Breeze Thru Car Wash

Breeze Thru Car Wash is a car wash chain headquartered in Fort Collins, CO with 13 locations up and down the Front Range from Cheyenne, WY to Longmont, CO, and one more additional location on the way. Most Breeze Thru locations offer express exterior washes and free vacuums while locations in Greeley and Longmont offer express interior cleaning and another location in Greeley offers a buff-in wax tunnel.

Breeze Thru Car Wash was founded by John Agnew in 2007 with the original location at Mulberry St. and Lemay Ave. in Fort Collins. The chain is now lead by president Justin Salisbury and an ownership group of seven individuals. Breeze Thru employs over 200 people at its 13 locations and Fort Collins headquarters.

Character

Breeze Thru Car Wash's mission is to "empower and trust the right people to be successful in their role by washing a lot of cars." The focus of Breeze Thru is thus the personal and professional growth of their employees and washing cars is just the vehicle (pun intended) for achieving that goal. Working at a car wash is traditionally thought of as a part-time job for teenagers. By contrast, Breeze Thru offers a chance for employees to not just have a job, but also to start building the skills and stability necessary for a real career, whether that's with Breeze Thru or some other organization.

Breeze Thru is based on two core values, Professional and Friendly, that break down into specific behaviors:

• Professionalism

  • Respect

  • Responsibility

  • Honesty

  • Hard Work

• Friendly

  • Smile

  • Positive Attitude

Not only are these core values foundational to the high level of customer service that Breeze Thru provides, they are also useful in just about any career, making them highly portable and more valuable to employees.

Culture

Breeze Thru makes a point to offer very good benefits for the car wash industry to attract and retain employees. By the time an employee has worked one year with Breeze Thru, they have paid sick time, paid vacation time, medical/dental/vision insurance, and a 401k with a company match. This helps to reinforce ideas of taking care of oneself to be the best they can at work and saving for the future. Breeze Thru creates career Journey Maps for all employees as well, so employees can see where they stand, what they need to improve on, and what the next steps are to reach their career goals.

The signature benefit that Breeze Thru offers employees is subsidized employee housing. Located at their Fort Collins headquarters, the company offers 10 one-bedroom apartments. Rent is deducted from an employee's paycheck and no upfront security deposit is taken. A portion of the rent is set aside as a security deposit each month, which the employee then receives to take with them when they move out to use for the next apartment. This helps employees navigate the challenging Fort Collins housing market while also providing an easier start to people who may be living on their own for the first time.

Customers

Breeze Thru is constantly reinvesting in technology and employee training to make the customer experience better. The company regularly evaluates all new wash technology to see if it makes sense to upgrade their locations. Technology upgrades are regular whether that be the brushes and sprayers that wash the car, the conveyer belts that pull cars through the wash tunnel, or the kiosk where customers purchase washes or scan their wash passes.

Breeze Thru is also the first ever car wash worldwide to be ISO 9001 certified. ISO 9001 is a quality management standard set and certified by the International Organization for Standardization. The ISO 9001 standard focuses on quality management principles, including customer focus, management’s motivations and process approach, and continual improvement. This is a powerful outside validation of the company's commitment to quality and customer experience.

Community

Breeze Thru Car Wash's community contributions are probably most recognizable from the car wash fundraisers they hold in partnership with local organizations. Members of the organization come to a car wash location for a day and help to draw in customers with signs and dancing while receiving a portion of the sales for that day. In addition, Breeze Thru has its own community contribution budget where employees and management collaborate to pick local causes to provide with in-kind or financial donations or volunteering.

Breeze Thru also sees itself as a leader in the car wash industry. Breeze Thru management makes it a point to speak regularly in public and at industry events about their company culture and practices as a role model for a high-quality, ethical car wash.

Breeze Thru's commitment to ethics is highlighted throughout everything the company does but most notably in how it helps nurture and prepare employees for the future. The attention, care, and investment in employees working a job that is often short-term or temporary is unique in the car wash industry. This then translates into quality service at an ever-expanding number of locations which have made Breeze Thru one of the most recognizable and trusted car wash companies in the region.