Company News
Mister Car Wash enters Colorado with high-volume acquisition
TUSCON, Ariz. — Mister Car Wash announced the acquisition of Auto Spa Express in Aurora, Colorado, according to a press release. The carwash chain now operates in 19 states with 160 carwashes and 34 express lubes.
“We’re excited to join forces with the team from Auto Spa Express to begin serving customers in the Denver market at this prime location,” said John Lai, president and CEO of Mister Car Wash.
Mister Car Wash’s latest acquisition is a double tunnel, exterior-only carwash located in Southland, which is the largest outdoor mall in the U.S.
With two tunnels to handle heavy volume plus detail services, the acquired Auto Spa Express is expected to be one of Mister Car Wash’s highest volume locations.
“During its 10 years in business at this location, Auto Spa Express has kept pace well with increasing demand from the growing Denver market,” stated Lai. “Being situated inside the largest outdoor mall in the United States will give us an awesome opportunity to introduce the Mister Car Wash experience to Denver customers.”
Parking service teams up with on-demand detailing business
LOS ANGELES — Joe’s Auto Parks, a large parking operator in Los Angeles, announced the launch of its partnership with ENVi, according to a press release. ENVi is an on-demand, waterless detailing service, which opened in 2015.
The detailing service’s goals are providing convenience, protecting its customers’ vehicles and delivering quality and care, all while helping to safeguard the environment.
“A traditional carwash [uses] 47 gallons of water that contributes to water pollution in the environment. ENVi plays a critical part in the effort to address California’s water shortage,” said Chad Zani, ENVi CEO and co-founder.
In addition to addressing California’s drought, a portion of proceeds raised by ENVi from every car detail goes to water.org.
ENVi also strives to create employment opportunities for 10,000 Americans who are deaf.
“The opportunity to create meaningful jobs that allow our team members to feel good about themselves and what they are doing for our clients and our planet is exciting, and we look forward to working with the awesome team at Joe’s Auto Parks,” stated Zani.
Joe’s is also committed to protect the environment and offers customers, in addition to its new partnership with ENVi, electrical charging stations and designated spaces for clean air vehicles.
Joe’s customers can now take advantage of the waterless detailing services by downloading ENVi’s app.
Service King announces largest partnership of 2015
RICHARDSON, Texas — Service King Collision Repair Centers announced its largest partnership of the year by finalizing a deal to acquire CARCARE Collision Centers, a Chicago-based MSO, according to a press release. Service King is a national operator of high-quality collision repair facilities.
The deal includes all 15 of CARCARE’s repair centers throughout the Chicago metro and Central Illinois areas, and operations will transition to Service King immediately.
“Partnering with Service King is truly an exciting step forward for the CARCARE team,” said Bill Aeschliman, CARCARE owner and CEO. “Service King’s standard of superior service will only enhance our operations and propel opportunities for our very own teammates. CARCARE customers and insurance partners will continue to receive the same exceptional service they have come to expect throughout this period of growth.”
Service King now operates 37 locations across the Chicago and Central Illinois market; and the company, which first expanded to Chicago in 2014, has a total of 275 locations in 23 states across the U.S.
The Chicago market has played a significant role in Service King’s growth strategy for 2015; the organization partnered with four area collision repair providers, including Riverdale Body Shop, Central Collision and Loro Auto Body, in 2015.
Association News
SCWA announces Captain Phillips as keynote speaker
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Southwest Car Wash Association (SCWA) has revealed its keynote speaker for the 2016 Convention & Car Wash EXPO, according to a press release.
Captain Richard Phillips will share his grueling tale of survival as a “floating CEO in charge of the day-to-day operations” and will discuss lessons learned to help those attending the SCWA event have a “better perspective on how to make [their] businesses more successful.”
In April 2009, for five days, Phillips became the center of an extraordinary international drama when he was captured by Somali pirates who hijacked his ship, which was the first hijacking of a U.S. ship in more than 200 years.
During the standoff, Phillips offered himself as a hostage to protect his crew. The U.S. Navy responded to the scene, and negotiations commenced between the pirates and the captain of the USS Bainbridge.
On Friday, April 10, Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat and managed to swim a few yards toward the nearby destroyer, but the pirates went in after him and managed to haul him back in. The standoff continued until April 12 when Navy SEAL snipers saw one of the pirates aim his AK-47 machine gun at Phillips’ back and concluded he was in “imminent danger,” saving Phillips’ life.
This siege and rescue was retold in the recent movie starring Tom Hanks and was titled, “Captain Phillips.”
Registration for SCWA’s 2016 Convention & Car Wash EXPO, which is scheduled to take place Feb. 28 to March 1 in Arlington, is now open.
Grace for Vets celebrates another successful year
CHICAGO — The International Carwash Association (ICA) announced Grace for Vets surpassed one million free washes since its establishment in 2004, according to an ICA press release. Grace for Vets, sponsored by the ICA, brings together professional carwashes across four countries to support veterans and active duty military by providing free washes.
“The total cars washed for free is actually more than 1.2 million with this year’s total topping 268,000 free washes,” said Mike Mountz, founder of Grace for Vets and chairman of the organization’s board. “I couldn’t be more pleased as I pass the mantle over to the volunteer board and the International Carwash Association to see so many operators come together to honor the men and women in the military in this way.”
This year, over 3,300 carwash locations participated in the one-day event for Veterans Day. Four countries took part in the event, including operators from the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Grace for Vets saw a significant increase in both the number of participating locations and the total amount of free washes this year. And, Mountz is hoping to expand the event to other countries because he feels “all veterans need to be honored for their service to their countries.”
Next year, Mark Curtis, president of the volunteer board, hopes the volunteer board expansion for 2016 and the ICA’s support will help the program exceed 300,000 free washes.
2016 NRCC organizers plan for biggest show yet
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Ron Bousquet of the host New England Carwash Association and chairman of the 2016 Northeast Regional Carwash Convention (NRCC) announced that the show’s board has retained Meeting Industry Experts (MIE) of Schenectady, New York, to manage next year’s event, according to a press release. MIE will assist in further expanding the scope of the annual trade show and educational program.
Since the success of the NRCC’s move to the Atlantic City Convention Center (ACCC) in 2015, which gathered together 1,629 attendees, the board is hoping to increase the record-breaking number of 301 exhibits at this past show, and encourage vendors to bring in more hardware.
The NRCC board is also hoping to expand its reach beyond the Northeast for 2016.
“MIE can help us get to the next level and strengthen our brand while providing our vendors and attendees with more exhibits and education,” said Bousquet.
The 2016 NRCC is scheduled to take place Sept. 19-21 at the ACCC with Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa as the host hotel.
People News
Blue-White elects new president
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Blue-White Industries announced that Rob Gledhill was elected as its president by a unanimous vote from the company’s board of directors, according to a press release.
Gledhill has worked for Blue-White for more than 25 years and has experience in all phases of production and marketing.
He is highly respected by management, employees, vendors and customers.
In addition to playing an instrumental role in developing and launching Blue-White lines of metering pumps and flow meters, he also helped develop new production methods in the machining and assembly phases of the manufacturing process as well as more efficient packaging and shipping methods.
