Economic Impact

[washregal]

Just looked at my last qtrs numbers vs. last years same time.. I am off 24% is anyone else seeing this?

I am in SE Pennsylvania.. Just wondering how deep the misery goes... We need a strong winter...

 

[washnvac]

I am in lower Delaware. For my three locations the y-t-d decline ranges from 11%-22%
Although August was actually a bit up in all three....thank goodness. A good Winter is key to get us out of this slump. Gas under $3 would not hurt, either.

 

[Patrick H. Crowe]

Wash Regal:

I can only report on the Kansas City area, suburbs included. That's both Kansas City, Missouri and the adjacent counties in Kansas. I have never seen anything like this in the 45+ years I've been in the business. It is simultaneously tragic for the owners who are belly up or soon to be and an opportunity for savvy buyers.

My ball park estimate is the at least 25% of the washes are abandoned or on the market. It could be more, many more. I plan to do an article with hard data if time ever allows.

It's the economy. It's overbuilding. It's poor management. It's lack of capital. The reasons are many and varied but I now see once successful washes abandoned; more and more are for sale though many sellers believe that what they paid has anything whatsoever to do with current fair market value - -insanity!

I can recall a time when would-be buyers complained that no washes were ever for sale. They were dead wrong. Come to KC now and I'll show you dozens of them.

Of course revenues are waaaaay down - - thus abandoned washes.

Patrick H. Crowe

 

[Reds]

My SS is down but IBA is up. August was flat compared to last year. But overall I am up slightly for the year. I'm sure that gas prices, etc are pinching peoples wallets. But I also attribute a part of this to the weather, at least in NE Pa. I pull NOAA climate reports every month to track the weather - for example, June 08 we had 19 days with a trace of rain (or more) and only 10 clear days. That's got to have an effect. I agree with Patrick that the overbuilding, poor management, the economy, and lack of capital are causing the weaker operators to fold - in that order. Add some lousy weather in certain regions and it can be a killer for some operators.

 

[Waxman]

I'd personally like to hear from some more operators who have multiple profit centers on-site.

My carwash is down slightly but detail is up quite a bit ytd.

These days, I think it's almost a necessity to have as much to offer the customer as possible. The cross-marketing effects of carwash and detail shop have impressed me since moving my detail shop 20 feet from the wash.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I basically have the SS/vac island setup at my wash, I wish I had more profit centers. My income is not down too bad at this point in the year. I think alot of it has to do with becoming more community involved. We sponsored a car show downtown that ran all summer long. We have had charity washes for about 6 Saturdays in a row. We have been running a Tuesday special and advertising in the local coffee shops for about two months now.

The previous owner was a build it and they will come, whereas we have been more proactive about it. Up here in MI we are used to this recession crap and I don't think anyone really cares anymore, they are just going on about their daily lives, not listening the NBC Nightmarely News. Just my .02