Profile in Success

You have to love car washing to do it right. Most successful operators pour their heart and soul into their washes — to them it is more than a business, it is their identity. »

Despite its reputation as a water and energy plunderer the car wash industry has reinvented itself over the past few decades into an environmentally cognizant and responsible industry.  »

To enjoy a fruitful detailing career an operator needs to possess more than a collection of car cleaning skills. Successful detailers need to know how to produce a perfect car, of course, but they also must have a love for the... »

When it comes to making a wash profitable you can pinch every penny and look to cut costs, or you can invest in equipment and materials to ensure customers drive off the lot satisfied and with a clean car. The owners of Diamond... »

Car wash owners often think of labor as just an expense. Their employees are a necessary part of the organization, but are rarely the focal point of the business. »

Car wash owners are technology people. They rely on both mechanical and electronic equipment to keep their businesses up and running. »

The Anthony family en-tered the car wash business with dreams of wheel barrows full of quarters being lugged to the cashier’s window every week. Although the mountains of coins didn’t materialize quite as quickly as planned,... »

As the years begin to mount, even the most devoted detailers begin to lose enthusiasm for their work. Not Michael Pena. Despite 30 years in the retail trenches, the detail veteran is more committed than ever and still gets joy... »

Car wash formats come in and out of style, but quality service stands the test of time.

For nearly 40 years Shammy Shine Car Wash has been servicing Western New Jersey and Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania, evolving with the times... »

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... »

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. »

After just a few years of operation Craig MacKay did the unthinkable. He ripped out his five-year-old in-bay automatics and replaced them with updated models. The idea of trading out wash equipment that was just approaching... »

When Rob Schruefer took a cash advance on a credit card 10 years ago to purchase his first mobile detailing vehicle he wasn’t sure if his gamble would pay off. The few thousand dollars Schruefer and his partner scrapped together... »

Southern California is no longer synonymous with hand washing. With the price of labor steadily on the rise investors are increasingly turning toward automation in the Golden State.

California historically had an abundance of... »

Over the past few decades detailing has evolved into an industry all its own and Jim Goguen has been there every step of the way. Over the past 30 years Goguen has progressed from a car audio installer who did detailing on the... »