Bearded Bigfoot Detailing owner Dillon Davis, pictured in center, with scissor, cuts the ribbon Wednesday, Sept. 3, surrounded by family, friends and Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce staff and ambassadors. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW — Dillon Davis has a passion for vehicles and his family, which comes through when he talks about his business, Bearded Bigfoot Detailing.

Located at 1823 E. Market St., Warsaw, the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce had a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, Sept. 3, for the shop that offers “paint corrections, ceramic coating, auto detailing, ag equipment, marine” and is starting to sell detail supplies as well. Davis said they just bought a bunch of Car Candy products and “they’re a really good company. We sell Autofiber towels, they’re amazing. One of their towels is like a 30 by 40 and they can dry a whole car. They’re really nice. They’re really absorbent, really nice towels. We sell those as well here.”

It was back in high school when Davis, now 28, began detailing. He started another detailing business with another individual in 2020, but they split ways and Davis stopped doing it for a little while. In 2023, Davis, who still works full-time at DePuy (Johnson & Johnson MedTech), and his wife had their first child. He saw a pop-up class and decided to get certified through System X. They flew out to Las Vegas and met the lead installer for System X, as well as his future mentor from Daily Details Garage. After returning from that class in Las Vegas, Davis had a lot of momentum to move forward.

In December 2023, he got going and “it’s been uphill since,” he said. “We hired somebody in ’24, and we took him back to the same class I went to in ’23, the same place where my mentor is at. He had another class there.”

Davis said it was a really good time and a good experience. Bearded Bigfoot Detailing is a certified System X installer. In May, they went to Angelwax ceramic coat training.

“So we’re an installer for System X and Angelwax. They’re both really good companies. We just wanted options,” Davis stated.

Looking back, he said he’s always had a passion for vehicles.

“My grandpa has a ’76 Scottsdale. It was my great-grandpa’s, so he bought it new. And he restored it before he passed, and it’s become like our centerpiece for our business because we did a paint correction on it, ceramic coated. It’s just all about preserving it,” Davis said.

He stated it’s all about family.

“It’s just my wife and I. We have one employee right now, but potentially just myself for a little while. It’s just a small family business right now,” he said.

When they started the business, they began in a barn in Mentone that they rented from his parents. They moved Bearded Bigfoot Detailing into the former USA Muffler building, behind Cozy Cottage, on East Market Street in April this year. It was not in the best shape when they moved in but since then they painted the interior black, added lights and made it look “10 times better” to make it what they needed, Davis said.

While he still works at DePuy full time, he’s trying to find a way to operate Bearded Bigfoot Detailing full-time while still providing for his family.

“It’s always been about family, and I was like, ‘How can I provide for my family while still doing my passion?’” he said. “Hopefully, I would eventually like to do this more full-time. God has been so good to us. We bought that trailer to do mobile washes in February. … Got back, had so much more momentum just like we did when we went down to Vegas to get certified and stuff like that. We got back, bought a brand new trailer … and literally two weeks after that this place came up.”

They bought the building, too, feeling like God and his grandpa – who died in January – had a plan for them.

“We’ve been staying pretty busy here. They just paved the lot out here, and it’s been going up ever since,” Davis said.

Hours for Bearded Bigfoot Detailing are not formally set at this point as Davis works third shift full-time.

“You can almost guarantee to catch us in here from like 1 to 5:30 (p.m.),” he said. “But we have Facebook, we have a website, www.beardedbigfootdetailing.com. Instagram. If you send us a message, we’ll reply within a day, at least within a day.”

Rates vary per job.

“I want to try to give you the best results possible, inform you, educate you and let you make the choice. At the end of the day, it’s your choice. I’m not trying to pressure you at all. At the end of the day, I just want to make sure the customer is not being taken advantage of. That’s big for me,” he stated.

So why the name, Bearded Bigfoot Detailing?

Davis is 6 feet 8 inches tall and has a beard. He wanted to have a business name that would be a little different and that would stick in peoples’ minds. Since some people have called him Bigfoot – he wears size 18 shoes and 16 boots – the name fit well.

“I’m trying to build a brand around something that people remember and to where they can associate who we are,” Davis said, adding that the name also fits his personality and he’s always loved the Bigfoot lore.