- -30- then and now (8/22/18)2
- Meet Mable at Mable's Cafe in Chaffee (8/20/18)
- Willow Grove Rockets Skate Club (8/15/18)
- Central Municipal Pool built in 1979 (8/13/18)
- Hecht's Store founder returns to Main street (8/8/18)
- Land acquired to build SEMO Port (8/6/18)
- St. Vincent's Seminary ends after 136 years (8/1/18)1
Plaza Car Wash opened in 1963 as a hand-operated car wash on the corner of William and Christine Streets in Cape Girardeau. This picture was made by G.D. Fronabarger soon after its grand opening.
Vernon "Pee Wee" Rhodes established the company which soon expanded into an auto clean-up and detailing service for local automobile dealerships. He is shown in this picture with the white shirt.
Plaza Car Wash also sold tires to the auto dealers and later purchased a retreading operation. The purchase allowed Plaza Car Wash to begin a tire wholesale route so retreads could be sold outside the local area and to retail customers.
By 1967, the company was selling tires in addition to the retreads. The business continued to grow and soon had three wholesale trucks operating, a full-time car wash and a retreading shop that worked through the night.
A tire changer was purchased and mounted on the sidewalk outside the car wash. All tire changes were performed along the street using a jack. Local regulations prohibited this practice and caused Plaza Car Wash to develop into Plaza Tire Service.
--from Locally-Owned Businesses, Oct. 28, 2001, Southeast Missourian
Respond to this blog
Posting a comment requires a subscription.