Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 12, December 2003

Copyright 2003 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

Brown Bear car wash chain back

under original management

By CLAYTON PARK

As a former Marine, Vic Odermat's personal motto is "Semper Fidelus" always faithful.

So it frustrates him when he makes a promise that he can't keep.

That happened, through no fault of his own, when he agreed in November 1995 to turn over the operation of the Brown Bear Car Wash chain and to lease its sites to a company called Tosco Refining and Marketing Company. He did so with the understanding that Tosco had big plans to expand the regional car wash business he started in 1962 into a West Coast-wide chain, which would in turn provide his former employees with better opportunities than he could offer.

Tosco's plans for Brown Bear failed to materialize however because shortly after its acquisition of the car wash chain, its attention turned to its purchase of the Circle K convenience store chain, immediately followed by its acquiring of Unocal, operators of Union 76 gas stations. Then Tosco itself got acquired by Phillips Petroleum, when in turn merged with Conoco.

"All of a sudden, Brown Bear you couldn't see with a microscope," Vic Odermat said, recalling his frustration. "All the promises they (Tosco) told me about, the opportunities they would offer my employees evaporated. I took them at their word and they didn't fallow through, so there was a problem."

On Sept. 30, Vic Odermat rectified that problem by regaining control of the Brown Bear Car Wash chain from ConocoPhillips, including all 28 locations throughout the Puget Sound region.

Vic Odermat will also move the headquarters of his business, Car Wash Enterprises, back to its former longtime site in an office building next to the Brown Bear Car Wash along Leary Way in the Fremont neighborhood.

This time around, however, Odermat will share management responsibilities for the car wash chain with his son, Lance, 32, who is now vice president of Car Wash Enterprises.

Lance said he is being groomed to eventually take over the business from his father,who is now in his early 70s, but quickly added, "Make now mistake about it, my dad is still the president. He's still the captain of the ship. In fact, he spends more hours now working than he did 20 years ago. He loves going to work everyday."

Vic said one of the reasons he decided to resume ownership of the Brown Bear chain was because his son, an attorney who formerly had his own law practice, let him know of his interest to join him in the car wash business. "If he hadn't joined the business, I wouldn't have taken the Brown Bear business back. Now he has the same dedication to the business that I have."

For Vic Odermat, the car wash business has had a special fascination for him ever since he glimpsed one for the first time back in the early 1950s, while he was an officer in the Marines visiting Washington, D.C.

After ending his career in the military, Odermat got a job with Union Oil Co., but got laid off after only a couple of years, despite having been assured a few months earlier by a supervisor that his job was safe.

"I told myself, I'd never ever work for another company," Odermat recalled. Instead of looking for a job, he decided to become a business owner, taking over a gas station in the Interbay area. He bought a nearby car wash business soon after and moved the equipment to his gas station, which he promptly dubbed Brown Bear Car Wash, a nod to his days as a youth growing up in Alaska.

He eventually added a second location in West Seattle and then a location in North Seattle at N. 117th Street and Aurora Avenue N a business formerly known as Rub-A-Dub Car Wash.

In the early 1970s, he moved the headquarters of his business to Fremont.

His two children, daughter Susan and son Lance, both got involved in the business when they were growing up, with Susan working as a part-time cashier and Lance doing a number of tasks, from helping to wash cars to delivering chemicals with his dad to various Brown Bear locations. Eventually, Lance recalls, his dad started teaching him the ropes of running the business as well.

Now that the Odermat family has regained control of the Brown Bear business, Susan will serve as an advertising consulting for Brown Bear in addition to spearheading the company's charitable endeavors. Brown Bear Car Wash, for example, is a sponsor of the Brown Bear exhibit in the Northern Trail section of the Woodland Park Zoo.

Lance will serve as vice president and general counsel. Vic Odermat's wife, Mary, will also resume an active role in the company and civic affairs.

Several of Odermat's former longtime employees will also join the senior management team: Tom North has been named general manager and will oversee day-to-day operations. North held the same position from 1975 to 1995. Others resuming management positions include Jeff Knutson, George Hobson, Steve Palmer, Darren Bruno and Omar Molinari.

Car Wash Enterprises employs a total of 300 employees and operates 28 Brown Bear car wash locations, 14 of which also sell gasoline under the "76" brand. Eighteen of the locations are automated car washes, with the rest self-serve. CWE also operates a car wash in Tacoma and four in Spokane under the name Bubble Machine.

The Odermats say they plan to expand the Brown Bear chain by adding one to two locations a year. They also plan to change the signs to give the chain a more updated look and will upgrade the equipment at several locations. Brown Bear employees are also now once again wearing white shirts and ties, just as they did when the Odermats originally ran the business.

"We have a very strict dress code," said Lance. "We require our employees to be groomed a certain way. The car wash industry as a whole has suffered an image problem in terms of not being viewed as professional."

Lance said Brown Bear will also undergo pricing changes designed to make the experience have going to a car wash more affordable.

"The do-it-yourself driveway carwasher is our biggest competitor right now," said Lance. "Our goal is to make car washing at Brown Bear an affordable luxury much like getting a latte at Starbucks."

Lance said there are also other reasons why the people should consider going to a professional car wash as opposed to washing their cars at home. "For one thing, do-it-yourselfers waste water that goes directly into storm drains and can have a detrimental effect on the environment. It can be harmful to fish in creeks and local waterways," he said. At Brown Bear locations, "our water goes into a sanitary sewer. We have a lot of regulations that we have to adhere to in how we dispose of our waste water," he says.

"Also studies have shown than hand-washing your car at home can be much harsher on your car's surface and paint."

Lance also added that Brown Bear under his family's ownership has switched chemical suppliers and now uses car wash chemicals specially designed with the Northwest weather in mind.

"We're putting Humpty Dumpty back together again," said Vic Odermat.