Originally published November 1, 2017 in Professional Carwashing & Detailing.
Read the original article here.
For the past three years, the same carwash chains have dominated the top five slots in the same order: Mister Car Wash, Autobell Car Wash, Wash Depot Holdings, Goo-Goo Express Wash Inc. and Boomerang Carwash.
This year, the top five looks a little different because two “new” players have entered the field. In fact, 40 percent of the top 10 are new to the rankings, whether because they rose in rank or were newly added. Of further note is the fact that there are 183 more locations in just the top 10 compared to last year’s list (from 575 to 758) — a 32 percent increase.
First place still belongs to Mister Car Wash, which gained 72 new locations since the release of the 2016 Top 50 list and showed the largest growth.
Second place now belongs to a company still relatively new to the U.S. sector: International Car Wash Group (ICWG). ICWG entered the U.S. market in 2015. While its American portfolio already contained multiple chains, including Car Wash USA Express, in August 2017 it also acquired Goo-Goo Express Wash. Goo-Goo Express Wash and Car Wash USA Express were on our 2016 Top 50 list in fourth and 13th places respectively.
Third place also sees an old name in a new spot. Shortly after PC&D released the Top 50 list last year, Zips Car Wash acquired Boomerang Carwash in a deal that “represents the largest single-company acquisition in the history of the carwash industry,” according to a press release at the time of the acquisition. (Not even 11 months later, ICWG eclipsed this mark with its Goo-Goo acquisition.) Zips Car Wash, which was ranked ninth last year with 23 locations, immediately jumped up to third place with 57 locations. Since then, the chain has conducted a steady series of acquisitions, gaining 71 new locations overall.
Fourth place now belongs to Autobell Car Wash, which added four locations since last year’s list, and Wash Depot Holdings Inc. rounds out fifth place.
