Prevette's - Des Moines, Iowa car care products

Thank you for your interest in our company and learning more about our philosophy and how we began. I wanted to give you an opportunity to learn more about us and how we came to be where we are today.

Well, to begin with, taking care of my ride – the right way with the right products – has been a passion of mine since I bought my first car. For over 35 years, I’ve tried many of the products that are typically offered to keep your ride in top shape and looking great. Over the years and in my discussions with people, I discovered that many people really had no idea what made a great product or even how to correctly use one. I have always had an interest into looking deeper into what makes things work the way they do. This has led me to many informative conversations with manufacturers, detailers, motoring buffs, etc. The more I learned and coached people that I knew on the proper care of their rides, the more I realized the need for a place for people to go to be able to learn, ask questions and purchase truly effective, quality products.

Over the years of caring for my rides and enjoying taking good care of them, I also found that I had a few frustrations.

· In looking for really good quality products, I was overwhelmed with the choices. Whenever I went to a web site, there would be dozens and dozens of choices in waxes, dressings, cleaners, etc. When I would look for new products at a car show, I would usually find them being hawked with some type of gimmick (e.g. lighting fire to a just waxed hood – I was never really sure what that actually proved).

· I found that specialty or very specific products are very hard to find. For example, how about a product that removes that white waxy residue left by some products on my hard plastic trim? Or, how about a product that takes off hard water spots on glass?

· I became annoyed (and amused) at the ‘awe’ inspiring names and claims that the manufacturers were coming up with for their products – to the point that you couldn’t even tell what the product actually was without reading the entire label.

· When I actually did purchase a product in a store, the people that I purchased it from typically did not seem to know very much about the product or even ride care in general.

After thinking about this and talking with others, I decided to take action and do something about it. Quite simply, I wanted to share my passion and experiences with you. So, in November of 2004, I put together our new company called simply ‘Prevette’s, Ltd’ to address my (our) frustrations. Here is a summary of what we look like:

1) How many kinds of waxes, dressings, cleaners do you really need? I believe the answer is simple – just a few of each. If there is truly something different about a product (for example a satin tire dressing vs. a gloss tire dressing or a Carnauba wax vs. a sealant) then you want to have those choices, otherwise, you don’t need 17 kinds of wax or of any product.

2) How does someone choose which is the best of a particular product? Most people don’t have the time, money or expertise to purchase and try dozens of different products to see which is the best one that works as advertised. A lot of time and money can be wasted.

With these two questions in mind, I put together our own line of products and called them “Rick’s Best”. The name came about with the premise behind our name that I will do the research, find the products, personally try them and then determine which ones are truly the best in their class (e.g. wax, dressing, cleaner, etc.). The name “Rick’s Best” therefore denotes my personal guarantee that these are the best products that I have found.

We continually search for and find outstanding ride care chemist’s that are passionate about quality. Many of the people that we work with are from small, family owned companies. I make it my personal quest to find them and try their products. Then, when I find a truly great one, I obtain their permission to purchase their product in bulk and re-package it under my own label of “Rick’s Best”. We will perform much of the product mixing inhouse, but we are not the chemist. Innovations in motoring care occur every day, therefore, I am continually adding or changing products as I research, discover and test more of what is available. Our final result is that we present to you, the motoring enthusiast, a high quality, consistent and very broad and complete line of products that you can use to take the best care of your ride.

One item to note here is that on occasion, I do find a great product that I really like but their policy is not to have their products re-packaged by someone under a different label. In those cases, I will simply purchase their product as it is packaged and add it to our product line offering. I will not ignore a truly great product just because the company does not allow us to re-package it under our own name. If it is a quality product and best in breed, I will offer it. I will not allow our company to develop an arrogant posture of “if we can’t private label it we won’t sell it”. Bottom line – if it’s a truly best in class product, it has earned a place on our shelves.

In addition to finding high quality products, I also wanted to offer those products that have a very specific use and are important to have. For example, I offer our Rick’s Best Wax Remover for removing that white wax film that can get on your black plastic trim from using some past products. For those occasional hard water spots that seem impossible to remove from your glass I put together our Rick’s Best Chrome & Glass Polish. Our Rick’s Best line will continue to get broader with more choices addressing specific challenges and needs.

Now, regarding the naming of our products. I decided “let’s keep it simple and try not to confuse people with fancy marketing names”. We’ve all seen ride care products using names like “Blue Ice”, “Polycharger®”, “Hydrophobic-Polymer Technology™” (means it resists water, isn't that assumed?), “Micro Engineered” (extremely small engineering???), Nanowax (nano means very small or one billionth, so - small wax??) and so on. So here is a thought – how about we simply call our products what they are in nice big bold letters. How about names such as - General Purpose Cleaner, Heavy Duty Cleaner, Tire Dressing, #1 Yellow Liquefied Carnauba Wax and so on. In other words, no confusion, you can actually tell what you are getting, simply and quickly.

How about sizes? Have you ever thought how nice it would be if you could either purchase a smaller quantity (maybe just to try it or to take along in your glove box) or a larger, more cost effective refill size? Once again, this made sense to me so I am offering our “Rick’s Best” ride care product line in sizes from 2 oz. up to a gallon (where it makes sense to do so). You get to choose how much you want to purchase, not me.

I also recognize that there is more to a store than just having great products. Your experience in shopping with us is very important to me. In my store, the atmosphere is unique. The lighting is bright and cheerful using as much natural light as possible. The decorating design is warm, inviting and comfortable. Walk around and enjoy our nostalgic signs. No harsh, cold metal shelving, instead I use handmade rustic wooden crates for my shelves. I have a 42” flat plasma TV in our customer seating area where we watch old car commercials from the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s, or an Indy 500 race from 1954, or drag racing from the 50’s, or . . . As you enter my store, you will find informational postings on car, truck and motorcycle shows going on throughout Iowa.

· 13 types and sizes of small applicators and swabs to deal with any type of tight area that you need to clean. They include cotton, foam, anti-static foam, chemical resistant, re-useable knit fabric and even alcohol soaked foam for bacteria removal in air vents, etc.

For those of you that can come into our store, no longer do you have to search for those great products that you just can’t seem to find in a store. No longer do you have to wait for them to arrive or pay additional shipping costs. I’ve done the research and sought out the finest blend of each one so you can find it all at Prevette’s.

Bottom line - it is my goal and passion to bring together, into one place, the very highest quality goods for the care, preservation and restoration of your motoring needs. At the same time, I will work to bring you personalized, knowledgeable service along with useful and educational information. I stand behind every product 100%. I have personally picked every one and can speak from experience. We use all of our products ourselves in our own detail shop located in the back of the store.

And finally, I know that I like to purchase from people who know their products well in order that they can help me to choose the correct product the first time and instruct me in the proper way to use it. That’s exactly what you will find at Prevette’s, Ltd!

Thanks for taking the time to listen to me. I look forward to having you as a guest in my store – Prevette’s. Come on in or give us a call, all of us at Prevette’s will be ready and eager to help you choose some really high quality products. You have my promise that all of us at Prevette’s will work hard to prove ourselves worthy of your trust.