The New Car Wash

StartupJournal.com: The battle is on to primp your ride.
Facing growing competition from the likes of Home Depot Inc. and Sam’s Club, car washes around the country are launching new services aimed at grabbing customers’ interest. Some are promising shorter cleaning times and opening plush waiting rooms with Wi-Fi service. Others are pitching Netflix-style discount plans in which customers pay monthly for unlimited washes. Some are even washing the family dog.
The changes are striking in a conservative business long dominated by mom-and-pops and small chains. But technological shifts that have cut labor costs are making the car-wash business more profitable and attracting a number of new and formidable entrants.
At the end of April, Costco Wholesale Corp. opened a test car wash at a Seattle store; Home Depot opened convenience stores with gas stations and car washes earlier this year at two stores in the Nashville, Tenn., area; it hopes to open another location in Atlanta later this year and more down the road. Nine Sam’s Club locations now have car washes, and the company, owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., anticipates opening more. Wal-Mart already has five Murphy Oil Corp. car washes at its stores. Meanwhile, many gas stations, convenience-store and gas chains like QuikTrip Corp. and even car dealerships have expanded their car-wash operations.
The technological changes include more-powerful drying systems (100-plus horsepower, compared with 30 horsepower previously) that have cut out the need for human dryers at the end. Car washes are also automating payment and finding ways for drivers to load their cars onto the conveyer belts or into the wash without humans helping. Some companies, including Home Depot, have dispensed with the conveyer belt; they clean the car in a garage-like bay that consultants say is cheaper to install and operate, using equipment that adjusts to accommodate vehicles of different sizes.
Now at the Car Wash: Dog Shampoos and Wi-Fi [StartupJournal.com]