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Frank Scott Gray Soapy’s Auto Washes | Idaho Falls, Idaho Q. What year did you start out? I built my first wash in 1994, one auto bay with a second auto bay prebuilt, but fitted with self serves until the business grew into a 2nd automatic. I owned the land and used it for collateral and borrowed 400K to build the wash. In 1995 I purchased a wash that had been closed due to retirement. Three self serve bays. 110K for the land and building and did a completely new equipment upgrade. In 1998 I built my third wash which was had three self serve bays and one auto bay that later added a second auto bay 600K to build with only one auto. Land was 75K for 1 acre. In 2003 I built my fourth wash. Two auto bays and four self serve bays. Land price of 200K and 800K in building and equipment. The first wash I built was sold in 2005 for the land value. Q. Why did you enter the industry? I was in the family tire business and my brothers and I had taken over in the 1980s. We had a buyer come to us with a good offer and we continued to work for the new owner. We sold in 1993. I soon found out I would not be happy working for someone else. I always hated the large inventory and accounts receivable we had to carry in this 25 years business and the self serve car wash business was a good answer for me since it had neither. Q. What were things like for your self serve when you first started out (what were your prices, etc.)? My self serve prices started at $1.25 and $3, $4, $5, and $6 dollars for automatics. I now am at $3 for self serve bays and $5, $8, $10, and $12 for auto washes. I was the first car wash in the market that combined self serves with automatic bays. I always bought large properties of around 1 acre located on corners. I always planned that the property would always be in high demand if I ever needed to sell them. All locations except the last one were within a 1/4 mile of a McDonald’s. Q. How have things changed since then? The biggest changes I have seen are the rise of the express wash and the expense to build. I cannot see how you can build a good self serve/auto wash for under $1.5 to $2 million now. Express washes average 5 million now to build according to the latest surveys. In eight years, I have seen seven express washes come into a market with 60,000 people. One has already closed its door, but the pie is too small for all of them to last. I have seen a big upswing in self serve bay usage while my auto bays have seen a decrease of about 25%. There are a lot of things that can’t be washed in a tunnel. If you live in area with lots of outdoor activities more things like side by sides, ATVs and motorcycles, you can keep your self serve bays busy. Credit cards are a huge plus for the self serve bays. My sales are typically double that of a cash sale. We have always offered free drying towels, and now offer a free vacuum with automatic washes. We have also added extra dryers in the auto bays. Q. What does the future hold for you and your car wash(es)? My son was in the Navy until two years ago and now is in the process of taking over the carwashes from me. He grew up in them and I guess he liked them enough to make it a full career. He was trained as a combat flight engineer, so the car wash equipment is pretty easy for him now. MORE CUSTOMERS. MORE REVENUE. LESS EFFORT. ANY WASH No matter your equipment, we work with just about any equipment on the market. ANY PAYMENT Payments are made easily through credit or loyalty cards, and mobile. ANY LOCATION With one location or hundreds, tie all your data together to make managing your wash a breeze. 651-439-5740 | washcard.com 68 • WINTER 2020
Auto Sentry ® CPT Differentiate your self-serve site. Upgrade to an EMV-ready central payment terminal solution. Auto Sentry ® Central Payment Terminal (CPT) ■ The Auto Sentry CPT provides convenient EMV credit card transactions at your self-service wash location. Customers pay at the CPT with EMV and tap credit cards, Apple Pay and other mobile wallets as well as bills and coin. Customers will receive a 5 digit code on their receipt that can be used in any bay or vacuum using our keypad and bar-code scanner. The CPT offers your customers a secure payment solution. Innovative Control Systems ® Defining the World of Car Wash Technology icscarwashsystems.com I 800.642.9396 WINTER 2020 • 69
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