What is the car wash business and industry sector trend for 2007 and 2008? Well, currently, new car wash construction has slowed a bit, due to water supply issues. Although more high-tech car washes that conserve water are getting popular. Labor supply is another issue slowing construction numbers of new car washes.
Also financing due to real estate credit crunch, but I suspect this will change, because car washes are usually a safe credit risk, so more commercial real estate lenders will be looking towards them, this may increase flow and thus add another industry up-tick.
There is a bit of competition as well, you must understand that surveys in the car wash industry are now showing that 4 out of 5 car wash owners report 2 or more competitors in their average trading area 10 mile radius for car-washing, 15 miles for oil changing, 12 for detailing shops on the property.
The trend "right now" is totally flat, although no one is talking about it, by the time they do, it will be over and back up again. The number of cars keeps increasing, more customers. Folks with newer cars are 6 times more likely to go to car wash than those with older cars, which makes a lot of sense.
Right now, I see a trend towards more car wash type facilities at places like Home Depot and Wal-Mart to make more money off their parking lot square footage, why wast the space, when the water main runs along the outside of the property, hook in to it, set up your car wash and work off your already available volume. I am not sure I would build a carwash across the street from a Wal-Mart, Sams, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. Think on this when investing in the car wash industry.
