BY SHANEEN CALVO

Car washes are always doing something special; just the act of washing cars falls into that category. But, these car wash operators got out their extension ladders to reach the pinnacle of “something special” when it came to their holiday decorations and charitable endeavors. From winter wonderland light shows to dancing elves and toy drives to Christmas card-making, these car washes exuded holiday happiness.

That’s a Great Idea!

Coming up with a sparkling wintry backdrop for a car wash might cause your imagination to go into overdrive — lights, dancing elves, snow machines and twinkling tunnels all competing for attention. These car washes, though, pinned down their ideas and made them happen.

We had a drive-through light show where all of the lights/projectors/snow “danced to music” and were pre-programmed to seven different songs that the customers could tune into in their cars. We used a combination of projection (three projectors), over 10,000 Smart RGB LED pixels/lights, 30 RGB flood lights, two snow machines, and an FM transmitter. We installed over 25 waterproof controller boxes, six mini computers, a whole wireless “show” network, and over 1 mile of wire/cable.

— American Speed Wash and So Cal Express Car Wash

Magic Wash has always tried to decorate for Christmas ever since we opened in 1983. Over the years we have cycled through many styles and types. One of the favorites has always been the inflatable blow ups because they are colorful and large, though we mostly use lights and wind resistant items.

— Magic Wash

#12DaysofCamelChristmas is our annual Holiday Giveaway social media promotional campaign. During the holidays, a new post goes up each day with a new price announced in a fun, festive caption. Employees served as Secret Santa for one of our community partners, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee, shopping for gifts from the wish lists of 12 kids. On site, Clyde the Camel statues wore hats and lights, and giant wreaths were hung.

— Camel Express Car Wash

We held a Christmas card drive to spread holiday cheer among isolated seniors in our community, many of whom were spending their holidays alone amid the pandemic. We designed and printed our own Christmas cards, promoted them at each of our locations and asked customers to write personal notes within them.

We collected nearly 900 cards. Our local Meals on Wheels was more than happy to help with the delivery. It was truly a magical way to get in the holiday spirit and make a difference within our community!

— Bubble Bath Car Wash

Our holiday car wash decorations consisted of thousands of Christmas lights inside the tunnel as well as outside of the wash tunnel. We partnered with Autism Action Partnership.

— VIP Car Wash (Nebraska)

We tried something new this year at our Moo Moo, Flying Ace and CLEan car washes. We let each of our locations (28 at the time) select a local non-profit or charity that was important to their staff/community. We then designed air fresheners they could sell for $1 with all proceeds going back to their designated charity. We sold more than 21,500 air fresheners!

— Express Wash Concepts

Do You Know Why?

The all important question of “Why?” is the first one every car wash owner/operator should solidify before investing planning time and finances on a special event. Knowing why it is important to you will help you rise above some of the bumpiness that every new endeavor inevitably encounters.

As much as we work to streamline processes and increase sales, we also maintain a culture of fun — our holiday campaign is a time of year that we can really show who we are and put fun at the forefront.

— Camel Express Car Wash

We have participated in the Magical Christmas Toy Drive for three years, and it’s our favorite time of the year. When it came to the Christmas Express, we couldn’t let Christmas events get canceled too. So we adapted. We gave our customers a shine and a show! With dancing lights and music, it was a hit for the whole family.

— Rich’s Car Wash

As a family-owned and operated business, the community really means everything to us. After some brainstorming, we decided Christmas cards would be a COVID-friendly way to remind seniors that they matter, and that someone’s thinking of them this holiday season. From there, we reached out to Meals and Wheels, who helped us organize the door-to-door distribution.

— Bubble Bath Car Wash

We were able to raise money for an organization, Autism Action Partnership, that has a wonderful mission of helping those touched by autism. Our goal going in was simply to provide a fun event for our community while at the same time positively impacting lives in our community.

— VIP Car Wash (Nebraska)

I saw on the news Toys for Tots was having a hard time getting donations and obtaining drop-off sites because of the COVID-19 pandemic and wanted to help. We were able to create a safe way for people to drop off toys.

