Profile

Ken Davis said he knew he had such a good product in Butter Slick Shine car wax that, three years ago, he was not ashamed to sell it in pop bottles around Gary. Davis, 30, a 1986 graduate of Roosevelt High School, has brought his small business a long way.

This past year, he said, he sold more than 7,180 bottles of the "custom-smooth cream" car glaze that he bottles and packages himself - now in attractive 16-ounce squeeze containers. Davis said his car wax eliminates old wax and swirl marks as well as light scratches.

Davis said his godfather, Ervin Tony, now deceased, invented the product. His godfather was always inventing, Davis said, from paint thinner to cleaners to medicine.

"He gave me the formula when I went off to college and told me to make something out of it." He said. "I've been working on this product for six years. I've come a long way. I travel all over the country taking it to different Low Rider Trade shows and expos." Davis demonstrates the product on his purple 1959 Chevy Impala low rider.

Flen Ross of Gary said he first bought one bottle of the wax, then a second bottle. Then, Ross said, he liked the product so much he asked Davis to give him 50 bottles to sell himself.

"I really think it's a great product," said Ross, adding that he has a 2000 Mercedes, a 1995 Ford Taurus and a 1990 Crown Victoria. "I work at Midwest Steel in Portage, and everyone in my department is using it now. It does everything it says it can do." Ross said he was amazed by how the product, which has a pleasant smell, can remove light scratches.

"I don't know what he has in it, but it removes scratches and restores the shine of cars that have been oxidized in acid rain," Ross said. " It makes it shine like no other wax." Davis said Butter Slick has natural oils, crystalline silica and kerosene as its main ingredients. To use the product, Davis said he uses a damp cloth, applies the wax then uses a clean cloth to wipe it off.

I'm the first African-American to have a registered trademark and patent for a car wax," he said. "The competition cannot compete with this product."

Davis said he does not plan to sell the formula to Butter Slick because he wants to leave a legacy for his children one day.

"Gary has been very good to me as far as getting this product out," he said. "I want to keep the business in Gary - I don't want to sell out to the big guys."

by Laura Paul