Martin Emmrich
Royal Palm Car Wash
Bradenton, Fla.
Q: Tell us about your business.
A: We operate two facilities in the area. The first is a flex-serve where we offer express exterior car washes with after-wash services (full service, express and complete detailing). Our newer location is strictly express exterior. At each location we strive to create an all-around exceptional customer experience.
Q: What do you love most about the business?
A: Every day is different. With so many interconnected pieces — equipment, vehicles, customer personalities, employees, vendors — there’s always a different challenge. We try to view these challenges as opportunities for mini successes. Try turning a customer complaint to a demonstration of your knowledge of car paint. If you string a few of those mini-successes together, you’ve done well.
Q: What’s the next big thing for the industry?
A: Anything that minimizes operating costs, especially energy consumption, is welcomed.
Q: What has been your experience using social media for your car wash?
A: We have a monthly e-newsletter that customers can sign up for on our website or in our customer lounge. The newsletter provides car care tips, seasonal reminders, special sales and monthly coupons. I like this method because making it a regular occurrence forces me to come up with tips and topics, and monthly is probable the right frequency so I don’t overload our followers.
Q: What new technologies or innovations are you most interested in bringing to your car wash?
A: Who doesn’t want a better blower that gets cars super dry without damaging the vehicle or insanely high energy costs?
Mark DiGiovanni
Eastern Express Car Wash
Boston, Mass.
Boston, Mass.
Q: Tell us about your business.
A: Our car wash is located just beyond the northern edge of Boston about two miles from Logan airport. Our automatic tunnel, self-serve bays and vacuums cater to a demographically broad customer base. Flight and support personnel might pass through on their way home at all times of day and night, nearby residents comprise the bulk of our customers on the weekends, and a fair number of taxis and commercial vehicles visit our location.
Q: What are your biggest challenges?
A: Our biggest challenges are a depleted physical plant, market saturation and frugal consumers. Our plant is more than 25 years old, there are four car washes within three miles, and the burst of economic growth (both real and bubble) in the late 1990s and early 2000s will likely never be seen again. Plans for a facelift are nearly complete to increase our visual appeal, improve our consumer experience and decrease our energy costs.
Q: What’s the next big thing for the industry?
A: I would say it is demonstrating to our customers and regulatory bodies that we are good stewards of our resources and improving the experience at the same time. There are always measures that can be taken to save a little more water or a little more electricity without compromising service.
Customer experience is king. Those old enough will recall a time when retailing was simply about providing a product or service. If your establishment was clean, your offerings complete and service decent, you did fine. I don’t think that’s the case anymore. The most successful retailers are those who think beyond those basics and address the experience.
Q: Have you used social media for your car wash?
A: With the exception of using FourSquare for small promotions, we use social media for basic information on the services we provide. Bostonians remain provincial and don’t seem to venture far for anything except maybe ice cream. Increasing the frequency of visits and how much people spend is where the work lies.
Q: What new technologies or innovations are you most interested in bringing to your car wash?
A: Reducing electricity consumption by using solar electric and to a lesser extent solar thermal. Whether one agrees with them from an economic standpoint or not, renewable mandates funded by rate payers are here, and the financial incentives to deploy them make some sense.
Christopher Crawford and John Diehl
Car-Wash-Architect.com
Boca Raton, Fla.
Q: Tell us about your business.
A: We are award-winning architects who specialize in larger, full-sized car wash and quick lube projects. Our clients have chosen us due to our unique, cost-effective designs; our ability to produce extremely functional site layouts; and our outstanding sets of highly detailed blueprints. To date we have designed more than 100 facilities in the U.S., Canada and overseas and are currently working on more than a dozen new exciting projects.
Q: What’s the next big thing for the industry?
A: The trend we see is that car washes are getting bigger and more stylish and sophisticated in appearance, along with offering a more elaborate array of services in order to successfully compete with the guy down the street. We are also designing a lot more car wash/quick lube combos and have more clients requesting dog wash bays.
Q: What innovations are you most interested in bringing to your car wash designs?
A: We have successfully utilized building materials and techniques in our designs that result in very easy-to-maintain buildings, allowing clients to spend more time concentrating on washing cars and less time working on their buildings. Technologies we are heavily recommending to our clients recently are extremely efficient water reclaim systems (due to the nationwide water shortage) and fully electric wash equipment. We also are suggesting clients utilize quieter dryers and vacuums (a major problem in sites adjoining residential communities) and self-cleaning trench designs.
Q: What’s your advice for operators looking to renovate their current car wash on a budget?
A: Spend your money only on the items that generate business the most. Consider replacing all of your existing signage with something larger and more appealing to customers. If your building is dull in appearance, consider adding an interesting architectural design feature to get your facility noticed, such as a free-standing tower that can also double as a sign. Or simply repaint the facility, and don’t be afraid to use brighter colors and accents. Operators can also install a tall flag pole that can handle several large flags and put in new landscaping. All of these ideas will bring a car wash to life and get it noticed.