— VIP Car Wash (Michigan)

Good for the Whole Gang

These holiday events can be equally as fulfilling and beneficial for employees as they are for customers, owners and operators.

Our holiday decorations provided our employees with extra hours helping assemble and install the props, as well as extra pay to run the event at night. One of our employees really likes technology and so I taught him the whole system so that he could troubleshoot if something happened during the show and so he knew how to take it down/set it up next year.

— American Speed Wash and So Cal Express Car Wash

The extended hours and higher volume were a challenge, but thankfully our staff stepped up and put on a great event. All of our employees seemed to really enjoy it and get into the holiday spirit as a team.

— Russell Fischer Xpress

We think our teams really appreciated being able to take the lead and choose who they wanted to raise money for. Plus, each site had the freedom to market at their discretion, orchestrate onsite signage, set sales goals, coordinate check presentations, etc.

— Express Wash Concepts

Giving back to your community is a fantastic team building exercise. Not only does it encourage employees to feel good about their work and your business, but it also helps them feel like they’re a part of something bigger than just
a workplace.

— Bubble Bath Car Wash

Happiness the Priceless Gift

One of the greatest parts about holding a special event is the joy it brings, not only to customers and employees, but to the organizers and owners. Read about what these car washes liked most about their decorations/event and what made them the happiest.

I loved everything about it. I loved the snow machine and the talking Christmas tree and the 50-foot tree was visible from over a mile away. But the thing that made me the happiest was seeing the look on MY kids’ faces when they got to see the show for the first time!

— American Speed Wash and So Cal Express Car Wash

Contributing to getting the team and our customers into the holiday spirit, particularly this past year, was gratifying. Sending festive messages to the winners is fun; they’re always thrilled. But. shopping for a 5-year-old girl’s Christmas wish list (through our partnership with Boys and Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee) without question made me the happiest!

— Camel Express Car Wash

The overwhelming response from customers was inspiring. When we came up with the idea, we thought we’d maybe be able to collect about 100 Christmas cards. Instead, we received nearly 10 times that, and the engagement and support was just tremendous. Doing good has a way of bringing people together! It was a beautiful reminder of why we are in this business — it’s the people we serve.

— Bubble Bath Car Wash

Seeing how generous people can be really was heartwarming, especially during these hard times. Knowing more kids were going to have a gift under the tree for Christmas made me happy.

— VIP Car Wash (Michigan)

Sharing the Good News

It’s no fun to hold a special event if nobody knows about it. Spreading the word is half the fun as who doesn’t like to share good news? This is how these car washes got the word out and marketed their holiday extravaganza.

We used Facebook/Instagram advertising, and the local morning news did a live segment from the car wash that was repeated on the midday and evening news.

— American Speed Wash and So Cal Express Car Wash

#12DaysofCamelChristmas is technically an Instagram campaign so that was the visual and engagement focus. Our engagement tends to be higher on Facebook so we expanded the contest there this year. We also utilized our Google profiles this year to point people to the contests.

— Camel Express Car Wash

We posted primarily on social media, ran social ad campaigns and relied on onsite signage and word of mouth. Many of the non-profits/charities did a great job of cross promoting as well to get the word out.

— Express Wash Concepts

We promoted it through social media and word of mouth. The extremely bright light show drew a little more attention than expected, which probably was our best form of advertisement.

— Russell Fischer Xpress

For the Magical Christmas Toy Drive we used local media. The advertising was included in our sponsorship. For the Christmas Express we utilized used iHeart Radio and the charity; they sent a flyer to their e-mail database. For both, we utilized word of mouth and our social media platforms. All avenues worked well.

— Rich’s Car WashBubble Bath Car Wash (San Antonio, Texas)

Who’s Coming Back for More

When setting up a special event, the goal is not just attract customers for a one-time visit, but to make them avid customers who’ll come back and bring their friends!

We had a ton of grateful customers who were excited to try something different. This pandemic has been horrific, so it was nice to see how a simple holiday event could bring so much cheer for our valued customer base.

— Russell Fischer Xpress

The customers loved it! Customers appreciated the ability to do something local and fun while getting an errand done — getting their car washed!

