With all the snow, cold weather and bad roads we’ve had lately, it makes me feel thankful that we live in a thriving town with the necessary services available to us.
The families who have lived here for generations and the newcomers who settled in the various developments support Cochrane businesses.
The Car Wash Corral, owned by brothers, Shafique and Karim Javer, is one of these businesses that have continued to provide residents of Cochrane with a convenient service for over 20 years.
It’s always interesting to look behind the scenes of a successful business to see how it all began and why people choose Cochrane.
Shafique and Karim immigrated to Canada with their family in 1976 from Nairobi, Kenya. They were living in Calgary when they decided to look for a business in a rural community.
Their father, Rahim was a mechanic, so a service station seemed a wise choice.
Karim said, “We chose Cochrane because it seemed like a good growth area with outside potential – and the people were very nice.” They were correct in their prediction; Cochrane has certainly seen a lot of growth since 1993 when the Javer family purchased the Esso Station on River Avenue, which included a small car wash and a deli.
In 2000 when it was in need of renovation, the decision was made to tear it down and build the Car Wash Corral, as it stands today.
Some people may not realize the amount of maintenance involved in the operation of a large car wash. Shafique explained, “There are a lot of moving parts and a fair amount of things can go wrong. The theory of mechanics learned from our father has certainly paid off. A lot of it is trial and error, so sometimes experts have to be called in.”
Their father, Rahim, passed away in 2011, so now the two brothers have an equal partnership in the business.
Karim lives in the Glendale area with his wife Roohina and daughter, Medina. Shafique lives south of Bearspaw with his wife Nishma and sons, Armaan and Aidan.
The boys play hockey on The Rockies team, Cochrane’s minor hockey association and Shafique has been busy being chauffeur and coach. Karim’s recreational love of life is golf and has golfed most of the courses in our area, as well as welcoming any opportunity to golf wherever he may be.
The Car Wash Corral is a member of the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce and has been generous in supporting local groups, such as the Cochrane Ringettes, the Cochrane Curling Club and various other organizations throughout their 20 years of operation. After becoming true Cochranites themselves, Karim expressed gratitude to their customers by saying, “We appreciate people supporting us; we want them to know that.”
