Blog

The good news about 2008 is that its over. Most car washes in the Mid Atlantic reported volume losses averaging around 20%. Some washes were worse others were better. The question for 2009 has become how do we get customers back into the habit of washing their cars?

Today more than ever we have lots of marketing tools available to us. most of us are not using all the features on the expensive equipment we own.  Do you have discount codes programed into your auto cashiers?

Do you email that code to every one you know? Do you have daily specials? 2009 will be a year of learning how to take advantage of the tools we already own.

Interesting times for car wash owners, investors and speculators. The Spring 2008 economy has provided a challenging fast paced environment for this market. The Mid Atlantic has seen more than its share of weekend rain. Based on Solution volume for our roughly 500 car washes it appears the average operator is off volume wise roughly 25%

Is $4.00 gas the culprit? When I talk with my friends in Texas where the weather has been good for washing they say volumes are up or steady from the same time ago last year.

This is good news to worried car washers. It could be just bad weather that is keeping cars away.

This year more car washes are for sale than in years past. Why is this? I think that there are multiple reasons for this phenomena. The first and most obvious, Business is slow. This is a direct result of unfavorable weather. The Second trend I see is new washes entering the market and taking market share. Some may blame manufacturers and distribution for this but really it is the free market and entrepreneurial spirit that is at work here.  The market looks for weakness and when it is discovered opportunity announces its self. Distribution does not win when two washes compete for the same customer.  It hurts our customer relations and we don’t like to do it. Under performing washes do not lead to repeat customers. It is typically our advise to avoid building on top of another car wash as this just divides the market. In the end it is up to the entrepreneur to build or not to build.

The car wash industry as a whole as generally found itself to be fairly resilient to the pressures of inflation and a weak economy. For most people the car is one of their largest personal investments and through good times and bad people tend to continue to wash their cars. When the economy is weak investors tend to look away from the stock market and look at other types of investment. Car washes are attractive, cash business, that have a basis in real estate.

The Slow time of the year has arrived, Suprise,  you didnt notice? The slow Spring with rainny weekends seems to have morfed into the Summer time blues. the good news is compared to the slow spring the arrival of summer does not seem to have hurt business in fact the washes seem to have picked up a little bit. This weekend will bring in the 4th of July.  How are you recognizing our nations birthday at your wash?