— American Speed Wash and So Cal Express Car Wash

There was flood of support from our customers and community! On social media we earned quite a bit of goodwill and received a wide array of positive comments. Onsite, we received similar sentiment. People appreciate an organization that gives back to its community.

— Bubble Bath Car Wash

Our communities loved the campaign and rallied behind it for sure! We had local businesses who would come and purchase air fresheners in bulk (think 100!) to give to clients and friends, etc.

— Express Wash Concepts

Cost Vs. Reward

The question on everyone’s mind: Was it worth it? Did all the time and money benefit your business — either in the form of more traffic, improved community relations or a better bottom line?

We had increased volume and revenue, as well as positive local media attention. Actually, being able to see a continuous line of smiling faces was our largest benefit.

— Russell Fischer Xpress

Our main goal during the holidays is to build genuine human connection externally with our customers and community, and internally among the team, across sites and throughout the company. Our goal was certainly reached!

— Camel Express Car Wash

It is hard to assign a dollar figure or determine the bottom line on a campaign like this. But the bottom line for us is that we will always leverage the generosity of our customers to help those in need. It’s a privilege, honestly, to facilitate generosity in others!

— Express Wash Concepts

These events help us build a relationship with the community by showing them that we give back in big ways.

— Rich’s Car Wash

We saw many new faces support our business. People were coming from all over.

— VIP Car Wash (Michigan)

We forged a valuable new relationship with our local Meals on Wheels nonprofit. Those sorts of community partnerships are really priceless, giving customers a reason to want to give you their business over another car wash.

— Bubble Bath Car Wash

What It Takes to Be a Success

Learning from others’ experiences is the best way to go, especially if you want to get it right the first time. Here, car wash owners/operators share what they learned this year that they will take into account next year.

Next year out team will begin collecting Christmas cards a little earlier. Rather than starting the process in early- to mid-December, we’ll begin after Thanksgiving. We hope to double the number of Christmas cards collected in the coming year!

— Bubble Bath Car Wash

We will definitely do it again! We learned a lot about needing to install these systems in hard to reach areas where they can’t be messed with or stolen!

— American Speed Wash and So Cal Express Car Wash

Next year I will have more time to prepare and hopefully make it even
a bigger success.

— VIP Car Wash (Michigan)

Engaging more heavily across additional social media channels — particularly Tik Tok and Google — will further the success. We have learned that personal stories and photos of the team get the most interaction. In past years, the redemption process for some of our prizes created tasks for the onsite team. This year we paid close attention to removing all legwork on site so redemption was seamless.

— Camel Express Car Wash

We would like to start a little earlier in December to give the community more time to enjoy this experience.

— Crews Magic Hand Car Wash

Every year we try to do more, and the decoration quantity grows. This year our big purchase was a 10x15 wooden shed to store the seasonal displays.

— Magic Wash

Some Final Tips

As magical as these holiday events can be, they certainly do not go up by magic! If you are planning on incorporating a special event, here are some tips from car wash owners/operators who have been there and done that.

Do whatever you can to have an impact on others. Also, if you’re going to have thousands of lights, make sure your electrical load can handle it!

— VIP Car Wash (Nebraska)

To do it right, it’s a lot of work and very DIY. We spent over 500 man hours researching, purchasing and installing the system. Actually, I am working on producing an ‘all-in-one’ holiday-themed instructional guide for car washes. We know how difficult it is to put events on like this, and having everything packaged takes the learning curve down and will help any owner able to pull it off!

— American Speed Wash and So Cal Express Car Wash

Plan ahead so it is not too daunting. It’s a pretty easy execution provided you
start early.

— Express Wash Concepts

We highly recommend choosing a charity to benefit from each event.

— Rich’s Car Wash

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and do something different.

— Crews Magic Hand Car Wash

Our event turned into a great lesson in leadership. It had a slow start at the beginning until I took the time to sit down with my team and really explain the purpose behind why we were doing this Christmas card drive. Then I saw a huge jump in team member participation and onsite promotion. It went from something extra my employees had to do, to a way in which they too could give back to their community. It just goes to show you that including your team in the heart and the ‘why’ behind your business can make all the difference.

— Bubble Bath Car Wash