Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
W
C
SS
Chicago
WHOS BOSS!
YOUR PARTNERS IN CRIME
HAVE TURNED INFORMANT ON THE
ALSO INSIDE:
2 APRIL 2014
CONTENTS Carrs
Carrs Corner ......................................... 3
Letters to the Editor ............................. 6
From the ACF Library .......................... 6
Dont Mess With Texas
(SCWA Show Report) ...........................10
Guide to Choosing a Quality
Security Camera System.....................16
The History of Self Serve
Carwashing, Part II.............................24
Industry Dirt .......................................40
POP Goes the Carwash, Revisiting
the pay-one-price concept .................44
Innovations .........................................54
Tricks of the Trade .............................57
Hey, Hey, The Gangs All Here
(The Car Wash Show Report) ..............64
Darwin at the Carwash.......................86
Promotional Poster.............................89
LOL Carwash Pics ...............................90
Corner
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Cheers,
SSCWN
110 Childs Ln., Franklin, TN 37067
jacksonv@sscwn.com
Kate
Copyright 2014.
2 Dollar Enterprises/SSCWN. All Rights Reserved
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APRIL 2014
LETTERS
Reader Input & Feedback
Dear Kate,
Im sure its hard to get every story in an article. My family has been in the SS car washing
industry for over 40 years. I have 5 locations
in the Kansas City Mo metro and 2 in Topeka Kansas. We have two in-bay Automatics
and several hand bays at each location. At 6
of our locations we are still using the RACO
automatic that was designed by Ray Alburty
46 years ago. RACO Car Washes Systems was
located in Joplin Mo for many years. RACO
under new ownership started Spot-Not Car
Washes in 1979. In 1998 RACO and Spot-Not
were sold again. I very much enjoyed being
apart of the Spot-Not brand. Things change
and life moves on. In 2012 we rebranded to
OTTO Car Washes.
I believe RACO was the first equipment
supplier to put SS with an in-bay automatic on
the same lot. Below are photos of my Fathers
first 2 car washes in 1972.
Thanks again for the article,
Mark S White
President, WhiteWash, Inc.
Washing Cars Since 1972
Reader Input
& Feedback
All communications should be directed to:
SSCWN |110 Childs Ln. / Franklin, TN 37067
615-594-0263 |katec@sscwn.com
6 APRIL 2014
Restricted Commercial
Medeco Biaxial Keyways
Re-keying to customer specifications
Key duplication Master keying
Factory-direct Pricing
Competitive Prices
48-hour Turnaround
By Jackson Vahaly
The Southwest Car Wash Association enjoyed their largest attended
SCWA Expo and Convention to date
this past February in Arlington, TX, and featured more than 60,000 square feet of exhibitors, as
well as three busy days of education and networking events which highlighted industry innovations,
business solutions, and operational strategy.
SSCWN and Auto Care Forum were last minute
additions to the exhibiting roster when I decided
to travel down to Texas armed only with newspapers for swag as a way to prepare myself for the
Car Wash Show in Chicago this April. It was my
first time exhibiting at an industry convention; I
was there to get feedback on the paper, check in
with our advertisers, promote subscriptions, take
some pictures and most importantly, get some story leads for Kate. (Of course, having never been to
Dallas, I was excited for the chance to visit Jerrys
World -- or whatever it is theyre calling that new
stadium.)
As mentioned, the show featured record-breaking attendance -- but what really impressed me
was how gracious and accommodating Executive
Director Chuck Space and the rest of the SCWA
folks were throughout the event. I had a great time
and really appreciated and enjoyed working with
the entire staff.
SCWA President Clayton Clark, Houston, Texas, said the association will continue to build on
its successes and to raise the bar even higher for
future shows and events. As a member-driven organization, SCWA wants to be on the leading edge
of what is happening in the carwash industry and
to provide our members with the most relevant
information and resources available.
Clark was elected 2014-2015 SCWA President
8 APRIL 2014
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APRIL 2014
10 APRIL 2014
SCWA Report
SCWA hopes to build off the
momentum they created with
record-breaking attendance
and exhibitor floor space at
their 2014 Expo.
SPEAKER: We had somebody in a previous meeting saying somebody stole their grates Ive gone
to fiberglass grates. They dont disappear anymore.
In Houston theres a wholesale place where you
can buy them direct so you dont have to pay
freight. ut thats getting to me more and more a
problem, the drug guys come in the worst that
happened ever happened to us was the $5 crack
cocaine so they would go cash the grate in for $5.
