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MEGUIAR’S CELEBRATES 100TH
ANNIVERSARY
POLISHING THE WORLD’S PLANES, TRAINS
& AUTOMOBILES
After
100 Years, The Passion Still Remains “All
in the Family”
What began a century ago
as a simple furniture polish laboratory
and plant in the garage of founder Frank
Meguiar, Jr., now spans four generations
of Meguiar family stewardship. Celebrating
its 100th anniversary in 2001, Meguiar's,
Inc. has become one of the world's leading
surface care products companies, providing
highly specialized products for almost
every conceivable type of surface.
“Most family businesses
fail to transition to the second generation,”
explains Barry Meguiar, president and
CEO of Meguiar’s, Inc. “And
even when they do, they usually lose their
momentum. The difference for our family
has been our inborn passion for what we
do…it fuels the driving force that
moves us forward and exhilarates us every
day. We view the company as much more
than a business and an opportunity to
make money. Quite frankly, if that were
all that it represented to us, we would
have sold out long ago. Eventually, that
is what most successful family businesses
do.”
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In
his wildest dreams, it’s doubtful
that Barry’s grandfather,
Frank Meguiar, Jr., could have foreseen
what his first bottle of furniture
polish in 1901 would evolve into
over the next 100 years. When he
first began, he made one bottle
of polish at a time using an eggbeater.
Eventually, he was able to produce
enough product at night with his
kids, to fill the orders he would
generate the next day to pay for
groceries. |
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The arrival of the first
horseless carriages turned Frank Meguiar’s
attention to the automobile. Made out
of wood, they were initially coated with
the same finishes that were applied to
furniture. It was an easy transition that
set the course for Meguiar’s preeminence
in the car wax business today.
From his first bottle of furniture polish,
Frank Meguiar, Jr. was steadfastly determined
never to sell a product unless he was
convinced it was the very best of its
kind on the market. To this day, the family
follows that dictate and, as a result,
has generated millions of enthusiastic
users around the world. The family describes
their customers as "raving fans."
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When
Frank Meguiar, Jr. passed away in
1950, his three sons, who were his
business partners, took the company
to the next level. Maurice, the
oldest, was the sales manager. Next
came Malcolm, Barry’s father,
who shared his dad’s love
for formulating and created most
of the formulations that the company
continues to market, including Meguiar’s
Cleaner Wax, which is the No.1 selling
liquid car wax in America. |
The youngest of the three
brothers, Kenneth, was in charge of production.
It was the perfect partnership, and through
their efforts and leadership the company
thrived through its second generation.
Through the early years, Meguiar’s
Mirror Glaze polishes and
waxes, intended for professional use,
were primarily used by car manufacturers,
car dealers, body shops, and detailers.
Most custom painters polished their customer's
automobiles with Meguiar’s products,
so the majority of cars put on display
in car shows reflected finishes achieved
with the use of Meguiar's professional-line
products. As car shows became prevalent
in the 60’s, the masses of people
attending them began to recognize that
it was the use of Meguiar’s polishes
that created the brilliant, high-gloss
finishes. Growing numbers of people began
pressuring retailers to stock Meguiar’s
Mirror Glaze products. Compelled by the
demands of these enthusiastic fans, the
family formally introduced its Meguiar’s
brand of consumer automotive products
in 1973. Today, the Meguiar's family of
products saturate the consumer marketplace.
From its inception, the Meguiar’s
have been active participants in the collector
car hobby. Explains Barry Meguiar, “we
are car guys who happen to be in the car
wax business. The ultimate experience
for us comes when our two passions merge
in the exhilaration of “Best of
Show” winners who are using our
products.” As it happens, that is
a regular occurrence. At last year’s
50th Anniversary of the prestigious Pebble
Beach Concours d’Elegance, the most
famous car show in the world, 21 of the
25 Best of Class winners and the Best
of Show winner all used Meguiar’s
products to achieve their flawless perfection.
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Meguiar’s
sponsors and staffs more than 150
car show events across the country
featuring every type of collector
car from hot rods and muscle cars
to exotic sports cars and vintage
classics…with Barry and his
wife, Karen, personally involved
with many of the major shows. In
addition, the family supports more
than 1,500 car club events every
year. At almost every car show and
automotive museum in the |
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country, you will find an
abundance of Meguiar’s products proudly
being used to maintain and showcase prized
automobiles.
Meguiar’s love for the collector
car hobby is also expressed through the
country’s airwaves. Meguiar’s
On Air, an
internationally syndicated, multi-media
broadcasting network reaching television,
radio, and Internet audiences conducts
live broadcasts from major automotive
events worldwide. Co-hosted by Barry Meguiar,
along with nationally syndicated radio
talk show hosts from various networks,
Meguiar’s On Air allows millions
of listeners to enjoy major collector
car hobby events as they happen. Barry
also hosts Car Crazy radio on Talk America
Radio Networks and Car Crazy television
on Speedvision, providing listeners and
viewers with an insider’s look at
the icons of the collector car hobby.
To recognize selected hobbyists for years
of automotive preservation, the Meguiar
family created the Meguiar’s Award,
which annually honors a single individual
whose actions have significantly impacted
the collector car hobby, naming him or
her as its Person of the Year. Famed automotive
artist, Dennis Hoyt, was commissioned
to create a perpetual wood sculpture to
commemorate the honor. Previous Meguiar’s
Award winners have included the founder
of Petersen Publishing, Robert E. Petersen;
famed collector car hobby spokesman, Bruce
Meyer; and NBC’s Tonight Show host,
Jay Leno.
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Internationally,
Meguiar’s ever-expanding global
operations include its headquarters
in Hong Kong and its subsidiary
offices in Toronto, Paris, and Sydney.
Meguiar's intense focus on training
and performance, as well as product
quality, have captured the respect
of carmakers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz
that partner with Meguiar’s
worldwide. |
Meguiar’s serves as
a consultant to most of the major carmakers
around the world on paint quality and paint
correction issues in their assembly plants
and at the dealership level. In addition,
Meguiar’s often provides private label
appearance car care products to car manufacturers
to sell under their own name through their
dealership parts departments.
Today’s high-tech, clear-coat finishes
require a complete re-education on how to
keep these new finishes in "show room"
condition. Meguiar’s provides in-depth
training through its own, on-site technical
facilities, mobile training centers, detailed
technical data sheets and training videos.
Meguiar’s technicians work closely
with the automotive paint manufacturers,
car manufacturers, car dealers, body shops
and detailers to keep their products state
of the art and user friendly. This provides
the competitive edge for Meguiar’s
consumer products.
While Meguiar’s corporate headquarters
are in Irvine, CA, they manufacture their
products in their 200,000-sq. ft., state-of-the-art
production facility in Nashville, TN.
All manufacturing is done under the watchful
eyes of company chairman, Mike Meguiar,
and his brother Frank--the sons of second-generation,
Kenneth Meguiar.
The family business now manufactures more
than 300 different cleaners, polishes,
waxes, conditioners, and protectants for
homes, cars, boats, trains and planes,
and almost every other type of surface.
Continuing Frank Meguiar, Jr.'s tradition,
each Meguiar’s product carries the
promise of being the very finest of its
kind.
The story
is pure Americana, the early pictures
are like scenes from a Norman Rockwell
painting, and Meguiar's products continue
to be found at almost every car show,
car museum, car detailing shop, and automotive
retailer in America.
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Meguiar's
Product History
