As Chief Development Officer of CMC and the Mr. Clean Car Wash & Jiffy Lube MultiCare brands, Stuart Williams is actively involved in the growth of the brand and the new sites, which are anticipated to begin opening in droves

Stuart Williams has always been a big believer in the power of leveraging a strong consumer brand to drive success. He’s done it throughout his career, from Golden Corral, to Blockbuster, to Procter & Gamble, to his own entrepreneurial efforts.

Now, he is bringing that to the expansion efforts of the Mr. Clean Car Wash brand.

“We’re fortunate to have a brand that P&G spends millions of dollars on every year in building brand equity,” Williams said. “When you’re coming to a market and you’re opening up a new car wash and nobody knows who you are, the Mr. Clean brand will resonate with consumers.”

Williams is the Chief Development Officer at Carnett’s Management Company (CMC) and the Mr. Clean Car Wash & Jiffy Lube MultiCare brands (previously the CEO of Mr. Clean Car Wash). Going forward, the company has big plans to grow by shifting its model and leveraging that strong consumer goods brand.

“We’re accelerating very fast, with plans to open locations monthly,” Williams said. “Our goal is to grow the Mr. Clean Car Wash brand as quickly and as thoughtfully as we can.”

That’s made possible because of the structure of the CMC businesses, which contain three verticals: Mr. Clean Car Wash (& Jiffy Lube MultiCare); Genesis Modular Car Wash Building Systems; and ACES Automotive & Equipment Services.

“Because of the breadth of our business structure, we can have things rolling early, and the only real slowdown is getting the permitting and COVID related delays, of course,” Williams said. “So, when it shows up on site, you put the building together within a few weeks, then Operations steps in and prepares to open. We really can push the envelope with our speed to market.”

According to Williams, Mr. Clean Car Wash plans to do more than just new builds. The plan is to grow in multiple ways with conversions and partnerships, sensible acquisitions and franchise opportunities.

At the core, is a plan to leverage brand equity in ways that have not been used before. “Before P&G got into the business back in 2009, it had done a tremendous amount of analysis and research diving into the car wash consumer. P&G has developed its own ‘consumer market knowledge’ analytics and has insights into our guests and how to reach them, especially those that have an allegiance to the Mr. Clean parent brand,” Williams said. “We have some really fun and exciting things coming.”

This plan is not exactly new. In 2009, P&G was poised to push the Mr. Clean Car Wash brand to a national level. But just like in comedy, timing is everything.

On the heels of a major economic downturn, the national brand concept never got the traction it needed, as P&G decided that the business was too complex and with the ultimate variable, weather.

But Bruce Arnett Jr., Bruce Arnett Sr. and the CMC team believed in the idea. They acquired the license after a four-year relationship (P&G wholly owned subsidiary, Agile Pursuits), to use the Mr. Clean brand and have operated under the moniker for about seven years. Now, they are ready to expand.

What changed? Everything.

“In the last 5-6 years, there’s been a major shift in the market, as we are all aware,” Williams said. “It has taken time to really be ready for it, but the explosion of the Express Exterior model, which we added to the mature locations, and now we’re shifting our growth into a new model to focus on providing Express Exterior with a built-in Flex option.”

Consider the reduced labor requirements for an Express Exterior, the high-volume potential, the reduced footprint required, and suddenly it becomes a little easier to grow.

In the last several years, there is also a major shift toward the adoption of subscription models in the industry, which reduces the impact of one of the key variables in the business: weather.

Remember timing?

Experience also matters. While working on the Tide Dry Cleaners expansion, Williams grew the franchise and corporate concept from three test stores to more than 140 locations and now the second-largest in the country. A new Mr. Clean Car Wash Car Wash CEO, Phillip O’Reilly, has been brought on very recently who brings a wealth of leadership, team and culture building from outside the industry.

“I get up every day and I love coming to work because it’s not working for me. It’s about building something that’s much bigger than all of us,” Williams said. “We are providing something great for not just our organization and associates, but our consumers, guests and the industry as well. I couldn’t be more excited!”