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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?

#251

Post by thablackbull »

lostlogin wrote: post #217
throwaway22032 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire point of working for a living instead of e.g. subsistence farming is that you can simply switch jobs if it's not going well. As an adult if you can't weather a couple of weeks of unemployment you've seriously screwed up somewhere - probably overcommitting to expenses based on assuming that your income is guaranteed. The mindset that someone should be stopped from even offering a job because it might not be…

> As an adult if you can't weather a couple of weeks of unemployment you've seriously screwed up somewhere Only 64% of Americans could cover an expected bill of $400. https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2021-economic-we...

Not an expert on the financial market, but this article may be worthwhile to consider, 'Actually, Most Americans Can Come Up With $400 in an Emergency' [1]

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-08-03/actual...

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#252

Post by Plasmoid »

notdang wrote: post #227
Plasmoid wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've heard the current way to clean cash is to buy gift cards and then use them to buy items from Amazon/Steam. Sure, the store fronts take a cut but having a 1099 from Valve looks way more legitimate than reporting thousands of dollars of cash.

So how do you clean them with this scheme? By registering a game on Steam or selling something on Amazon? Also made me think why in the country I live, in stores like 7Eleven you cannot pay with a credit card for gift cards, google pay cards, etc.

From what I understand the scheme works like this.

Create a very basic "game" that technically meets Valve's requirements. As long as it runs well enough then it won't be blocked. Have people buy Steam gift cards with cash, then buy the games you have published.

Valve takes 30% and you get a nice check with a verified source of funds from a legitimate company.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#253

Post by henriquez »

pixl97 wrote: post #247
henriquez wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you’re advocating a Chinese Communist Party model or what? A central authority determines what the market should be vs. what the market _is?_

It's kind of funny listening to the silly things free market maximalists tend to say.... "Local people electing a local government choosing what gets built locally is communism"

I’m not a free market maximalist. I just don’t see how some random local politician is more qualified to determine how many car washes are permissible than local business owners who have bought and permitted car wash businesses.

And for whatever it’s worth there aren’t nearly enough car washes where I live.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#254

Post by d0gsg0w00f »

wholinator2 wrote: post #177
d0gsg0w00f wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I need to wash my cars at least once a week or they get filthy.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#255

Post by hansvm »

rootusrootus wrote: post #226
hansvm wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, why don't apartments offer a spigot and outlet somewhere nearby where you can park a car? In my mind, it's kind of like how above $20/hr or so (and >= 5ish employees), it's a no-brainer for businesses to pay for lunch. It's more cost effective for the business to pay, and it results in less dead time and more camaraderie. The experience of automatic or manual car washes is bad; your car doesn't get that cle…

When I lived in an apartment the complex had two dedicated car wash spots. This was close to 25 years ago but my guess is they still do.

I've never toured nor rented a place with dedicated car wash spots. Clearly my experience isn't universal, but I'd love that opportunity.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#256

Post by I-M-S »

pixl97 wrote: post #246
para_parolu wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who defines more productive business? Maybe car wash is a good business for people to work for in some period of live. USSR tries to optimize business from top but selecting what would be produced and how much. Didn’t work well for community or customers.

And late stage capitalism with boom/bust cycles is good for the community and customers too? At least for the 1% it's doing great. The point is that a "Local" government deciding on how many of one kind of business shows up in one spot isn't optimizing from the top (you could consider that the state or federal government). Instead you could consider it optimizing it from the middle. The local people are electing offi…

The way most municipal councillors in English-speaking countries optimize everything to retain homeowner's real estate value while keeping property taxes low doesn't exactly imbue confidence.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#258

Post by philwelch »

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…

Markets have failure modes, but not nearly as many failure modes as bumbling politicians thinking they can decide for the rest of society how many car washes belong in their town. Oh no, who will ever do anything about the abandoned husks and unemployed people left behind when we let people build too many car washes!? Let’s just make it borderline fucking illegal to build anything at all and let every busybody in the world get a veto before anyone sets up something as potentially hazardous as a car wash.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#259

Post by Supermancho »

tamimio wrote: post #91
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?

> I would have assumed its from the rise of gig workers using private cars. Uber/Lyft need to keep cars pretty clean True, I believe that’s the reason too, a while ago I used to park in an underground parking with a free washing area, the car next to me used to be clean all the time and the guy washes it every day, one time I asked him about such dedication, he said simply he is an uber driver!

>> I would have assumed its from the rise of gig workers using private cars.

It is not in West/Fargo. There is almost no rideshare capacity (there are a couple people) and the taxis use their own wash. Even Google does not capture the new 12 washes that have appeared in the last 18 months. Some of them can't staff and are closed much of the time. Especially during winter, when you want washes, it seems like land improvement. Add sewer, power, water, network to undeveloped land as a "business". Hold for a decade. Profit.

Re: Why are there suddenly so many car washes?

#260

Post by I-M-S »

moomin wrote: post #216
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…

I’d ask you what you think the purpose of a local politician is, if not to reflect the local people’s wishes in the development of their area.

Ideally to optimize for long-term prosperity of the area while taking the needs of the greater community into account.
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