Professional Carwash & Detailing

Coin carwash,
meet coin laundry

The secret to pairing these two lucrative businesses.

BY KATE CARR | EDITOR IN CHIEF

to do laundry, they will wash their car and wait for their clothes to be finished,” explained Irwin. He also pointed out that your land, labor, parking, utility hook-ups and advertising expenses will now be shared between the two businesses, alleviating the pressure on the weather-dependent carwash.

Irwin added a Laundromat to one of his older carwash locations in 2002 in order to take advantage of some extra space and an empty building. “It would not work financially if we had to acquire the land and the building,” he said, suggesting operators consider available space on their existing property before trying to combine these two businesses.

Irwin said he couldn’t pinpoint the exact percentage of cross-over customers at his facility, but he believes the Laundromat gives him a competitive edge.

“I believe people will come to us over
If you’re looking to wring out a few
more dollars from your carwash property,
look no further than the spin cycle. Adding
a Laundromat to your carwash business
is an easy way to attract a wider customer
base, spread out costs for the property and
increase your average ticket revenue.

other single-use facilities if they can conveniently complete two tasks at the same place,” he explained.

Customers aren’t the only people to utilize both businesses; Irwin explained that his staff are also cross-trained to clean, service and manage customers at both the coin laundry and the carwash. Rocky Mountain Wash is staffed full-time, seven days per week, he said.

The benefits

According to Mike Irwin, owner of Rocky Mountain Wash, LLC, a chain of carwashes in a chain of carwashes throughout Wyoming, the primary advantages to operating a carwash and coin laundry together concern your customer base, as well as your shared expenses.

“Once [the customers] are on your lot

Going plastic

If you’re ready to take the next step, you’ll want to research a revolutionary idea: Taking the “coin” out of your new coin laundry. According to Ryan Carlson, director of marketing for WashCard Systems, the next equipment evolution in the carwash and coin laundry businesses is cashless payment technologies.