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Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

bloomberg.com

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Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#171

Post by mr_toad »

logifail wrote: post #89

> There are four full-service car washes in town, with a fifth on the way; three are bunched up on a mile-and-a-half stretch of Route 14. Social media complaints about car wash overkill spurred town leaders to take action. Four (or even five) doesn't sound that much? What's the actual problem here? How is a local politican supposed to determine what is the correct density of any particular type of service within her…

The social media complaints are probably Astro turfing by the existing car washes that don’t want any more competition.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#172

Post by throwup238 »

I think they're popular because they create induced demand. Most people only seek out car washes once they reach a certain dirtiness threshold but if the car wash is on the way home or at their favorite gas station, they tend to wash their cars much more frequently. There's four car washes within a half mile radius of my house that have been around for years but each of them is on a different artery connecting to the freeway so they cater to different markets so to speak. The area could probably support few more if the real estate weren't so competitive.

IMO that's also why they all have monthly memberships with unlimited washes. The vast majority of their customers are regulars driving by on their way to work so the subscription makes sense for everyone.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#174

Post by grecy »

atrus wrote: post #168
logifail wrote: post #89

> There are four full-service car washes in town, with a fifth on the way; three are bunched up on a mile-and-a-half stretch of Route 14. Social media complaints about car wash overkill spurred town leaders to take action. Four (or even five) doesn't sound that much? What's the actual problem here? How is a local politican supposed to determine what is the correct density of any particular type of service within her…

> If the market were too small, the weakest would fail, right? Right? I find it interesting that we have sayings like this, and sayings like "the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent." > why should a politician need to step in to regulate, rather than letting the market decide? Because the market doesn't price in externalities. Sure the market will figure out which car washes live. But what abo…

> Sure the market will figure out which car washes live. But what about the ones that don't and the people who subsequently lose their jobs

There's a lot going on in your statement to dig through.

The article specifically says these car washes barely add jobs.. but let's ignore that.

When a business opens and starts to hire people, there is no guarantee it will exist long term. When a person applies for a job, they need to do some due diligence researching the business to see if it sounds like something that will be around as long as they want to have a job.

Are you proposing we shouldn't allow "risky" business to start and hire people because there is no certainty they will be around in 1-5 years? Of course that doesn't make any sense.

If a business fails, people will lose their jobs, but that is not a reason to prevent business from starting. In fact, if we did prevent them, those jobs would have never existed!

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#175

Post by d0gsg0w00f »

kuchenbecker wrote: post #103
nytesky wrote: post #7

I would have assumed its from the rise of gig workers using private cars. Uber/Lyft need to keep cars pretty clean to not be dinged stars, and even package and food delivery can create more mess which may require cleaning (but mostly taxi service I think). I skimmed the article and don’t see mention of that?

When I worked at a carwash half the cars came from the local car dealerships.

I wonder which is more wasteful: parking decks for dealerships or washing hundreds of cars every month.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#177

Post by wholinator2 »

d0gsg0w00f wrote: post #169
Antip0dean wrote: post #106

This is a big thing in the UK, too. The official narrative here is modern slavery with undocumented migrants. It's the same with sex work, with which is harder to separate between conservative propaganda and reality. I expect the main difference between the US and UK versions are that the latter are typically set up in disused urban plots with pop-up tents and temporary chain-link fences rather than having any invest…

I think this article is referencing the common trend of drive through automated washes which would make sense if large investors are in the picture. The big automated ones are pushy with their subscriptions which the article also talks about. These big wash machines are typically staffed by only 2 or 3 people hence the complaints that they don't even create jobs. That being said, I wish there were more automated wash…

I couldn't imagine ever paying a subscription to a car wash! I barely even pay for Spotify, how often do you go? And how often would you go if you weren't paying a subscription?

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#178

Post by mr_toad »

usrusr wrote: post #54
elwell wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if I can avoid buying a car because Uber, then number of washes goes down or is at least balanced.

When people use an Uber instead of owning a car, they will never ever sit in a car that hasn't been recently washed. When they drive their own car, the threshold for good enough is so much lower for all but the most fanatic washers. Chances are their own car, on average, will not only have seen more time pass since the last wash, but also more miles (more miles will certainly be much closer to a tie though)

Maybe that’s the real reason there are lots of new car washes?

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#179

Post by WoahNoun »

pseingatl wrote: post #173

Self-storage facilities, car washes, all sold on the grail of near-passive income. With a dying manufacturing base, at least it's better than selling hamburgers to each other. God I love this country.

US manufacturing output is at an all time high. It just requires less employees to produce due to automation.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#180

Post by mensetmanusman »

smeej wrote: post #118

Automated ones are fine, but what I've really missed since I moved to New England have been the ones where a team vacuums the inside, hoses off your mats, wipes your windows and dashboard inside, etc. Growing up in the West and Midwest, these things were absolutely normal for the first 30 years of my life. Some of them would even change the oil too. But I haven't found anywhere within 50 miles of me that will do it h…

Labor costs arr too high for this to exist anymore.
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