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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?

#2

Post by diogenescynic »

The 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.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#4

Post by malfist »

diogenescynic wrote: post #2

The 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?

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#5

Post by bluefirebrand »

In my city you're not allowed to wash your car in your driveway

I guess it's too hard on the storm drains to have soap and dirt and stuff going down them

Or maybe city council is just in some kind of racket with car wash owners or something

But either way, that's why we have so many car washes here... And it sucks ass

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#6

Post by babas »

I'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 plans.

It's hard to imagine this being profitable given the circumstances. But what do I know, I wash my own car.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#7

Post by nytesky »

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?

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#8

Post by FrustratedMonky »

Year 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.

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