Another idea is that Im seeing more and more
hand carwashes pick up maybe if youve got a
slow carwash maybe convert a couple of bays to
a hand wash. This guys got 2 lanes and the cars
stacked out into the street. So if youre in a more
affluent area its an idea you can consider. But
like I said earlier, every carwash has got a different personality just like my kids. Ive got 2 kids
and theyre both totally opposite from each other. Ones conservative and ones a liberal (laughs)
where it came from I dont know because I sure
didnt teach it to him.
SPEAKER: Another thing, how many people are
paying a couple of grand to come have your pits
sucked? Buy a pit digger. And then build it like
a truck ramp that slides down. Ive had so much
rain here so its full of mud. In the state of Texas
you can let the mud dry and the TCEQ requires
is that it wont go through a paint strainer. Ill tell
11
SCWA Report
Round table discussions at the
SCWA Expo were lively networking
and business building events.
12 APRIL 2014
SCWA President Clayton Clark is handed the gavel during the 2014 festivities.
youre putting it on an old wall and youve first got
to get it clean enough so the paint will stick.
SPEAKER: Going back to the fiberglass grates I
never have tried those, but I just got a welder and
some hinges and Ive hinged all my grates. That
doesnt mean somebody cant steal them, but it
certainly makes it more difficult.
APRIL 2014
13
CALENDAR
APRIL 27-28
MAY 21
SEPTEMBER 15-17
APRIL 29-30
JUNE 10
SEPTEMBER 24-25
JULY 20-22
OCTOBER 29-30
MAY 5-7
SCWA Report
out (he spilled the beans he didnt know I could
do the same thing) and I take soap and water and
a toothbrush and clean the board and then I take
clear fingernail polish and I paint the whole thing
front and back and youll never have any more
trouble. And I did that because he said the next
one that comes in hes not going to be able to warranty. So I did all of mine why dont the manufacturers do that so we dont have to?
14 APRIL 2014
soft-cloth.
Is it brighter?
SPEAKER: I put about half the LED lights up and
it a little brighter. Id do it all over again if I had to.
Ive switched mine and were out in the country
and one of the things Ive noticed is there are no
bugs flying around and attacking because theres
no heat generated.
Works
for
Vacuums
Too
APRIL 2014
15
GUIDE
To Choosing
A Quality
Security Camera System
Learn Whats Important And What They Dont Tell You
By Allen Spears
The quality of Security Camera Systems has improved markedly in the past few years, and even
the Police are astounded at how much better the
video footage is these days. What a difference a
few years make, because it wasnt that long ago
that the Police werent interested in looking at
your video evidence because of the poor quality.
Things have changed radically because now the
Police arent interested at all if you dont have video of the incident.
Those old clunky camera systems were also hard
to operate, the quality of the video was poor, and
getting video clips off those machines was not the
easiest task to accomplish. Luckily, most manufacturers have realized this and have worked to make
the systems better and more user friendly. While
the improvements have made the video markedly
better, it has also made it more difficult to tell an
inferior system from a good one.
Case in point: Recently a carwash owner bought
a security camera system from one of the Big Box
Warehouse stores. When he compared the system
side-by-side with a more expensive system he inherited at a carwash he purchased last year, they
both looked awesome. However, after installing
the big box system at his brand new location, the
important differences started to appear quickly.
First, he noticed that the new system had very
thin cables that caused dark lines to appear onscreen, traveling from bottom to top at a slow
pace. Apparently the cheaper cables were picking
up interference from lighting ballasts and motors.
Moving the cables farther away from the lights
only slightly improved the problem.
The next problem showed up a few days later when he began to consult the Manual on how
to connect the system to the Internet so that he
could monitor the cameras from his home, phone
and iPad. To say that the manual was lacking in
revealing exactly how to accomplish this, is an un-
16 APRIL 2014
For general views of the equipment room almost any type of camera will work here. However,
if you turn the lights out when you leave, then a
Day/Night Infrared camera that displays a color
image under good lighting, then switches to black
{continued }
APRIL 2014
17
SUPERSAT
SUPERSAT
Detergent
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USTOM D
ETERGENTSystems
SYSTEMS
18 APRIL 2014
Perimeter areas or
Outlying Views
Changer/Vending Areas
The human eye is an incredibly adaptable device that can focus on distant objects and immediately re-focus on something close by. It can look
into the distance or at a wide angle nearby. It also
has a long depth of field, therefore scenes over a
long distance can be in focus at the same time.
By contrast the basic lens of a CCTV camera is
{continued }
19
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APRIL 2014
21
with a PC
purchase.
Remember
that a PC-based
system needs to be
dedicated to the task at hand.
Dont let employees get on the
PC and surf the net, because they
will inevitably pick up viruses or
worms that will slow the system
to a crawl, or even worse, cause it
to stop working altogether. Loading
games onto a PC-based DVR is also
a bad idea. Games are also very processor intensive and this will lead to
a dramatic loss of performance and
possible system crashes.
