Money
Laundering,
rings a bell ?
Why are there suddenly so many car washes?
11–20 of 615 posts
Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?
#12Not joking, Ivy League graduates who might have went into finance, have started raising capital and funding small cash returning businesses. It is now seen as a legitimate career path, sometimes called a "search fund". An HBS graduate might aspire to buy and run a blue collar business as a way to understand the market.
There are private equity funds that might aquire 50 of these businesses at 2-5M each, roll them into an index, and sell the index. Same with doctors/dentist practices.
The financing of these businesses is so opaque.
Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?
#13The article doesn't mention it, but I read another article about car washes that argued they're used as a way to speculate on commercial real estate in cities because the car washes provide just enough revenue to pay for the purchase of the land and property taxes. Then when the land becomes valuable they can sell it to another developer.
Just like storage units?
Absolutely. I can think of a few storage units that are in prime real estate locations that make no sense--like right across the street from Oracle Park in San Francisco. Has to be some of the most expensive real estate in the entire city/state and it's being used for storage units...
Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?
#14Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?
#15Money Laundering, rings a bell ?
I thought that was what all the mattress stores were for.
Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?
#16The article doesn't mention it, but I read another article about car washes that argued they're used as a way to speculate on commercial real estate in cities because the car washes provide just enough revenue to pay for the purchase of the land and property taxes. Then when the land becomes valuable they can sell it to another developer.
I wouldn’t think they would be especially cheap to build though?
Sophisticated machinery, lots of plumbing?
Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?
#17Year after Year, I kept thinking this was a fad and would crash. But years go by, and now they are calling it a 'boom'. 14 billion dollar market. For Car Washes? Isn't this an indicator that economy is fine, people are fine, since they can spend this type of money on car washes? How can something this worthless be booming, if people are struggling.
My local car was has a $20/month subscription for unlimited washes. These aren't exactly luxury services--they're priced similar to a Netflix plan. If you have a car, it's worth it if you value our time at all.
Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?
#18I've been thinking about this same phenomenon. I reside in Norway, where, interestingly, five different car washes opened in 2023 within a 2 km radius of my local neighborhood. Remarkably, four of these are clustered within a 300m stretch inside a commercial park. Our local area has a population of roughly 5,000 to 7,000 people. Each car wash is operated by a different entity, offering unique apps and subscription pl…
Everyone wants to be a remote entrepreneur passive income digital nomad.
Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?
#19Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?
#20The article doesn't mention it, but I read another article about car washes that argued they're used as a way to speculate on commercial real estate in cities because the car washes provide just enough revenue to pay for the purchase of the land and property taxes. Then when the land becomes valuable they can sell it to another developer.
I wouldn’t think they would be especially cheap to build though? Sophisticated machinery, lots of plumbing?
I think there are companies that build/sell turnkey carwashes. I don't think it's very sophisticated to be honest. It's really just a couple of high pressure sprayers, some soap/foaming sprayers, and a track that pulls the car. It's all technology that's been available for decades. I bet there's a factory in China just pumping out car wash components.