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TO
italized. My mother gave me her last $3,000. And
I finally had to sell out to my partner," says Jack.
During the recession in the early 1950s, Jack
Milen worked several jobs. He even sold used cars.
He also tried his hand at another car wash on
Cass and Temple in Detroit. A turning point came
in his life in 1953 when Nate Shapero, the late
founder of the defunct Cunningham's drug stores,
called Jack to say that he found the perfect prop-
erty (Six Mile and Meyers in Detroit) for a car
wash.
"He told me I would have a chain of car wash-
es. I never dreamed it would come true. He was
an important part of launching the business," Jack
says.
Alan Schwartz, a principal in the law firm
Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, and Nate
Shapero's son-in-law, also invested in the car
wash.
Mr. Schwartz said he invested because of Jack
Milen. "It was my faith in Jack Milen. As I came
to know him and explore the investment oppor-
tunity, I was enormously impressed with Jack as
In 1993 the car wash
will wash its
40-millionth car.
above: Tony, age 2,
at work.
far right: Tony and Bruce
at a construction site In
1964.
HE DETROIT JEWIS H NEWS
left: Jack Milen in 1961.
below: Tony, Jack and
Bruce, 1992.
a person of character, energy and integrity." The
investment was lucrative not only financially, but
personally, since Mr. Schwartz developed a close
friendship with the family that remains today.
Jack Milen says that hard work was another
key in the success of the business. He often came
in the middle of the night to fix the conveyor.
Back in the '60s when car detailing was called re-
conditioning, he went up and down Livernois in
Detroit soliciting work. "This is not a five-day-a-
week business," he says.
In 1956, Jack opened the Birmingham location
and has continued with steady expansions ever
since. In 1961, he bought out all non-family in-
vestors. He started a series of promotions that re-
main today. One is the birthday car wash. More
than 30,000 customers annually receive a free car
wash on their birthdays. There's also the Jax
Kar Wash punch card, where customers receive
a free wash after 10 visits.
Jack also became involved in charity work.
When the Birmingham Historical Society asked
him to retain the old Masonic Lodge Building on
the corner of Woodward and Brown, he renovat-