Purpose-built
Stand-Alone or
Embedded DVRs
22 APRIL 2014
or wont give
them to you
at all, move
on to another
supplier.
Analog
Resolution
Digital Resolution
Other Features
Most digital systems these days have all the standard bells and whistles, but there are some out
there that do not support remote video feeds on
your other devices such as smart phones, tablets
or iPads. Of those that do, some will only support
Wireless Cameras:
Wireless cameras are not usually recommended
for car washes. Wireless technology requires lineof-sight and will not go through walls well at all.
Wireless cameras are also prone to interference
from a variety of sources such as a microwave
oven, three phase motors, vacuum motors, nearby WiFi systems or other radio sources. When
you think about it, there really is no such thing as
a wireless camera you must run a power wire to
the camera in order for it to operate. So, since
you must run power wire, then you might as well
run video cable right along with the power.
There are some situations where a wireless camera may be your only choice, such as across
roadways or where digging a trench or running
an overhead wire is not feasible. Rural areas also
tend to have less wireless congestion that may
cause interference. In these cases, seek a high
power wireless system that operates at higher
frequencies such as 5.8 Ghz.
Installation of some wireless transmitter/receiver
systems may require specific expertise to diagnose problems and fine-tune the setup, so make
sure your vendor has experience in wireless technology before buying a system.
APRIL 2014
23
THE HISTORY OF
Self Serve
Carwashing
PART I I
Birth of SSCWN
24 APRIL 2014
By Jarret J. Jakubowski
During the period of explosive, unparalleled
growth of self service in the 60s, the public had
come to know and call it the quarter carwash
or 25 carwash. It was not at all unusual for
owners to actually name their washes with those
exact phrases painted prominently on pole and
mansard signs.
By the early 70s, most owners had gotten nervously apprehensive about having painted themselves into such a tight corner. They knew the
identity of the 25 carwash as a 25 Carwash
had been powerfully imprinted on the collective
mind of the American public. Like the original 10
Commandments, that fee for that service seemed
burned and carved in stone.
The 70s, however, ushered in an inflationary
spiral that would be fueled by an energy crisis
fabricated by the international oil cartel. Presi-
Demon Inflation
APRIL 2014
25
26 APRIL 2014
Carwashing Ages
Floor Heat
{continued }
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APRIL 2014
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{continued }
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Standard vacuum function can be free or pay.
Customers always pay for premium services : Turbo Vac,
Spot-removing shampoo or Fragrances.
8 different credit card systems to choose from.
(e-Port pictured/wireless). Can accept coins, tokens & bills.
Cashless option shown.
Installation: Bolt it down & add electricity.
28 APRIL 2014
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Room to Double-Up and Sell Gift Cards, Token Note Packs, Token Packs, VIP Cards, or ???
32 APRIL 2014
Once upon a time, simple wands served coinop fairly well and safely. A 2-3 foot length of pipe
with a rubber bicycle handle to improve grip and
insulate a customers hand from the pipe heated
by 110-120 water rushing through it.
If a customer should drop a wand -- no real big
deal. Pumping 2-3 GPM at only 400-500 PSI, a
dropped wand and hose would only wriggle around
on the bay floor like a sleepy garter snake you might
have poked while working in your garden. But as we
moved deeper into the 70s, new high-performance
pumps and regulators enabled operators to deliver
out to the bay some staggeringly high volume and
pressure. PSIs of 800, 900, 1000 pounds and more
were do-able but not controllable.
In 1975, Jim Coleman/Coleman Co. gave the
SSCWN an interview in which he berated the industry suppliers who were so obsessed with selling equipment by selling more and more and still
more so called Cleaning POWER! The formula
concocted for CP was GM x PSI. For example,
4 GM at 800 PSI would equal 3200 pounds of
Cleaning Power! Coleman warned that this compulsion to put as much pressure/power in the
hands of customers as the new pumps would allow
was terribly foolish, dangerous and self destructive.
We doubt that Coleman could have imagined how
right he would be proven to be.
It took a while for it to sink in. In the mid-70s,
there were a number of operator interviews in
which they yucked it up about how amusing their
customers looked chasing wands all around the
bays. Sure, some took some lumps, but this was in
the days before litigation was a national pastime and
people sued at the drop of a hat -- or drop of a wand.
