Pink’s Window Services is a Blue Collar Business with Retro Flair

Brandon Downer and Carter Smith, co-owners of Pink’s Window Services, wanted to bring “dignity back to the blue-collar service industry,” and nowhere is that more apparent than in the uniforms their servicemen wear.

Outfitted in what Smith deems as “1950s body shop mechanic meets the milk-man” collared shirts and jackets, the Pink’s team could easily head out to a bar after work and feel right at home. Along with white button-ups with “Pink’s” over the pocket, there’s also striped shirts and classic work jackets, as well as trucker hats in various colors, and even socks. The crew also dons pink booties over their shoes when on a job in someone’s home — giving it that extra special Pink’s touch. And, while it’s a great branding opportunity, the co-owners admit it’s geared more toward their employees.

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“When you dress up and you go to work and you look good, you feel good, and when you feel good, you are just happier to be somewhere,” Smith explains. “And there’s a professionalism that you just kind of assume once you put on the Pink’s uniform.”

Downer and Smith started Pink’s Window Services in July 2020 after the two were laid off at their respective jobs. The two friends were mulling over their future plans while going on a walk through Downer’s Rosedale neighborhood and spotted dozens of service trucks parked along the streets. As they remarked on how home services didn’t seem to be closing at the rate of other businesses, they commiserated on terrible experiences they both received when they needed repairs or cleaning in their own homes.

It became their eureka moment.

“Back in the day there was so much pride around your plumber. They had their name on their uniform, and they were just happy to be there,” Downer explains. “Some of that’s been lost over the years. So we wanted to bring that back — while also letting our city know that there’s a lot of pride and joy and goodness in maintaining our city by cleaning the windows and pressure washing its buildings.”

Pink’s Window Services was born, admittedly, because the duo liked the name. From there, they created a menu of services: window cleaning, power washing and deep cleaning of other fixtures: lights, sky lights, gutters and more. “We’ll clean anything that’s outside!” Smith says.

They currently have a roster of anywhere from six to 10 Pink’s cleaners who gladly wear the brand’s name emblazoned on their chests and service residential homes and commercial businesses, like the Moody Center, Circuit of the Americas, Q2 Stadium, MML Hospitality restaurants and others.

Downer and Smith confess they were initially embarrassed to admit to their high school and college friends that they were “just window washers,” but over the last two years, they’ve realized that they not only give dignity back to a blue-collar industry through their employees, they also restore pride to a home or business.

“If the windows aren’t clean, what else is dirty?” Downer asks. “It’s the first thing you see when you walk into a space, and we help make your guests or customers feel comfortable and welcome.”

Once they built up their client roster, Pink’s Window cleaning services, as well as their vintage-inspired gear, struck a chord with the public.

“It feels like an old-school service company, and the shirts feel like a decades-old piece straight out of your dad’s closet,” Smith says.

In addition to window cleaning services, Pink’s also offers their gear for sale online, and the duo is tickled, well, pink to see their shirts and hats out in the wild.

“We feel so much more connected to the community than ever before,” Smith says. “It’s very humbling that something we created people are proud to wear,” Downer adds.

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