In early 2005, two iconic car wash industry equipment entities became one when the Jim Coleman Company acquired the assets of the Hanna brand of conveyor car wash equipment. The Jim Coleman Company had begun to see a change in the car wash industry — the move from the self-service segment to the conveyor/tunnel segment after the introduction of the Express Wash concept. Customers were washing their vehicles without leaving the vehicles — providing convenience, security and savings.
“There were a couple avenues we could have taken to get into the tunnel business,” said Coleman Company President Russell Coleman. “One was to develop our own line; another was to acquire a manufacturer.”
The Jim Coleman Company was founded in 1966 as a two-person operation, later becoming one of the largest and most respected OEM names in self-serve and automatics.
In the early 1960s, Dan Hanna, an innovative pioneer in the conveyor market, built the Hanna Carwash brand into the most recognizable and respected OEM names in tunnel equipment.
Coleman said the decision to purchase Hanna was because of their well-known brand name.
“They fit into our plan very well,” Coleman said.
This merge brought together one of the largest self-service manufacturers in the industry with the best-known name in the conveyor/tunnel business. While both companies were well-respected, it took some time for them to get used to working together.
“Our cultures weren’t that much different, and both wanted to build the best line of equipment that would be well-liked and trusted in the industry,” Coleman said. Because both companies had the same goal — creating high quality, reliable products — the management teams were well-aligned.
“Both companies came from an entrepreneurial car wash background,” Coleman said. “That made for an easier transition.”
In October 2012, the companies went through another merger when they were acquired by Ed O’Hanrahan of Galloway Chemical Division. Galloway Chemical had been producing a full line of car wash chemicals while designing, building and servicing hundreds of automatic, self-serve and tunnel car washes in Florida since 1962.
“Ed brings a lot of expertise to our business and helps us better understand and apply the chemical process to our products,” Coleman said. “We have the most complete product line of any manufacturer in the world.”
And that means success.
“The growth we’re experiencing now is taking us back to the good times,” Coleman said. “It’s been very refreshing, after all the downturns the industry went through, to finally be on the upswing. With the comprehensive product line we have, there are so many more opportunities — it’s been very good.”
Ted Winchester, vice president of sales and marketing, echoed that statement. “Everyone is better off now than they were a year ago,” Winchester said. “Our suppliers, distributors and vendors — we’re all so much better off. And that means we’re having more fun.”
Winchester joined the organization in May 2013 with more than 40 years of industry experience.
“I was extremely excited when Ed contacted me to join him and Russell. I knew very well that Coleman and Hanna had tremendous brand recognition,” Winchester said. “Coleman and Hanna are two of the oldest companies in the industry. I was amazed at how much intricate manufacturing the Coleman Company did when I joined. This company is a full-line manufacturer with many, many products.”
The company’s success has also helped to strengthen employee morale. When most companies go through multiple mergers and acquisitions, employee morale can be worn thin. For Coleman Company and Hanna, employees were skeptical of how the acquisition might affect them.
“Whenever there is something new, there will be skepticism,” Winchester said. Their management teams worked together to reiterate that all of the companies had the same goal: creating quality products that would be well-received by the industry. Employees turned their skepticism into positive action.
“We didn’t have many personnel changes,” Coleman said. “The culture of our company hasn’t changed much — Ed has the same business philosophy we always did: build the most reliable, quality equipment for the industry. Our partnership with Ed has allowed us to grow and increase inventory, which has resulted in a number of sales successes. That’s helped to boost employee morale even more.”
The company’s mission to continually provide the best equipment is apparent.
“We’re improving our products every opportunity we get — we don’t have a timeframe on our improvement,” Coleman said. “We’re always looking at new technology for possible improvements. For example, in the tunnel business, we’re looking at washing with cloth or textile, and we also look at foam. As manufacturers create new materials, we test them to see how we could improve the wash process. We’re always asking ourselves, ‘How can we make changes to make it more reliable and improve the cleaning capability of the equipment?’”