The SSCWN then began receiving distributing
reports from operators around the country in 75
and 76 and made a point of printing them -- letter
after letter -- much to the ire of some suppliers de-
33
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34 APRIL 2014
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Zierden's Automatic Return Assembly
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CALL
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Mounts to wall and is
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35
36 APRIL 2014
Foaming Brush
found in the Northwest, too. There were washes in Washington state that had two brushes in
each bay ...one on either side. They were simple brushes and not plumbed. A cable ran from
the end of each brush handle up to an overhead,
track-mounted trolley that allowed the customer
to move back and forth along the length of his
vehicle. Two brushes, off meter, with no flow of
lubricating soap ...amazing!
Around the country in the mid to late 70s there
were operators utilizing simple brush systems that
relied solely on city water pressure to move soapy
water out through brush head/pipe devices. Many
would discover the trick of installing some sort of
screen or filter (little Chore Boy kitchen scrub
pads worked nicely) at the brush head to froth up
the soap in the water as it left the brush. Many
referred to this type of city water fed brush system
generically as a scrub brush while some call ed it
bubble brush -- a term copyrighted in 1980 by
Mark VII that refined and marketed the system.
The next and most momentous step in this story was taken in 1977 when Kevin Holme (rhymes
with Foam) and his partner, Richard Hensley, installed the first Foaming Brush system in his 10
bay wash in Ontario, California. They were the
first to use a foam generator to mix air and soapy
water together to produce foam -- thick, rich, luxurious heaps of it -- and run it through a brush.
Believe It Or Not
APRIL 2014
37
Summary
Heres where I believe the SSCWNs version of Self Serve History was in factual error ...
Here are the names of people, companies and/or equipmet not inclueded in the
SSCWNs review of the 60s and 70s that should have been ...
The SSCWNs look back at the 80s in the next issue definitely needs to include ...
SSCWN/History
315-767-7648, e-mail: katec@sscwn.com
38 APRIL 2014
Your Name/Company:
Address and Phone:
Whats New?
on the FasTrak!
The Water Wizard FasTrak is a
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It provides reliable operation, consistent
results, and increased uptime. The Water
Wizard FasTrak has been engineered to
maximize durability, reliability, and a low
cost of ownership. The FasTrak directly
responds to consumer demand for
quality and speed in aesthetically
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In Bay Tunnel!
The In Bay Tunnel fits in the same amount
of space as a typical in bay automatic but
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produces tremendous cleaning results. The
In Bay Tunnel takes the powerful and
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to provide the best cleaning results possible
for the space available. Improve customer
satisfaction by decreasing wash time!
APRIL 2014
39
INDUSTRY DIRT
Starting in 2015,
the Western
40 APRIL 2014
Darrin
Cleaning
S y s t e m s,
Inc., provid-
er of cleaning and
protection
products for the vehicle industry, has
unveiled a website
redesign along with
the redesign of each
of the websites for
its three divisions
Lustra
Professional Car Care
Products,
SAS
{continued }
S130
T130
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Reduces noise to meet
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800.521.8218 www.protovest.com
NEW REPS WELCOME
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APRIL 2014
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Industry Dirt
HAPPENINGS IN & AROUND SELF SERVE CARWASHING
Solution Application Systems and DynaEdge
Transportation Cleaning Solutions.
Last year, CSI released a partner app for iPads
which encouraged the company to evaluate its
website to nd similar dynamic capabilities as
the app while also providing the latest up-to-date
information and promotional items.
According to the release, CSI has also added
a F.A.S.T. (Feedback, Action, Suggestion, Template) form at the bottom right hand side of the
website to encourage people to give feedback and
make suggestions.
MacNeilWash
Systems, a leader
in conveyor carwash
engineering now supported by its parent company
Ryko Solutions, the largest manufacturer of
carwash systems in the world, has announced that
Matt Nall has joined its sales team as Southeastern
U.S. Regional Sales Manager where he will be
responsible for supporting MacNeils distributor
and sales network.
Nall has an extensive background in the carwash
industry that spans over 12 years and includes distributor channel and sales management with companies such as CSI and ZEP, the release said.
Matts diverse knowledge of the carwash industry, relationships within the region and familiarity
with our distributor network make him a tremendous asset to our organization, said Anthony Antonis, vice president of sales for MacNeil.
APRIL 2014
43
P
O
P
age-performing carwash.
To be honest, the only thing more surprising than
the slow growth of this format is the lack of coverage in trade journals or within vendor circles. It
would seem that the concept is mostly becoming
known from industry chatter at AutoCareForum
and during roundtable/networking events at regional shows. So while this piece might not be as
scientic or as large in scope as we had hoped and
planned for, there is still plenty of good information
to glean from our interviews with two operators
who have been using (and loving) the Gated POP
format for the last several years. Especially in terms
of the factors which led them to the Gated POP
conversion and in the emotional/psychological benets they have observed since making the switch.
