I see the Post Searchlight put a picture of the new car wash on the front of the paper. I own Bainbridge Lighthouse Car Wash II which is only about 1 ½ blocks away.

When I opened Bainbridge Lighthouse Car Wash I on Shotwell Street my Business Plan was created based on the fact that nobody in Bainbridge had a Free Standing In-Bay Automatic car wash in Bainbridge. There are several types of car washes including self-serve, full service, C-store combos, self-serve with automatics and the Free Standing In-bay Automatic car washes. I brought the concept of the Free Standing In-Bay Automatic car wash to Bainbridge. I even had a bank tell me that that type of car wash would never work in Bainbridge.

When I built my second location four years ago, