The History of Mr. Nozzle

I was just a kid in 1962, and helping my father, Tom Rock, on one of his business trips up to Fresno, California. Back then, he sold all types of supplies to car washes, and one of the items was a vacuum nozzle; quite heavy and made of aluminum. As I was unloading supplies out of my dad’s truck, the car wash employee manning the vacuum missed the vacuum hanger, and the heavy nozzle cracked the windshield and then chipped the paint on a customer’s car. Needless to say, an argument ensued as to what had just happened.

My dad then turned to me and said, "Too bad nozzles aren’t made lighter." And after looking at a toy I had brought along, I asked, “Couldn’t they be made out of plastic?”

This one simple question started a new idea in the vac nozzle world, and the plastic nozzle was born.

But a plastic nozzle was hard sale back then due to the old hefty aluminum style lasting for years and the plastic nozzle only months. Of course, shipping costs were much lower, and that helped the sales, but it was still a difficult item to push because most people simply resist change. Plus, our nozzle design was never patented, and because of that, vac nozzle competition started popping up here and there.

In 1989, my dad accidentally burned his warehouse down to the ground -- with NO insurance -- and took six other companies along with him! The very next day, I saw him sitting in a rocking chair -- he was 70 at the time -- and thinking about all he had just lost and how hard it would be to build it back up with very little start up capital. He looked ready to give up on life itself.

I asked him if there was anything I could do to help. His response was, “Yes, make this all go away!” After thinking of ways I could make my father’s wishes come true, I asked him if he would mind if I took over the task of getting him out of the mess he gotten himself into. Of course he said, “YES.” I owned Northface Contractors.Company, selling and installing rain gutters at the time, and figured running another one would be no big deal.

We had four customers to start with, and at that time my dad was selling 500 to 1000 nozzles a month. At this time we decided to start shipping directly from our blowmolder’s warehouse at a 2% per invoice charge.

I would work hard at night trying to come up with new ideas for marketing our products. Unique ways that no one had done before. Finally, I HAD IT! We’d sell direct to distributors only. How did I know this little idea was the start of something big?

This idea was both exciting and rewarding. New distributors were coming on board daily, and the company was growing in leaps and bounds. I’m proud to say that to this day, we’ve held on to our original plan:

NEVER SELL TO THE END USER

We are now the world’s largest manufacturer of Vacuum Nozzles for the Car Wash Industry.

Mr. Nozzle is also growing in the catalog world. We now sell our popular 12 and 15 foot Vac Tool Kits that include well-engineered, professional vac hoses and numerous quality accessories, all designed to replace the short, cheap hoses and tools that come with most wet/dry vacs on the market. And to think that this all started out as a favor for a friend who complained about needing a bigger, better hose for his wet/dry vac!

I had no idea there was a market for a Vac Tool Kit, but soon people of all kinds were locating me and asking for it. I was even charging $50.00 per kit in an effort to slow down sales, but that didn’t work. Everyone wanted one! To this day, the Vac Tool Kit division of Mr. Nozzle, Inc. outsells our nozzle division.

I’m proud of what became of that horrible day for my father, Tom Rock, the inventor of the plastic vacuum nozzle for the car wash world .

But, as we all know, you can’t do it alone. Much of the Mr. Nozzle Success Story is due to the valued employees, friends and investors who have been part of it since 1989. Additionally, I’m extremely proud of and thankful for the Mr. Nozzle, Inc. staff that runs the company to this day.

Thank you all!

John Rock
Founder of Mr Nozzle, Inc.