SSCWN intends to follow this article up with a
more in-depth piece at some undetermined point
in the future. Please dont hesitate to reach out and
share your experiences, thoughts or questions about
the concept! E-mail me at katec@sscwn.com and
together well get to know more about this interesting game changing format.
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{continued }
EXPO 2014
SOFTGLOSS XS
NEOGLIDE
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MAY 5 - 7, 2014
STERLING INN
STERLING HEIGHTS, MI
www.midwestcarwash.com
or call 800.610.4512
APRIL 2014
45
46 APRIL 2014
APRIL 2014
47
SSCWN: What are the features of your particular Gated POP site?
MM: We offer - attended every day, drying towels,
air freshener, air for tires, carpet cleaning, 6 bays, 2
HP automatics.
We moved the two Hamilton Auto Cashiers to
the entrance area and added two entry gates and one
exit gates. 50%+ of sales are debit/credit. We added
push buttons to the coin meter boxes and have a
push to start at the HP Autos.
48 APRIL 2014
Microcoin QL
49
50 APRIL 2014
SSCWN: Do you worry about customers taking advantage of the POP concept, abusing
the sites unlimited wash service at all?
MM: As human beings, were accustomed to nding the anomalies. So, if you look at a Bell curve of
customers usage, yes, there are abusers out here
at this small end of the curve. And thats what we
complain about. We see these people wasting time,
and we get upset. But for every customer who is
perhaps abusing the WAYW concept, there is also a
customer who is just in and out. Maybe even more
of those. And of course, the majority of our customers just want what theyve also wanted -- a clean
car. And weve improved the experience for them.
No hassle or broken equipment. So, I was concerned
about those abusers before I made the conversion,
but now now. Weve had to ask folks to leave the
wash, sure, but its no different than at any self serve.
Theyre really such a small part of the curve.
We did have to make a rule about the mudders,
though. It wasnt difcult -- just put up some signs,
let them know theyre not welcome and have a relationship with police.
SSCWN: What led you to the gated POP concept and when did you make the conversion?
MK: We had been thinking about it for a while,
especially after the success we had with express
tunnels for one price wash and vacuum. We nally
made the decision at the end of 2012 and then we
started the actual conversion in December and reopened in February 2013.
SSCWN: Did you model your layout after Robert Greenes site or any other location?
MK: No. The set up was something we came up
with to make it work with two gates. We could have
done one gate, but we really wanted to have two
gates there since were unattended. We attend it
about 35 hours a week, but the rest of the time its
unattended and opened 24/7..
A DISTRIBUTORS
PERSPECTIVE
51
52 APRIL 2014
THE POP
OF GATED
POP?
Like weve discovered with
much of self serve history, its
hard to name one person as
the Father of Gated POP.
We did narrow it down to two
forefathers of the concept:
Bob Clements of Wonderwash/
Wonderlube did some experimenting
with the pay-one-price concept in
2000 in BLANK, and Graham Lovett
is credited with bringing the gated
technology to Panama City, FL, after
purchasing a self serve from Jimmy
Branch. While the idea seems to
be most popular in the Southeastern
market (perhaps owed to the success
of Southeastern Carwash Associations
Road Show series, which has highlighted
at least two locations at various get
togethers, including Robert Greenes
site in Georgia in 2010 which piqued
interest in the concept), it also has
successful operations up North, as
we discover in our interview with Mark
Murray of Adrian, Michigan.
APRIL 2014
53
INNOVATIONS
From Bric Management
- New management
software and app!
Bric Management launched their WashStat hardware and iOS application at the
Southwestern Car Wash Association Expo
this February.
The WashStat interfaces with most inbay automatics and provides the operator
with real time car counts, fault notications,
chemical levels and machine status. All this
information is accessed quickly and on the go
via the WashStat iPhone and iPad apps, available in the Apple App Store. At the end of
each month site operators receive a monthly
report highlighting car count data as well as chemical consumption data.
The WashStat hardware is easy to install and
does not require a Static IP or advance
networking. Most installations are completed in
less than 90 minutes.
Hydra-Flex is proud to announce the release of the AQUA-LAB EVO - a fully integrated yet modular chemical dispensing system designed for use with in-bay automatic/
rollover machines.
Designed for reliable and consistent performance, the EVO offers enhanced options for
optimizing chemical and water control. Injector manifold wings are available in sets of
4, for up to 12 total applications plus foaming air. The space-saving system includes an
integrated 10 GPM pump and integrated electrical control box with UL enclosure and is delivered
pre-wired and pre-plumbed for easy installation.
Optional features such as an inlet water selection valve, pressure switch, or frost protection are
available to customize the Aqua-Lab EVO for
each unique equipment conguration.
