Bad News for us all!

[Tim.peele]

Unfortunately Take 5 is opening a new location 4 miles from me within a one mile radius from their location there are now 3 express 1 full service and 1 self service

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

Unfortunately Take 5 is opening a new location 4 miles from me within a one mile radius from their location there are now 3 express 1 full service and 1 self service

Damn. What's your plan(if any)?

 

[JaySingh]

Just acquired a wash with a heavy lower socio-economic customer base, 70% of the business is pretty much Cash, so I am not sure if I'll see a dramatic decline in top line when it comes to CC sales.

 

[Keno]

Unfortunately Take 5 is opening a new location 4 miles from me within a one mile radius from their location there are now 3 express 1 full service and 1 self service

You sure it's still going to open? Their plans have changed for many locations not yet open, not all though

 

[Tim.peele]

They have been working on it all year with a work stoppage of about three months this summer they were using NCS to install their equipment it looks like it is ready to open now also a 3 bay oil change is going up right beside them I know they are in the oil changing business too I am going to wait and see what happens give it a few months

 

[Wash4Life]

You sure it's still going to open? Their plans have changed for many locations not yet open, not all though

It depends on how far along they are. If they've broken ground, they'll open it, and I don't believe they have any future start-up car washes in the pipeline.

 

[Keno]

They have been working on it all year with a work stoppage of about three months this summer they were using NCS to install their equipment it looks like it is ready to open now also a 3 bay oil change is going up right beside them I know they are in the oil changing business too I am going to wait and see what happens give it a few months

Oil change is where they are making a lot of their profit, so they will probably open that

 

[Rapidoil]

My oil change business is up 25% gross sales for the year. The economy is red hot where I live. My wife's small business based on recreation is fully booked for next year. So from my point of view the economy is good. Not to mention the latest jobs report, consumer spending report etc. I gotta say when I come on here and look around there is a lot of negativity about the economy but I'm not seeing it where I live.

 

[ShinePro]

Oil changes are necessary
Especially since car lots are empty
Recreation is - well - f ing off time

Car washing is neither
How is your car wash doing?

I m probably going to have a record year
But I m concerned about the next year or so with headlines that started this thread!

Read the new Car Wash magazine
Pretty good article on workers
Winter edition
Pg 106
“8 million people left the job market”
5%
Thats why unemployment is so low
Some segments of economy will be great
Put it on the card!
Others are going to be tough sledding when the card is full.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

This express wash insanity probably has everyone on edge. Ethics in that segment don’t seem to be that plentiful and operators feel like that any day one is going to be built in their laps. It appears the tide is turning for them and we’ll see who is left standing in the end. I feel sorry for longtime owners that have had their business devastated by this cutthroat business model. I think it has done long term damage to the industry. I equate their giveaway everything model to the free wash with gas model from a few decades back. I know I won’t shed a tear when I see a relatively new wash shuttered. They brought in on themselves. My 2 cents.

 

[water guy]

My oil change business is up 25% gross sales for the year. The economy is red hot where I live. My wife's small business based on recreation is fully booked for next year. So from my point of view the economy is good. Not to mention the latest jobs report, consumer spending report etc. I gotta say when I come on here and look around there is a lot of negativity about the economy but I'm not seeing it where I live.

Please share where your located?

 

[Dan kamsickas]

Those of us that have been around long enough remember the boom times in the self serve sector of the business when Autos started being paired with self serves in the mid to late 90s. Washes being built anyplace with an open piece of dirt(and some without), many times on top of other washes, many times by investors or people who were not capable of running a successful wash. They were all going to have a license to print money. With any boom there is always going to be a bust, regardless of industry. It's guaranteed. The bust started around 04-05 and now several self serve manufacturers are completely gone and every survivor is under different ownership than they were in 08. I can give you a long list of people who leverage everything to build a wash or washes and lost everything.

It sure feels like history is repeating itself.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

Those of us that have been around long enough remember the boom times in the self serve sector of the business when Autos started being paired with self serves in the mid to late 90s. Washes being built anyplace with an open piece of dirt(and some without), many times on top of other washes, many times by investors or people who were not capable of running a successful wash. They were all going to have a license to print money. With any boom there is always going to be a bust, regardless of industry. It's guaranteed. The bust started around 04-05 and now several self serve manufacturers are completely gone and every survivor is under different ownership than they were in 08. I can give you a long list of people who leverage everything to build a wash or washes and lost everything.

It sure feels like history is repeating itself.

For sure! My first wash I bought was a victim of that fallout. With that said, I own both my washes, free and clear and take five and champion express as expanded aggressively in my area. I read on Facebook of some take 5 closing sites and I went by one of their sites in my area and they have it down to one single kid running the wash with no people at the pay stations. Every time I'm there, they're washing one to five cars per hour

I feel bad for the real estate investors, who purchased these assets for the triple net income, and they're gonna be left with a single used building that is going to be challenging to keep as a Car Wash

 

[Rapidoil]

Please share where your located?

