Brothers Lex and Rene Peters began their ANAC careers as mechanics, but they knew their future would take them farther than the grease and tools of the workshop.

And it did — all the way to the owners’ office.

Founded in 1940 as a family business in the Netherlands, ANAC Group originally specialized in seeds and flour, but as the road in front of the store began to see more and more traffic, the original owners added a gas station in 1965. A few years later, the business added a workshop – where the Peters brothers worked — along with three self-serve car wash bays.

The brothers took over the business in 1985, and in 1992 built a new gas station and their first tunnel car wash. Today, the ANAC Group includes 13 wash locations — 10 of which are located in the Netherlands and three in Belgium — and three locations also include a gas station. Along with the car washes and gas stations, ANAC also includes a go-kart track and a self-storage business.

“The [original] car wash was German-made, constructed from steel with machines that were powered by electricity and nylon brushes,” Lex said. The two weren’t happy with the constant maintenance of the machines and brushes, and they decided to build a new car wash based on what they were seeing in America. “This car wash was built from stainless steel, with hydraulic machines and textile brushes,” he said.

Tinkering with new technology and trying what others around the world were doing helped Lex and Rene become enamored with the car wash side of the business.

“We hardly called ourselves car wash operators,” Lex said. “The car wash virus first struck us when we started optimizing the techniques that we were unsatisfied with. Manually adapting and optimizing factory-made machines and wash equipment for our car wash is what got – and keeps — our car wash juices flowing.”

Learning from others and keeping up with ever-changing methods and technology keeps the brothers immersed in the industry.

“Our industry is still full of possibilities and chances to further develop and improve the way we do business,” Lex said. “The Dutch market and the American market are completely different; therefore, there are many areas where we can and are learning from each other. Where our market has mainly focused its efforts on technically perfecting car washes, American car wash operators have further developed car wash showmanship. This interplay will result in more showmanship and better employee training in the Dutch car wash market and more technically advanced washes in America.”

An advancement the brothers foresee for the Dutch market is the move toward full service, with a mass production interior cleaner on a conveyor belt.

“In December 2014, ANAC introduced a buffing machine on the interior cleaning conveyor belt,” Lex said. “The introduction of our new interior service was an instant success, with 30 percent (approximately 60,000) of our customers choosing this extra option at our location in Nijmegen (Netherlands) last year. Dutch people are not used to services like valet parking, and they generally don’t like others driving their cars. Consequently, our customers stay in their car during the wash process and drive their car on and off the interior conveyor belt themselves.”

The brothers said that two more of their Dutch locations will be upgraded with an interior cleaning service like the Nijmegen location this year. “We are also working on further expanding and opening new locations in Belgium,” Lex said.

And as the duo gets more and more involved with the industry, they envision goals for the car wash workforce.

“What we personally find challenging about our industry is that car wash employees don’t get the respect they deserve,” Lex said. “Our industry is lacking a collective educational and training program to improve the value our employees can add to other industries and our customers.”

This innovation and dedication to serving customers is key to the ANAC Group’s success.

“Like in any industry, customer focus is crucial,” Lex said. “It is of utmost importance to stay on the edge and to keep on innovating. By doing so, we can keep doing more and better than what is expected and pleasantly surprise our customers.”

Rene and Lex Peters started out as mechanics at ANAC Group and now own the Netherlands-based company.

Inside one of ANAC Group’s washes; the 13-location company also includes a go-kart business.