Business feature: Rain good for more than farmers

The rain that came to eastern New Mexico last week was definitely beneficial to farmers and ranchers needing grass to feed their cattle, and it might result in a few more fresh vegetables during weekday Farmer's Market sessions in Clovis and Portales.

CNJ staff photo: Kevin Wilson

Carl Wesley finishes drying a customer's vehicle Monday afternoon at A-Key Car Wash. Employees said Monday is the slowest day due to most customers coming in over the weekend, and manager Richard Masterson said the first few days after rainfall are usually packed.

But they're far from the only business that gets some type of boost from precipitation.

Danny Parea, who owns the Plant Works nursery with his wife Cyndi, has a much different business than a farmer, though some of the methods and supplies are the same. Rain doesn't make or break a nursery, Parea said, but it does bring in those customers on the fence. Those customers, Parea said, will be more willing to plant when it's wet and pessimistic when they see a dry summer ahead.

But anybody can have beautiful plants, Parea said, as long as they take the initiative to water on their own and be more precise about it when it's hot and dry.

"It really has to do with the person, if the person is willing to invest in putting plants in," Parea said. "If they depend on water, it's not going to be good. If it depends on their watering habits, it's tremendous.

"A lot of people don't want to put the effort in, but they want flowers."

Parea waters at home and at his business himself, and he's always been happy with what he sees in his business and his garden. But given the option, he prefers rain over tap water — he calls it "spiritual water," with minerals and nutrients that you can't get from tap and bottled water.

"It's like a plant food coming down from the sky," Parea said. "Watch in the next two to five days (after a rain), and you can see the grass greening already."

The Monday rain pretty much brought business to a halt at A-Key Car Wash on Prince Street, but the storm was actually the calm before their storm of customers later in the week.

"In the overall sense, it's good for us," manager Richard Masterson said. "It causes us to be down for a period of time. But because Clovis is full of blowing dust and dirt, it causes us to get busy. It spots cars all over the place."

The employees of A-Key, which opened in May 2009, will usually service 100 to 200 cars per day and 200 to 300 on weekends, but the days following a good rain can double that.

One of the washes the business offers comes with a rain guarantee — if it rains within 24 hours of the wash, a rewash is free for the next 48 hours.