http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2005/08/04/news.html

    Workin' at the Carwash
    Good clean fun on West 11th
    BY MARK FRISBEE







    Summers in college. How I hated working in pizza joints tossing pies, clerking at the mall in some crappy retail store, doing busywork in my father's office as an "intern." No matter where I worked, the pay was lousy, the hours horrible and my bosses always turned out to be like Bill Lumbergh from the movie Office Space (except for my father of course).


    Posing for the camera at the Carwash.

    Any of you LCC, UO or OSU students thinking about majoring in business? We have a few young women you should talk to. These six LCC students haven't reinvented the wheel when it comes to making money, but they have made the concept of "fee for services" a little sexier and more fun.

    The Bikini Carwash, as it has become known around town, is located in a driveway on West 11th Avenue between Washington and Jefferson. It's on the right side. You can't miss it unless you're in the left lane cruising next to a Hummer. Or if you have a cell phone stuck to your head — but even then it would be pretty damned hard to miss.

    One hot sunny afternoon last week I took the not-so-dirty Eugene Weekly van to visit this head-whipping, traffic-swerving roadside attraction. Sterling, Rachel and Jenny were "manning" the hoses and soapy buckets. In all, there are six young entrepreneurs: Rachel, Sterling, Jenny, Anne, Vanessa and Victoria. They work in shifts of three or four and split the profits evenly.

    "We make as much money as a regular job but we get to get a nice tan and have fun with each other," says Sterling, one of the masterminds behind the carwash idea.

    The idea came to Sterling and Rachel when they were trying to figure out ways to make money to buy new costumes for the upcoming Burlesque show at John Henry's. No one else in town was doing it so they figured they would give it a try. Sure enough, after about two months of soapy water, equally bubbly personalities and a lot of skin, they have made close to $4,000.

    Not just men pull into the carwash. "We get a lot of couples, even some women," says Sterling. "We consider ourselves the ultimate feminists. We control what we do. We do it because we want to, not because we have to. As a feminist I believe it's important to be true to yourself, and do what you think is right."

    A regular carwash will run you $10 and the super sexy bonus wash costs a bit more (but we understand it's well worth it). The neighbors on the block don't seem to mind the constant flow of cars and honking horns. "Trust me, the neighbors don't complain, they keep a close eye on us," says Jenny.

    Police cars cruise by to make sure traffic's flowing, because the bikini-clad women have caused a few fender benders.

    When these young women aren't washing cars, they hang out at the end of their driveway holding their "Bikini Carwash" sign, waving, blowing kisses, bouncing up and down and strutting their stuff, trying to bring in more business.

    As I pulled away in the still not-so-dirty Eugene Weekly van I heard Sterling trying to entice the next washee by saying, "We're young, we're hot, and we're college students."


November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.