Uncle Sam
Member
The Express Exterior Car Wash model with free vacuums has become a growing segment of car washing and is the model used in the rehabbing many older wash sites as well as new. The EE model is open each day from 7 A.M. to 5-8 P.M. and then closed. If a window-type vending machine is used in this model, it is usually installed into the wall or an alcove of the main tunnel building and sometimes secured after closing with a roll down steel door. This placement of the vending machine is usually not very visible or close to the customers using the free vacuum stations. The sales numbers are not as good as expected by many operators, so the vending machines are not very well serviced or maintained. Add to this that often the roll down door is locked with a simple hasp lock that is not very robust, so vandals cut the lock and vandalize the vending machine. Not a win-win situation for operator!!
ShurVend has serviced or sold window-type vendors to a number of EE sites over the years and been particularly involved with an EE car wash chain with 13 sites for over ten years. There were ShurVend machines at 12 of those sites. They were generic sites with alcoves or in-the-wall installations for the vendor in the main building. How the idea of an alcove or in-the-wall installation got started for this business model I do not know, but the placement of the vendor was not very close to the vacuums and there were no steel roll down doors. This chain had their share of vandalism, but not too bad. Their biggest problem from our perspective was that the vendors were almost invisible from the free vacuum area, so the customer had to hunt to make a purchase. That is not the scenario for good vendor sales. The economy has made companies re-examine their
Cont'd
ShurVend has serviced or sold window-type vendors to a number of EE sites over the years and been particularly involved with an EE car wash chain with 13 sites for over ten years. There were ShurVend machines at 12 of those sites. They were generic sites with alcoves or in-the-wall installations for the vendor in the main building. How the idea of an alcove or in-the-wall installation got started for this business model I do not know, but the placement of the vendor was not very close to the vacuums and there were no steel roll down doors. This chain had their share of vandalism, but not too bad. Their biggest problem from our perspective was that the vendors were almost invisible from the free vacuum area, so the customer had to hunt to make a purchase. That is not the scenario for good vendor sales. The economy has made companies re-examine their
Cont'd
