I live in suburban Atlanta, and I have very few automatic car washes near me. The few car washes near by are all hand wash. There was a small automatic car wash behind a gas station a couple of miles away, and five or six years ago it broke and closed. When it reopened it was a hand car wash. They just used the building as shelter. I'm assuming it was too expensive to fix? The closest automatic car was to me is about 20 minutes away, and I live in a fairly dense area.
That's really interesting. Perhaps it just hasn't hit your town yet. The US had about 50,000 car washes for a few years before 2020, and now we're up over 63,000.
According to the data I found, Georgia currently has around 2,232 establishments, the 7th most in the country.
Interesting! I used to live in Minneapolis, and there were so many more automatic car washes up there. Does the data distinguish between automatic and hand car washes?
A lot of establishments have both options, so the data source I use (IBIS World) only lists revenue by source. Conveyor car washes generate 52% of revenue in the industry while self-service bays are only about 10% of the revenue. The rest is automatic washes in bays, detailing services, and hand washing.
It's interesting that private equity firms seem to be entering this market, buying up and consolidating existing sites and attracted by the subscription revenues. The lesson from other markets is that there is a very real risk of over capacity.
Up until recently the UK was going in the opposite direction. Thousands of sites manned by immigrants from Eastern Europe had set set up around the country. Competition from relatively cheap labour and the convenience of just handing over cash meant automated sites were closing down. Brexit coupled with tougher immigration laws has meant automation is starting to make a comeback.
I've heard from friends in California that one of the big shifts over the past decade has been the disappearance of the cash-based car washes, which likely follows some of the same issues with the UK. Tougher immigration laws and rising wages has made it less profitable.
I was surprised to see rapid the growth after the pandemic considering a lot of people cut back on driving in 2020 and 2021, thus not necessarily needing a car wash as often.
I live in suburban Atlanta, and I have very few automatic car washes near me. The few car washes near by are all hand wash. There was a small automatic car wash behind a gas station a couple of miles away, and five or six years ago it broke and closed. When it reopened it was a hand car wash. They just used the building as shelter. I'm assuming it was too expensive to fix? The closest automatic car was to me is about 20 minutes away, and I live in a fairly dense area.
That's really interesting. Perhaps it just hasn't hit your town yet. The US had about 50,000 car washes for a few years before 2020, and now we're up over 63,000.
According to the data I found, Georgia currently has around 2,232 establishments, the 7th most in the country.
Interesting! I used to live in Minneapolis, and there were so many more automatic car washes up there. Does the data distinguish between automatic and hand car washes?
A lot of establishments have both options, so the data source I use (IBIS World) only lists revenue by source. Conveyor car washes generate 52% of revenue in the industry while self-service bays are only about 10% of the revenue. The rest is automatic washes in bays, detailing services, and hand washing.
It's interesting that private equity firms seem to be entering this market, buying up and consolidating existing sites and attracted by the subscription revenues. The lesson from other markets is that there is a very real risk of over capacity.
Up until recently the UK was going in the opposite direction. Thousands of sites manned by immigrants from Eastern Europe had set set up around the country. Competition from relatively cheap labour and the convenience of just handing over cash meant automated sites were closing down. Brexit coupled with tougher immigration laws has meant automation is starting to make a comeback.
I've heard from friends in California that one of the big shifts over the past decade has been the disappearance of the cash-based car washes, which likely follows some of the same issues with the UK. Tougher immigration laws and rising wages has made it less profitable.
I was surprised to see rapid the growth after the pandemic considering a lot of people cut back on driving in 2020 and 2021, thus not necessarily needing a car wash as often.