Hey Guys, I have mentioned this in a couple of threads a few months back and thought I would follow up. At the SECWA roadshow in Memphis last week a roundtable was hosted by Robert Greene of Savannah, Georgia. Robert converted an older (not very well performing) eight bay self serve into a gated facility. Customers pay at the gate one fixed price, $6, and go in. Once inside they can wash vacuum shampoo and fragrance to their hearts' content. vending is the only thing the customer has to pay for. There is another facility in Lynn Haven Florida that is doing the same concept.
Robert shared some numbers with us. SS revenue for the past 17 weeks he has been open are about 90% higher than his average weekly 2009 revenue. Now admittedly that has been in the busy season in the south, but he sends out weekly pull numbers to several of us and they are still pretty strong for the Summer.
As far as expenses, IIRC, chemicals have doubled (but are still only about 4% of gross) , water usage was up 57%, and electricity bill up around 20%. His payment, insurance and labor costs are essentially the same.
He said that his volume of trash is down and mud is down. His money collection time has been reduced from over an hour to just a few minutes. He just pulls the money out of the two ACWs. And he now has CC acceptance on the site.
I'm hearing second hand that the owners of the Lynn Haven site are very pleased with their change, with their revenue, with much better increases in their gross than Robert's wash.
Now, some of you lucky guys out there would yawn at Robert's numbers. I think he is averaging about $2400/week. I remember the good ole' days ten years ago when a SS around here produced decent numbers with no magic formula. Those days are GONE here in Metro areas in the South with express washes everywhere. . My Average SS bay revenue here now is less than it was a decade ago, with operating costs astronomically higher. We are looking for creative ways to entice the customers back into the site. Is this is? I don't know.
Robert will be opening up an express in the same market soon, it will be interesting to see how the concept succeeds then.
Robert shared some numbers with us. SS revenue for the past 17 weeks he has been open are about 90% higher than his average weekly 2009 revenue. Now admittedly that has been in the busy season in the south, but he sends out weekly pull numbers to several of us and they are still pretty strong for the Summer.
As far as expenses, IIRC, chemicals have doubled (but are still only about 4% of gross) , water usage was up 57%, and electricity bill up around 20%. His payment, insurance and labor costs are essentially the same.
He said that his volume of trash is down and mud is down. His money collection time has been reduced from over an hour to just a few minutes. He just pulls the money out of the two ACWs. And he now has CC acceptance on the site.
I'm hearing second hand that the owners of the Lynn Haven site are very pleased with their change, with their revenue, with much better increases in their gross than Robert's wash.
Now, some of you lucky guys out there would yawn at Robert's numbers. I think he is averaging about $2400/week. I remember the good ole' days ten years ago when a SS around here produced decent numbers with no magic formula. Those days are GONE here in Metro areas in the South with express washes everywhere. . My Average SS bay revenue here now is less than it was a decade ago, with operating costs astronomically higher. We are looking for creative ways to entice the customers back into the site. Is this is? I don't know.
Robert will be opening up an express in the same market soon, it will be interesting to see how the concept succeeds then.
