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Turtle Wax

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Turtle Wax, Inc.
Company typePrivately Held
Founded1941 (as Plastone)
Headquarters,
Key people
Mark E. Leopold (Chief Executive Officer and President)
Tom Healy (Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing)
Number of employees
51-200[1]
WebsiteTurtleWax.com
Benjamin Hirsch

Turtle Wax is a manufacturer of automotive appearance products. The company was founded by Benjamin Hirsch in Chicago in 1941[2] and is currently headquartered in Willowbrook, Illinois. Hirsch's main product, a liquid car wax, was initially called Plastone, until Hirsch changed the product name to create the association with a turtle's hard shell. Hirsch died in 1966 and successive generations of his family have remained involved with the company.[3][4] Its advertising jingle ("Turtle Wax gives that hard shell finish"), created early in its history by the Doner Company, became very well known.[5]

Turtle Wax is the largest automotive appearance products company in the world and distributes its products in more than 90 countries.[6]

Products

The company's primary product lines include cleaning and polishing products for cars including glass, painted surfaces, uncoated metals, leather, wheels, and tires, for both the retail consumer and professional detailer markets. Turtle Wax also offers automotive performance chemicals such as engine treatment products and formula oils. The company also markets its cleaning products for non-automotive applications.[7] Additionally, the company operates full-service car wash facilities in the Chicago Metropolitan area.[8] In May 2016 the company announced it was relocating its headquarters to a new location in Addison, Illinois.[9]

References

  1. ^ Turtle Wax, Inc. businessweek.com
  2. ^ "Turtle Wax, Inc. - Company History". 1996.
  3. ^ Wilma Randle, "Strong Family Histories Help Turtle Wax Shine", Chicago Tribune, April 11, 1993.
  4. ^ Ted Pincus, "Turtle Wax going like 60 to make prospects shine", Chicago Sun-Times, May 2, 2006  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
  5. ^ John McDonough; Karen Egolf (18 June 2015). The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising. Taylor & Francis. p. 979. ISBN 978-1-135-94913-6.
  6. ^ "TURTLE WAX, INC. Company Profile". Hoover's. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  7. ^ Elva Ramirez, "It's Not Just a Car Wax ...", The Wall Street Journal, February 8, 2008.
  8. ^ John Schmeltzer, "Chicago-based car care firm gets new chief, looks to grow", Chicago Tribune, November 2, 2005  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
  9. ^ "Turtle Wax to relocate headquarters to Addison", Daily Herald, May 10, 2016

Further reading