Numbers

[washregal]

I operate (2) car wash's in SE Pennsylvania. My numbers are way off from last year I would say 15-20%...

Any Veteran operators out there have any advice? Just wonderd if everyone in the SE PA market are feeling the weather / Economy pinch as well.

 

[ted mcmeekin]

We are in sothern WV and this is worst Feb in 6 years. Cold enough but short on snow, ice and salt. 2 yrs ago Feb was up 27% over previous year, last yr we were up 50 % over that . This year we are down significantly. I hope the normal Feb weather has moved into March.

Ted

 

[washregal]

Ted.

Thanks for the response. At least it is nothing I am doing wrong.

I invested a ton of money this past year.. and spent more time with them than I ever have...

I guess things can only get better.

Hate to say this.. but it is re-assuring that everyones numbers are off.. not just mine.

 

[Greg Pack]

We had some great Spring-like weather in the first half of the month and business boomed for about a week. Then it started raining. February will be the fourth month in a row of below average revenue.

 

[sterlingh20]

I don't think the weather has anything to do with everyone's numbers being off, it's the economy, it's the higher cost of fuel and consumer staples like $5 milk. In a recession, people don't just wash their cars everytime it rains like in the past when the economy was booming. Now on friday if rain is predicted on monday people just wait till after the weekend to wash their car.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I don't think the weather has anything to do with everyone's numbers being off,

You obviously haven't been in this business long. The weather has more effect on this business than anything. The weekends are busiest because that's when the people have the most time to do those "leisure" things. When a weekend is rained out they may wash it during the week, but I'd say the chances are just as good that they just wait until the following weekend. The other things have an effect, but I doubt that anyone that has been in the business for a while would disagree with the weather being the biggest factor for business to drop.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I'm down 12% this last year.
Weather is the number 1 issue.
I started in 1977 as a full service car wash operator.
In 1978 I started getting into the self service business.
The main reason was to whether any economic issues. If the economy got weak and people stopped washing at the full service ($3.95), I felt they would still pay $1.00 to wash their cars at the self service. They did.
This strategy worked great throughout the years until the last 2 years.
There are many reasons but the expansion of so many car washes over the last 5-8 years have definately hurt the car wash industry plus the cost of gas, food, economy (recession/inflation), housing downfall, layoffs, war and taxes are all causing not only ours but other businesses to have serious problems. Times are tough.
Just my two cents.

 

[Dirtychuck]

I am in Ohio and I don't have a lot of experience yet, but Jan 2007 was very cold and lots of bad weather--no one wanted to leave the house, let alone wash their cars.

Jan 2008 was double the income of Jan 2007. Feb 2008 is on par with 2007.

 

[Doug P.]

I have been in and around the biz for over thirty years, and weather has been my number one variable for car wash volume. I also think increased competition and higher gas prices are a strong 2nd and 3rd place.

Doug P.

 

[Waxman]

I'm very new at car washing but have been detailing for almost 2 decades. I had a super February 2007 at the wash and did well all Winter last year. This January was up over 2007 for car wash sales. Detail shop was down very slightly, same time period.

This year in the Northeast car wash volume has been up and down. We've gotten plenty of hard, winter weather. Plenty of storms followed by a thorough salting of the roads. Maybe too much! I think the 'x' factor for me is weekend weather. If the temps are above 20 F, the sun is out, and it's not too windy, we wash alot of cars. If these factors are out of whack, volume drops. These factors carry over to weekdays, though it is to a lesser extent. But nice weather during the week also encourages washing.

The evidence of the effects of weather on the car care biz are also evident in the f.s. detail end. Today, it's sunny and low-mid 30's. Typically Mondays aren't too busy, but I've booked about 6 or 7 detail jobs so far, from my $40 wash, vac and windows job to basic recons (paste wax and complete interior detail). By day's end, I'll book a dozen details total, I'm certain.

So, yeah, it's the weather for me, personally. I'm not one to believe quite all the tales of a poor economy causing volume dips for us; I've got hard data I go by in the amount of people willing to spend $150 on a full detail in Winter. Today there are some of those being booked, so I feel good about that.