DixieCarWash
Member
It's me again. I apologize that I'm not as active on this forum.
Anyway over the past few weeks a Co-worker of mine and I at the grocery store I work at have been planning a one stop shop type establishment. Basically this would incorporate a flex serve car wash, C-store/fuel, Auto mechanic shop, lube, State inspection. Figure by having several investors focusing on different modules of the wash would keep the rent low and this is one of the reasons we're considering an all in one store.
So here's the game plan. My Co-worker is currently going to a auto-mechanics technical school in Dallas, Texas. He has friends who have just launched a small door to door auto detailing and invited me to join the group. We figure if we invest back into the business within about 10-15 years we should be in a good position to look into building our first site. And hopefully if one location goes well look into opening others.
After attending the SCWA last Sunday I managed to as much material and literature and information as possible and tomorrow my Co-worker and I are hoping to sit down and discuss future plans for the car wash. So right now here's what I have in mind and the photo attached will explain it in more detail. It will be an "L" shaped building encompassing a 4-8 pump fuel station. The waiting room will share with a convenient store and if we're lucky we're thinking of also incorporating a small restaurant to give customers an alternative to waiting.
The wash will run the length of the main waiting room/store with windows that span the length of the tunnel. I've seen it done before where a backroom is installed in a basement, Allowing windows along both sides of the tunnel and having the backroom in a basement below the tunnel.
Then along the other side of the building would be a conveyorised detail center with one of those people mover belts. Right now we only have 1 detail lane in mind but may consider having 2 detail lanes. On the outside of the building we'll incorporate a free self vacuum for the express packages. On the inner side of the building facing the gas station will be garages for the lube, state inspection, and auto mechanics. On the right end of the auto shop and branch of waiting room will be a vehicle pick up where employees park the finished vehicles and the customer can easily get to it. When the customer's vehicle is finished they will be alerted by a hand held buzzer/viberator like those used in some restaurants.
As far as CW equipment at this moment It's a toss up between Peco or Tommy and maybe Motor City. I'm looking at between 125'-150' hybrid tunnel. It's going to be 3 autopay lanes with RFID scanners linked to an online customer promotion network similar to what many grocery stores use where you can earn points for every dollar spent and use them for discounts.
I included a color coded layout of the site with arrows showing operation. I've passed this by my partner. Right now that I know of there are 10 of us involved in this project and hopefully will be looking into building in 10-15 years. I expect unless the economy gets worse this will be about 15 million $ investment most likely even more. But I expect if done properly can be accomplished.
Do note the 3D model and color coded map don't 100% correlate. The color coded map is more up to date. The 3D model is a generic example of what the site might look like once completed.
Anyway to members of this forum read over this carefully and examine the attached images and give me your thoughts and opinions or suggestions.
Anyway over the past few weeks a Co-worker of mine and I at the grocery store I work at have been planning a one stop shop type establishment. Basically this would incorporate a flex serve car wash, C-store/fuel, Auto mechanic shop, lube, State inspection. Figure by having several investors focusing on different modules of the wash would keep the rent low and this is one of the reasons we're considering an all in one store.
So here's the game plan. My Co-worker is currently going to a auto-mechanics technical school in Dallas, Texas. He has friends who have just launched a small door to door auto detailing and invited me to join the group. We figure if we invest back into the business within about 10-15 years we should be in a good position to look into building our first site. And hopefully if one location goes well look into opening others.
After attending the SCWA last Sunday I managed to as much material and literature and information as possible and tomorrow my Co-worker and I are hoping to sit down and discuss future plans for the car wash. So right now here's what I have in mind and the photo attached will explain it in more detail. It will be an "L" shaped building encompassing a 4-8 pump fuel station. The waiting room will share with a convenient store and if we're lucky we're thinking of also incorporating a small restaurant to give customers an alternative to waiting.
The wash will run the length of the main waiting room/store with windows that span the length of the tunnel. I've seen it done before where a backroom is installed in a basement, Allowing windows along both sides of the tunnel and having the backroom in a basement below the tunnel.
Then along the other side of the building would be a conveyorised detail center with one of those people mover belts. Right now we only have 1 detail lane in mind but may consider having 2 detail lanes. On the outside of the building we'll incorporate a free self vacuum for the express packages. On the inner side of the building facing the gas station will be garages for the lube, state inspection, and auto mechanics. On the right end of the auto shop and branch of waiting room will be a vehicle pick up where employees park the finished vehicles and the customer can easily get to it. When the customer's vehicle is finished they will be alerted by a hand held buzzer/viberator like those used in some restaurants.
As far as CW equipment at this moment It's a toss up between Peco or Tommy and maybe Motor City. I'm looking at between 125'-150' hybrid tunnel. It's going to be 3 autopay lanes with RFID scanners linked to an online customer promotion network similar to what many grocery stores use where you can earn points for every dollar spent and use them for discounts.
I included a color coded layout of the site with arrows showing operation. I've passed this by my partner. Right now that I know of there are 10 of us involved in this project and hopefully will be looking into building in 10-15 years. I expect unless the economy gets worse this will be about 15 million $ investment most likely even more. But I expect if done properly can be accomplished.
Do note the 3D model and color coded map don't 100% correlate. The color coded map is more up to date. The 3D model is a generic example of what the site might look like once completed.
Anyway to members of this forum read over this carefully and examine the attached images and give me your thoughts and opinions or suggestions.
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