The Grow Philly series is supported by the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. Technical.ly is a free news resource thanks to financial partners like this. All stories are independently reported, with no partner review. Want to see your business featured? Fill out the entrepreneur survey here.
Tim Terrizzi loves to tell the backstory of his family’s car wash, mostly because it’s an opportunity to talk about his grandfather.
Terrizzi’s grandfather, John Terrizzi, and uncle, Vincent Pinto, founded Pit Stop Car Wash more than 50 years ago, building a business rooted in family. In an industry increasingly shaped by automated car washes, the third-generation owner Terrizzi said Pit Stop has continued to emphasize personal service.
“People of all different walks of life have some really connecting conversations at the car wash.”
Tim Terrizzi, Pit Stop Car Wash
The business offers full-service car washes, including hand drying, interior vacuuming and detailing.
“The car wash in itself is like its own community that transcends race, age, politics, everything,” Terrizzi told Technical.ly. “That’s probably what I’m most proud of about the place, is people of all different walks of life have some really connecting conversations at the car wash.”
Terrizzi’s grandfather and uncle grew up together in South Philly and decided to open a small garage together in 1957. They eventually opened up another shop, a small location at Seventh and Morris that’s still there, run by Terrizzi’s uncle, although no longer affiliated with Pit Stop.
That shop pumped gas, fixed cars and eventually started offering car washing. By 1971, they had opened at their current location on Cottman Avenue.
Terrizzi’s father eventually became a leader at the car wash and brought him there a lot as a kid.
“I learned early on that family business is a family effort,” Terrizzi said. “I grew up with what I would call car wash culture, just [integrated] with the customers and the staff from the time I was a little kid.”
Terrizzi distanced himself from the business at first, instead going to school to become a teacher. However, he graduated from college during the pandemic and decided to help out with the car wash. The more involved he got, the more excited he was to contribute to the business, he said.
“I was given a little bit of responsibility, and I found it really invigorating, and I found my passion for the business,” he said.
Now, he wants the business to continue expanding its services, such as detailing, especially at a time when many car washes are offering less — but without getting too big, he said. He wants to meet customers’ needs and continue growing, but not so much that the business loses sight of its family roots.
Family at the center of the business
Over the last 50 years, the car wash has built up a tight-knit community and also contributed to the surrounding neighborhood, while receiving some support from the city, like through the business security camera program.
A woman recently told Terrizzi that her family has been coming to the business since his grandfather’s opening day back in the ‘70s, and they are still loyal customers.
She’s not the only one. The walls of the car wash are covered in photos of family, staff and customers, Terrizzi said.
Pit Stop sponsors local sports teams, stays engaged with the local business association and even hosts an annual haunted car wash attraction every October. The proceeds from the event are donated to the Fox Chase Cancer Center.
The car wash also has strong ties to its employees, Terrizzi added. Even if they get a better job and leave, Terrizzi said that if they hit hard times, they are welcome to come back.
Other employees have stuck around since nearly the beginning. Pit Stop’s manager Mario Rice has been working there for 40 years.
“There are still people from his [grandfather’s] first shop, his first employees, who were young kids on the block at the time, are like family now,” he said. “They’re at every family party that we have.”
Terrizzi credits the business’s success to his grandfather and the values he instilled in the family and his staff.
While Terrizzi’s grandfather isn’t at the shop daily anymore, he still calls him every day to get advice about anything from mechanical issues to customer service questions.
“The longevity of our business is because there’s a blueprint left by my grandfather,” he said. “It’s a lasting foundation that he set, the culture.”
