Red Eye Joes Express: Something New for People on the Go
By Chris Manson November 4, 2004 Issue

The coffee-car wash connection became a part of the popular culture in the hilarious “Bonnie Situation” segment of the movie Pulp Fiction. In the 1994 film, two hitmen played by John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson stopped by a friend’s house to clean an extremely messy vehicle. As a bonus, they were treated to some of Quentin Tarantino’s “gourmet expensive kind” of coffee. While the coffee at the new Red Eye Joes Express on Emerald Coast Parkway is gourmet, it’s not expensive. And, hopefully, your car cleaning needs are not as extreme as the bumbling movie characters.

Red Eye Joes owners Jeff Kane and Jerry Fry considered a number of business ventures—apartment complexes, hotels, and water parks—before they came across an article in Car Wash magazine. The writer of the article toured the Seattle area and predicted combined car wash-coffee shops had a promising future.

“This is all-new technology,” Fry says, adding that Red Eye Joes sells prepaid cards that can be used throughout the entire car wash facility and for gourmet beverages. The prepaid cards will attract repeat business through generous discounts and are sold in $25 increments. “The nice thing about our facility is you get a free vacuum when you use it.” A vehicle sensor activates the vacuum stations when you pull up.

The automatic wash bays and self-service facilities allow customers to pay with credit cards, bills, or coins. About the drive-thru wash, Fry says: “One thing in people’s minds is the friction that touched people’s cars used to scratch them and held sand particles, too. This particle doesn’t hold sand.”

“People think touchless is better, but to clean vehicles, you have to touch them,” Kane says.

Red Eye Joes provides five self-service wash bays, three automatic washes, vending (car care products like polish and cloths) and the complimentary vacuum stations. The other half features gourmet beverages like lattes, frappes, smoothies, and an impressive selection of donut products and muffins. There is a drive-thru for people on the move and an attractive cobblestone courtyard area where people can sit and enjoy coffee and listen to the state-of-the-art Bose stereo system. “We wanted to create a fun family environment,” Kane says.

Kane previously worked as a “turnaround specialist” in Cincinnati, consulting for companies that were losing a lot of money. “The last company I did was losing about $29 million a year. It’s all about waste elimination. We’ve applied those technologies in this store,” he says. Kane’s neighbor Fry owned a chain of auto repair centers. “We’re a couple guys who wanted to come down and enjoy nice weather and have some fun. Destin has a lot to offer,” Kane says.

Fry agrees. “We wanted to open in a high profile area. There are 11 million people coming annually. We felt our company could be seen from all around the world to help our launch and franchising.”

The automatic wash is only $5 for a thorough cleaning, $7 with the dryer. Self-service is just two bucks. “All our stuff has been in development for a couple years. We have the finest product on the marketplace,” Kane says.

Red Eye Joes Express offers “quality, speed, and value. I think we have one of the best value packages anywhere,” Fry explains. “Ninety-five percent of the equipment and software was created by me and Jeff. It brings a whole new level to the consumer. This has never been done before. This is the very first one.” The guys hope to open a couple hundred franchises over the next few years.

“The design—the cobblestone driveway and courtyard—we didn’t cut any corners. This is the best money can buy. We want to draw in the higher-end folks. This community is very nice, and we wanted to fall right in and look like a very professional place,” Fry said.

Kane intends to give back to the community that has been “very helpful in the design and implementing of our business.” Red Eye Joes will offer special fleet programs for companies with more than one vehicle, offering considerable discounts for companies wanting their vehicles to look nice.

As for the coffee, it’s excellent. An apple cider-espresso concoction sounded ridiculous until I tasted it. Red Eye Joes’ research and development department continues to come up with new flavors. “Starbucks has done a super job as far as educating people, but we want to take it to the next level,” Kane says. “You can add this to a current car wash to increase revenue. The Red Eye Joes concept can stand alone. It can go in malls, mobile units, or kiosks.” He adds that would-be franchisers will be thoroughly trained and educated in business and operational systems.

The 65-item menu includes reasonably priced coffee and espresso drinks and smoothies. A raspberry-filled glazed donut was quite tasty and considerably larger than Krispy Kreme’s product—Kane says it is difficult to fit them in a standard donut box. “They are made fresh and the employees love them, too. We’re all gonna end up weighing 300 pounds,” the entrepreneur laughs.

“Our most important asset here is our people,” Kane says. Fry concurs. “In research and development and in the commitment to growing a company, I think a lot of businesses lack really good employees to make them successful.”

The company headquarters is based in Destin, and the design concept—the name and trademark—is all theirs. They even have a cartoon mascot Fry calls “a crazy guy who looks like he’s been on a plane for 18 hours.” Aside from a tuft of bright yellow hair, the Red Eye Joe character bears an uncanny resemblance to the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield. But fear not, readers, you’ll get plenty of respect from the friendly staff at Red Eye Joes Express.