things. 

Rojo Red’s seems to care about my experience when using their premises.

Who knows if a guy who looks like my grandpa really owns Rojo Red’s. 

But I like to think he does.

And I’ll support a well meaning gentleman just trying to get by in life over a corporatized chain car wash that seeks to maximize profit any day.  

In a way that a chain or franchise simply can’t care about each and every one of its customers, Rojo Red’s does. 

And I care about it, too.