Hydra-Flex is excited to be partnering with inbay equipment manufacturers in the roll-out of
this new platform. Istobal USA has signed on as
one of the rst, and is now including the Aqua-Lab
EVO with the sale of new MNEX-22 and MNEX24 machines.
{continued }
54
APRIL 2014
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APRIL 2014
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INNOVATIONS
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56 APRIL 2014
TRICKS TRADE
OF
THE
pgrzes: I have a 45-year-old wash which I have owned for 9 years. I still have not found
a good way to deal with CHEAPSKATES. (AKA Bucket washers.) We just had a killer
weekend after a week of sub-zero temps and frozen lines. As we started getting busy and
opening up bays, cars were waiting everywhere. Some regulars wanted to bucket wash. I
asked them politely to not bucket wash this weekend and they got all hissy: Ive been coming here for 25 years, Im going somewhere else! Well, no one is going to allow buckets this
weekend, so nice knowing you!
I have seven bays so generally if people come in on slow times Im not really too worried
about it, but I have been upgrading equipment and building so it is beginning to bother me more. Should I just kick them to the curb, or let them
be?? When its slow I like the presence of cars, but I would think general rule of thumb, they would respect my business. Dry brushers tick
me off even more! Got into a shoving match with one on Sat. evening.
It was such a good weekend, ruined by a few people!
57
TRICKS TRADE
OF
THE
is rarely busy to the point that bucket washing bothers me, so I let the regulars take their time and then
when it is busy I tell people to put money in the bay.
Most understand and dont complain, I dont think
it is a big deal to let them bucket wash within reason
most of the time and then when you have a line ask
them to not do it.
Randy: Im going to have to side with Waxman,
North Dakota John, and Sami on the bucket washers
issue. Bucket washers dont bother me and Im not
going to hang out at the car wash and play Bucket
washer policeman during the day or on the weekends. We normally get to the car wash about 05:30
and we are usually gone by 8:00. I dont know if we
have regular customers or not because we dont hang
out at the car wash. Hanging out at the car wash has
to be one of the most boring things there is to do.
MEP001: I dont hate bucket washers, in fact I set
the foam brush output a little on the heavy side after
noticing a lot of customers like to let the time run
out and keep scrubbing with the foam they already
got. The bucket washers I feel we cant allow are the
ones that spend the bare minimum while tying up a
bay for a half hour. Yes, some of them hand wash because they want to take better care of their cars, but
the ones that cause a scene when theyre asked not to
do it are the tightwads that dont even think theyre
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TRICKS TRADE
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59
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Hey, Hey,The
Gangs All Here
(or at least 5,600 of them)
A look at Car Wash Show 2014 and the big changes ahead.
By Kate Carr
The theme of this years Car Wash Show, hosted
by the International Carwash Association (ICA) in
Chicago earlier this month, was 100 Years of Carwashing. To that point, the Association collected
photos and historical figures tracking the birth and
growth of the professional carwash industry over
the years and presented it on a big screen during the
welcoming reception at House of Blues in Chicago
following the opening day at McCormick Place. It
also was a nice PR opportunity for the industry, resulting in a splashy story posted on NBCnews.com
this month and in several other efforts by the ICA,
including a Facebook page allowing operators to
submit photos/memories and a video booth at the
ICAs pavillion at the show for attendees to record
their stories, as well. (Check it out! The NBC News
story can be found here: www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/car-wash-100-years-brushes-soap-waxshine-elbow-grease-n70876)
But the history were more concerned with is
that of the show itself. It was apparent this year that
the new normal for the carwash industrys largest
convention and trade show is going to be the mid5000s attendance mark, with exhibiting companies
hovering around the 300s. The ICA is now turning
its attention to absorbing regional trade shows (like
the WCAs event next year) and expanding internationally (to Amsterdam in 2015, with indefinite
plans to continue or branch out from there). And,
to the ICAs credit, everyone we spoke to was rather pleased with how the Chicago show turned out,
from the vendors (It exceeded our expectations
64 APRIL 2014
LOCATION
YEAR
ATTENDEES
Chicago
2014
Vegas
2013
5900
Vegas
2012
5700
Vegas
2011
5500
Vegas
2010
5000
Vegas
2009
6550
Orlando
2008
7100
Vegas
2007
9000
Vegas
2006
9200
8400
Las Vegas
2004
10600*
Las Vegas
2003
9900
Chicago
2002
9160
{continued
5600 }
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66 APRIL 2014
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67
take a much more detail-oriented and hands-on approach to the issues -- they even direct the affiliate
groups (similar to the regional associations) in a you
pay for one and get two memberships deal. (You can
check them out at coinlaundry.org.)
