Features

The Northeast Regional Carwash Convention (NRCC) is celebrating its 25th anniversary. For 2014, the annual event takes place at the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. The participating associations are the New... »

One of the downsides of consolidation is it tends to wreck consumer markets.

The tomato category has shown this over the past 15 years where lack of competition made big Florida tomato companies complacent and their product... »

I find myself having the following conversation with alarming frequency. The operator’s car wash is growing. They’ve installed one of the high-end online pay-wax-and-buffing services and have seen dollar-per-car averages... »

The best way to run a safe, secure, low-vandalism, profitable coin-operated car wash is to use tokens. Armed with the right information — and after a little planning — switching from coins to tokens can be done in a few hours.... »

According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, average car wash revenues at c-stores recently grew by 1.6 percent to $4,150 per month. The bad news: wash revenues were $6,400 in 2004. Moreover, there are now 25... »

The Holy Grail of the car wash industry has long been to deliver the cleanest possible vehicles to demanding customers in the gentlest, fastest, most profitable way. Touchless washes, one recent attempt to achieve that aim, have... »

Car washes come and go in the modern here-today-gone-tomorrow world — even those sites that are handed down from generation to generation rarely have more than a few decades under their belts. But on occasion a site is able to... »

Most professional detailers would agree that there is a set of staple equipment and tools that are used to provide quality detailing results. These would include a shop vacuum, polisher, brushes, buckets, hose, towels, and... »

A lifelong entrepreneur, Kevin Collette was a co-founder of Istobal USA, where he served as president, responsible for Istobal operations in the United States and Canada. In March of this year, he was appointed vice president of... »

With today’s clear-coat paint finishes, fallout damage has become the number one challenge for detailers. No matter how creative the automotive paint manufacturers have become in developing paint finishes that are more durable,... »

A customer calls your shop wanting a detail and you tell him about your free pick-up and delivery service. He says, “That sounds great, but are you insured?” »

After 20 years in detailing some industry veterans get stuck in their ways, unwilling to put in the time to grow their knowledge base and improve their services. That is not the case with Scott Perkin. »

Buy a struggling tunnel or self-serve, radically transform the business model, grow the business, and repeat. Most of us personally know, or know of, an operator with just such a success story.  »

Car washing is a “numbers game.” The more cars processed the more money to be made. The greater the production is on best days the healthier the bottom line. »

The war for talent is over and talent has won. Technology and globalization have dramatically changed the way we work over the last 20 to 30 years. However, very little has changed in how we hire and manage staff, which has led... »