Montana

 

[Rapidoil]

I appreciate everyone's replies to my post. I stand by what I said and I respect all your viewpoints. I'm an owner of an oil change business and came here when I was and still am considering building a car wash on ground I own in our towns commerical district. I've studied my car wash market for the last year and see room for another wash. I was thinking dual IBA petits. In fact I had the project to the point of fruition when interest rates got stupid a year ago so I put it on hold. Now I'm revisiting the project. There is no doubt I would be leveraged if I do this project. I've boot strapped my way to where I am so I'm treading lightly.

My town seems like it's in the sweet spot of too small for tunnels or PE washes so seeing them struggle and the take 5 and others fail is a good sign for me too. I guess what I was getting at is there is a lot of negativity about the economy but I'm not seeing that in my town. My house and land I own are both swimming in equity. Maybe too many people watched that stupid Yellowstone show and now want to live in Montana ? Also where I live is unique in that there is a huge contingent of wealthy and highly educated folks here due to the presence of a large drug company factory and a large federal NIH research facility. As well as a very wealthy community established by Charles Schwab and another by the oracle guy. There are also a lot of hard working regular Montanans with actual ranches. So we have rural and rich and it works. Just my 2 cents

 

[soonermajic]

I appreciate everyone's replies to my post. I stand by what I said and I respect all your viewpoints. I'm an owner of an oil change business and came here when I was and still am considering building a car wash on ground I own in our towns commerical district. I've studied my car wash market for the last year and see room for another wash. I was thinking dual IBA petits. In fact I had the project to the point of fruition when interest rates got stupid a year ago so I put it on hold. Now I'm revisiting the project. There is no doubt I would be leveraged if I do this project. I've boot strapped my way to where I am so I'm treading lightly.

My town seems like it's in the sweet spot of too small for tunnels or PE washes so seeing them struggle and the take 5 and others fail is a good sign for me too. I guess what I was getting at is there is a lot of negativity about the economy but I'm not seeing that in my town. My house and land I own are both swimming in equity. Maybe too many people watched that stupid Yellowstone show and now want to live in Montana ? Also where I live is unique in that there is a huge contingent of wealthy and highly educated folks here due to the presence of a large drug company factory and a large federal NIH research facility. As well as a very wealthy community established by Charles Schwab and another by the oracle guy. There are also a lot of hard working regular Montanans with actual ranches. So we have rural and rich and it works. Just my 2 cents

My Aunt & Uncle have a Ranch in Hamilton for past 45 yrs. Are u closeby? I live near Dallas

 

[ShinePro]

Fyi
The Federal Reserve announces the new credit card debt level for the 4th quarter on Tuesday morning.
Hold on to your hat!

 

[Earl Weiss]

Fyi
The Federal Reserve announces the new credit card debt level for the 4th quarter on Tuesday morning.
Hold on to your hat!

The exact meaning of the Data is difficult to discern from sources I looked at because they seem to use the term "Credit Card Debt" and Credit Card Balances " interchangeably . Difference being if balance is paid in full each month there is little overall impact but may simply be showing a switch from cash to credit card payments. Also the amount needs to be adjusted for inflation to see in real dollars what the impact is.

 

[Keno]

The exact meaning of the Data is difficult to discern from sources I looked at because they seem to use the term "Credit Card Debt" and Credit Card Balances " interchangeably . Difference being if balance is paid in full each month there is little overall impact but may simply be showing a switch from cash to credit card payments. Also the amount needs to be adjusted for inflation to see in real dollars what the impact is.

Agreed, however most credit card users do use them interchangeably in practice as well. Most can't pay off their balance every month, the credit card users who pay their balances in full every month is definitely the minority, and I would guess by a large margin they are the minority.

 

[Earl Weiss]

................ most credit card users do use them interchangeably in practice as well. Most can't pay off their balance every month, the credit card users who pay their balances in full every month is definitely the minority, and I would guess by a large margin they are the minority.

Not so large a margin based on these reports.

What percentage of credit card accounts carry a balance?
Americans carried a balance on 56% of all active credit card accounts in the third quarter of 2022, according to the most recent available data from the American Bankers Association.

GOBankingRates recently surveyed more than 1,000 American adults about their credit-card habits — and the results revealed some promising trends. The largest group of respondents by far paid off their credit card bills in full each and every month.

A November 2022 LendingTree survey found that just 35% of cardholders say they always pay their credit card balance in full every month, while 65% say they carry a balance at least some of the time. Nearly half (46%) of those cardholders who have card debt say it would take them at least a year to pay it off.

So, the above while confusing could be interpreted that if 56% of accounts have balances perhaps that 56% is owned by less than 50% of people since the largest group of respondents paid their bills in full each month. tends to make sense since those who can not / do not pay in full may be more likely to carry balances on several cards.

At the end of the day who is to say if the issue is really charging what you need and not having ready sources to pay for it , or buying stuff you don't need with $ you don't have.