By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Everyone has a calling in life and for Brian Hill and Steve Schmidt, it is clear they were destined to be entrepreneurs.
Hill grew up in Florida and Schmidt was a 1983 Salmen High grad, both heading to college and staying two years until they wanted something else.
“I always wanted to be self-employed,” Hill said. “I had my own lawn cutting business when I was a teen and knew I wanted to be in business some way.”
Schmidt had the same inclinations, admitting he went to college and “had no idea what I wanted to do.”
Schmidt, 47, started working for a movie theater company, and Hill, 43, began working for a video store company in Pace, Fla., where their talent in the small business world began to show, and both quickly moved into management.
Little did they know that their paths would soon cross in a partnership that would lead to owning nine video stores of their own, and now, their newest endeavor in the PitStop Carwash at 1725 Gause Blvd.
PitStop is the result of much research by Schmidt and Hill the last few years, part of which included a road trip from St. Tammany Parish to Houston, and another from Slidell to Atlanta, when they tried every car wash they could find.
“We have probably gone through over 200 car washes all over the country, researching every aspect of them to find all the best features,” Hill said.
The result is the PitStop in Slidell, which was built from the ground up to offer the best features in the automated car wash business.
“The technology in car washes now allows you to offer a lot of new things that weren’t offered years ago,” Hill said. “And we spent years finding the best aspects to satisfy the customer.”
But Hill added, “the bottom line is that people want a clean car, fast. We guarantee that.”
When the video store business started showing signs of slumping after they peaked with nine stores in 2002, the twosome started considering another business to enter.
“We started looking at a car wash pretty quickly since we thought it would be low maintenance,” Hill said. “But truthfully, it takes a lot more maintenance than we expected, at least if you want a clean place that people want to come back to.”
Not only did they try many car washes, but they attended trade shows for two years, then connected with a man who had a company supplying car wash equipment.
“We worked with him over the past few years to develop what we wanted, then opened our first PitStop in Gulfport five years ago,” Schmidt said. “It has grown and grown, so we were ready for our second one, and we decided Slidell is the place.”
The basic car wash for $5 produces an extremely clean car in all ways, then PitStop has other upgrades for $8 and $12, added tire shine, waxing and more options. They also offer free vacuums on the lot, and they also have Loyalty Club perks and monthly tags for sale.
Before building their first car wash, the men bought a car wash in Franklinton that is still in operation, the first step out of the video store business. Back in the late 80s, Hill remained a manager for the Pace, Fla. store and Schmidt was hired by George and Gary Solomon, who began to build a large video store business. Schmidt became a regional manager by the age of 24 as the company was bought more than once, finally ending up a Blockbuster employee.
“I was doing so well with the Solomon brothers, and then for Super Club that bought them out. I was living in Arkansas as a district manager, making great money and life was great. But when Blockbuster bought us out, I hated my life,” he said. “Suddenly working for a big corporate company was so different and I knew I had to get out.”
Hill and Schmidt became friends when the Solomons purchased the Pace, Fla. store, and the two stayed in touch through the video store changes until agreeing they wanted to start their own store after the Blockbuster takeover.
They almost purchased a small Blockbuster store that was closing in 1994, then finally opened their first store in Pace in a location they called “terrible,” that didn’t do well. But a location opened in Covington, marking the start of Friendly Video, which was the first big success for the men. Putting all their profits back into the business, they eventually had nine stores in Pensacola, Pace, Mandeville, Franklinton and Lucedale, Miss.
Even as the video store business was slowing down, the partners moved to their next challenge in the car wash business, something they believe is going to keep growing.
“People want a really clean car, fast, at a good price,” Hill said. “And our car wash is the most popular new thing out there.”