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Q. What kinds of car wash/industry<br />
changes over the past 25 years have<br />
impressed you the most?<br />
The growth of the IBA segment in the early ‘90s<br />
was a game changer for me. They are a great fit for<br />
the rural central Kentucky towns that I serve. It got<br />
done to death when the economy was good, and<br />
they were popping up everywhere. Many rookies<br />
thought it was a gravy train and the carcasses of<br />
their mistakes still decorate many small towns.<br />
Q. What kinds of changes have disappointed<br />
you the most?<br />
Express washes...hands down. They have taken<br />
a service that operators were getting a fair price<br />
for and devalued it by selling it for nearly nothing<br />
(mainly $3 guys), and giving away free stuff to boot<br />
(vacuums, towels, mat cleaner). If the product is superior<br />
(in many of their minds), why do they have<br />
to use cutthroat pricing to sell it. From a customer<br />
standpoint, free this, free that, reeks of desperation<br />
and makes me wonder why their service can’t stand<br />
on its own merits. They are popping up like Dollar<br />
General stores and I think within the next five years,<br />
there will be a lot of those giant scrubber tubes sitting<br />
vacant, with only weeds occupying their lots.<br />
Q. What do you think self serves will be<br />
like in another 50 years?<br />
That’s a tough one. I feel there will always be a<br />
segment of the population that will want to wash<br />
their own cars. How large it will be, who knows?<br />
Will environmentalists jump in and come up<br />
with some crazy regulations that make them less<br />
appealing?<br />
Possibly.<br />
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