Meguiar Back as Head of Family Business : Car care: A decade after stepping down as chief executive to pursue outside interests, he returns to helm of company founded in 1901.

IRVINE â€”  After a 10-year hiatus, Barry Meguiar is resuming his role as head of Meguiar’s Inc., the car care products company that his family founded in 1901.

Meguiar, 54, stepped down as chief executive in 1985 and was followed by a succession of nonfamily members.

“Our customers wanted to see the Meguiars running the business again,� said Meguiar, who remained as chairman the last decade, serving as a consultant while devoting more time to outside interests.

He acknowledged that the company’s sales have grown steadily in the last decade. In the last three years alone, sales surged 28% a year at the company, which makes products ranging from car wax to polish for planes and furniture. With an emphasis on the retail market, Meguiar’s products began appearing on the shelves of Kmart, Wal-Mart and auto specialty stores such as Chief Auto Parts and Pep Boys. The 100-employee company ships products to more than 30 countries, according to officials.

Ironically, it was the desire to build the retail sector that prompted the company to turn to its first nonfamily chief executive, naming Lawrence Kerin as president a decade ago. Kerin remained with the company until 1992, when Meguiar’s chief financial officer, Jack Swan, was named interim president for one year. Lou Basanese became president in 1994, serving until Meguiar took over again last month.

But, each time it brought in a retail specialist, Meguiar said, the company felt it was compromising its relationship with luxury auto makers such as Mercedes-Benz, Lamborghini and BMW, as well as its business with scores of body shops, professional auto racers and other industry manufacturers.

“It’s second nature for me to walk into a body shop and start buffing,� Meguiar said proudly.

Meguiar learned the business from the ground up. As a 12-year-old, he mixed wax and labeled bottles in the company’s headquarters during summer vacations. After college, he became a regional sales manager.

Meguiar’s grandfather, Frank Meguiar Jr., started the company at the beginning of the century in Evansville, Ind., manufacturing furniture polish. The company moved to Pasadena in 1913. It shifted its headquarters to Irvine in 1970.