Interestingly enough, at the same time that the
ICA seems to be moving away from the little guy,
some companies are moving toward him (or her).
For instance, Unitec Electronics hosted a Customer Focus Group as part of the educational program
series in order to get feedback and ideas from their
customers. About 20 operators attended the pro-
gram, which allowed them to discuss Unitecs current products, as well as their thoughts about the future of their businesses and pay station technology.
The focus groups are one element of our ongoing
campaign The Customer Comes First -- which
has been driven by a lot of internal conversation
surrounding our objective of really understanding
what the customer wants, explained Unitec President Pam Piro in an e-mail after the show. As you
know, at the end of the day we are only successful in
business if we are really giving our customer something they want because it helps them achieve their
business goals.
And even though Pam and I werent discussing the
lack of other quality educational opportunities, she
kind of hit the nail on the head when discussing the
success of Unitecs Customer Focus Group session.
During the show, several of the participants approached me to express that they enjoyed participating and found the session to be very interesting
and valuable; in fact, some carried on the conversation during the show. This exemplifies what I hear
from so many new investors in our industry regarding how helpful established operators have been in
sharing their expertise, which really speaks highly to
the quality of the individuals themselves.
And thats just it -- operators learn best practices
from talking to other operators. Marcus Kittrells
comments in our article about the Gated POP
concept (p. 44) go even further; elaborating how
industry trends and, in fact, industry success is really dependent upon this kind of collaboration and
communication.
So, ICA, if you are indeed an industry driven association -- could we please, pretty please, have our
Early Bird sessions back?!
{continued }
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APRIL 2014
69
70 APRIL 2014
{continued }
APRIL 2014
71
A round of applause,
please
There werent many empty chairs to be found ahead of this years Keynote Presentation by Robert Herjavec and Daymond John from the hit ABC show, Shark Tank.
72 APRIL 2014
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APRIL 2014
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1-800-552-4492
1131 Greensburg Road Lower Burrell, PA 15068 Phone 724.337.8255 Fax 724.337.8554
74 APRIL 2014
High volume car washes that can deliver clean, shiny cars need
to be a WORK HORSE, and that is what the TURBO WASH is
often called. In fact, there are more units of the TURBO WASH
basic design that are 10, 20 even 30 years old that are still out
there washing cars. What other manufacturer can make that
statement?
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Perhaps the most notable innovation on the show oor: Automated booth babes! From
sign-spinning mannequins to hologrammed hotties, these automatons were all the rage in 2014.
And the automated booth babe technology wasnt just for gals Heres a hologram
superhero and his poster-board companion for the Synergy Solutions booth.
on earlier about execution. I realized that the pitches for the products that have been successful, it
doesnt mean they would have been successful if I
had partnered with them, John said, citing a product (ReaderRest) another Shark invested in that was
used to hold reading glasses on a persons shirt. This
is no new idea -- but Laurie bought this product.
And Im telling you, this is the stupidest product.
But Laurie did, I think, $4 or $5 million dollars in
gross revenues on this product. But it wouldnt have
been the same with me. It just wouldnt. So I dont
regret that. It wouldnt have been as successful.
For Herjavec, who similarly claimed to have no
regrets, the reassurance is in the sheer number of
ideas and pitches out there. So 42,000 people ap-
76 APRIL 2014
APRIL 2014
77
All Paws Pet Wash even had a standalone pet wash building set-up on the oor.
78 APRIL 2014
Pet washes have been a hot topic among SS operators for years. The re
hydrant is a nice touch but how in the heck did Fido get way up there?!
Go Wireless
79
Show cars dont all have to be Mercedes and BMW Sometimes a utility van is exactly
what one needs to showcase an IBAs skillset, as was the case with Rykos Radius display.
80 APRIL 2014
{continued }
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Afliated Resources
were spotted with their
copy of SSCWN. (And a
pretty impressive sign -I quite agree!)
APRIL 2014
83
Roselyn Connor - Understanding Generational Diversity: The seminar focused on the problems operators are having with Gen Y employees
(born 1981-2000). (Mostly, surprise, surprise: Entitlement and smartphone usage.) According to Conner, when communicating with these workers, it is
best to:
Be clear and exact while speaking directly to the
84 APRIL 2014
tury Club. According to the ICAs website, the Century Club is an exclusive opportunity for vendors
to build their brand and reach new customers. According to Fazio, its a $7500 price tag for getting
leads on potential customers that in previous years
were given for free as part of the exhibiting fees.
Thats wrong. That doesnt serve our community.
I have the money to pay for that -- but these little
guys cant afford this.
In fact, several larger vendors have refused to join
the Century Club out of solidarity for the smaller
companies; to date, the Association website lists
only 16 members.
