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Controversial Amos Leads P&G to Launch Mr. Clean Car Wash Franchise Nationwide

Posted Thu, 2009/02/05 - 22:14 by Don Sniegowski

CINCINNATI (Blue MauMau) - The global developer of branded consumer goods such as Crest toothpaste, Tide detergent, and Ivory soap has decided that it is high time the firm became involved in selling franchises nationwide, starting with car washes.

Since 2007 P&G has tested two company-owned car washes near its head office in Cincinnati, Ohio. As more cash-strapped shoppers shy away from purchases, P&G is looking at new models of revenue and capital. It has decided that it needs franchise experience and so it has identified expertise in car washing and franchising to lead it.

P&G has created Agile Pursuits Franchising Inc. And its first acquisition is Carnett's car wash franchise company, an Atlanta-based chain with a national reputation for car wash excellence. Leading Agile Pursuits' car wash business is Bruce Arnett, Sr., who launched and led the Carnett's business with his son, Bruce Arnett, Jr. They bring a combined half century of car wash leadership, and will be CEO and COO respectively of Mr. Clean Car Wash, reporting to a board of executives and external franchising experts who will oversee the franchising efforts.

With the two company-owned car washes and the fourteen Carnett's operations, Mr. Clean Car Wash starts off with 16 franchises.


Jim Amos/Source P&G

Jim Amos, Chairman of P&G's Franchising Efforts

Jim Amos, chairman and CEO of Tasti D-Lite, former chairman and CEO of Mail Boxes Etc. (now The UPS Store) and past chairman of the International Franchise Association (IFA) will be chairman of P&G's franchising board.

Mr. Amos's bio at P&G can be accessed here

"Jim brings expertise and leadership in franchising," said Nathan Estruth, vice president of P&G FutureWorks. "So we have brought in someone with a proven record in franchising, and with the Arnetts we have a tandem of proven winners in the car wash industry. When you combine this with Mr. Clean and P&G's record as the world's largest brand builder, we have established a triad of leadership and expertise to build the first successful national car wash franchise system."

But Mr. Amos has had a colorful history with franchise owners. His name creates numerous strong reactions from self-declared franchise owners on the franchise blogosphere. There is also a history of litigation with I Can't Believe It's Yogurt and Sona Medspa.

The Wall Street Journal reported, "franchise guru James Amos notes that the franchise industry typically grows during economic slowdowns. With more people out of work, 'there's a larger pool of franchise candidates,' says Mr. Amos, chairman of P&G's franchising-subsidiary board."

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Franchise Experts at Work

There already are areas that look not quite spot on, which is an unusual thing for giant conglomerate P&G, known for its thoroughness.

The title to Procter & Gamble's press release invites franchise buyers, stating, "P&G's Mr. Clean Car Wash Accepting Franchise Applications Nationwide." Mike Foster, a director in P&G's FutureWorks division which works in franchising, also chimes in, "Agile Pursuits is now accepting franchise applications nationwide."

But not so fast, especially when it comes to states that require franchise registration, such as the Golden State. Mark Leyes, Director of Communications for California's Department of Corporations, says that P&G and its franchising entities' registration cannot be found with the state. Referring to the illegal practice of offering franchises to California residents without first being registered, Leyes declares, "They have not approached us yet for franchise registration. If Mr. Clean Car Wash announces it wants to sell to franchise buyers in California, they will need to register first."

Franchise attorneys often argue that if the small, straightforward points of law like registration are applied slipshod, one wonders about the big points.

Besides any fine legal point, there is a profound concern by some experts on choosing the car wash model to franchise. Nick Bibby, franchise consultant, offers the following: “Many companies have tried franchising in the car wash segment, but I’m not familiar with any that have built up much of a network. Carnetts, for example, has been franchising since 1998, but has 14 franchised locations standing after 11 years of marketing its brand. Some businesses seem better suited to local independent operations than to franchised operations because it is more cost effective to directly purchase equipment, training and support from a manufacturer than to become involved with a long-term, royalty charging franchisor that is most likely reselling equipment from the same OEM’s available to independent buyers. There are lots of complexities involved here.”

The next thing P&G's Agile Pursuits Franchising is looking at is to test market three Tide dry-cleaning units in Kansas City to ready the concept for franchising.

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