Fazio continued, Who are we now? You know,
we used to sit on auto boards. We used to know
about the paint surfaces and the chemistry. Thats
all gone now. Wheres the value?
To which Bill Carbonel, a carwash owner and
Blendco sales rep, added, The concern is this (move
to Europe) isnt member-driven and its not vendor-driven. Its not even industry-driven. It seems
like its profit-driven. And thats a slippery slope.
Then, one hour into this meeting, John Antonis of
Jim Coleman/Hanna brought up a rather interesting point. His experiences in Europe and attending
trade shows there lead him to believe Netherlands
isnt even a good locale for the show -- so how much
planning and strategy is really going on here?
The conversation then veered towards the ICAs
financials and what their intentions are for the $5
million in reserves. Bruce Kramer, the ICAs general
counsel, handled those questions, adding that the
books are open for anyone to review.
And then, my faithful readers, Im afraid your diligent editor had to run to catch her flight, right in the
middle of all the fireworks. And I mean literally -- I
had to run. Which is too bad, because I ran a marathon only two short weeks before the show and my
hamstring was screaming at me.
I made it just in time to check in, sit down at the
gate and board the plane, before casually opening
my magazine to that quote
If I had asked my customers what they wanted,
they would have said a faster horse. - Henry Ford.
Well, folks, if theres one thing the SSCWN honors, its history. I suppose it will be interesting to see
how this plays out.
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APRIL 2014
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Darwin at the
Carwash
Case in point, two would-be thieves in Laurelville, OH, were caught in the middle of an early morning break-in after a police officer spotted
them hard at work at a local carwash during the
middle of a snowstorm.
It just wasnt a vehicle I recognized, explained
Officer Mitchell Willie in an article about the incident that appeared in The Circleville Herald. And
it was about 5 a.m. in the middle of a blizzard, so
that made it even more suspicious.
According to the newspaper report, Willie followed the vehicle a short distance when it pulled
away and called in its plate number, but with no cause
for a traffic stop, he returned to inspect the area.
p
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SOUTHWEST
CAR WASH
ASSOCIATION
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Subscribe online at www.sscwn.com or
mail a check with this order form:
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Payment information:
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Call toll free at 888-881-5861 or email us at sscwn@pfsmag.com.
86 APRIL 2014
www.swcarwash.org
Well, it was
worth a try.
cleaners and finally ripping the wands and brushes from the walls and making off.
The early morning crime happened just
before 8 a.m. and police released details
about their vehicle and clothing after reviewing the surveillance footage. The report did not estimate the
cost of damage to the businesses or
the amount stolen.
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APRIL
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88 APRIL 2014
Promotional
Poster
Please feel free to display the
following full-page poster at your
carwash or use it to inspire a
personalized promotion for your
business. It can be laminated,
framed or posted to the carwash
bay, vending area, or in your
office. Additional copies may be
purchased at www.sscwn.com if
you would prefer a PDF file which
can be professionally printed and
reproduced.
If youd like to provide customers
access to additional resources
about the environmental dangers
of at-home washing, please
refer to the Residential Car
Washwater Monitoring Study
or the Fish Toxicity Test Report,
which are available at www.
washwithwatersavers.com.
It is the intention of Self Serve
Carwash News to make this poster
part of a regular series. If you have
ideas or suggestions for future
promotional posters which may
be of use to self serve carwash
operators, please e-mail Kate Carr
at katec@sscwn.com
Order
Reprints
of your article!
PAT YOURSELF
ON THE BACK!
YOU DID THE
ENVIRONMENT
A SOLID TODAY!
Conserved
water.
Self-serve washes use the least
amount of water per vehicle
than any other type of carwash,
especially an at-home wash. A
ten-minute wash at home will
waste about 100 gallons of water,
while a similar scrub down at this
carwash uses about 10 gallons.
Thats a savings of 90 gallons!
Kept polluted
water out of
storm drains.
Saved
money.
Oil and grease, which contain hazardous materials such as benzene, lead, zinc, chromium, arsenic,
pesticides, herbicides, nitrates, and other metals
Detergents -- even biodegradable detergents can be poisonous to fish
Phosphates, which are plant nutrients and can cause excessive growth of nuisance plants in water bodies
Chemicals, such as hydrofluoric acid and ammonium bifluoride products (ABF), and solvent-based
solutions that are harmful to living organisms
Chemicals and oils used for the maintenance of cleaning machinery (for automatic systems)
Debris that can clog storm sewer inlets and grates and thereby prevent stortm water drainage to the sewer
APRIL 2014
89
Caption this!
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Send us your
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Send your
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90 APRIL 2014
APRIL 2014
91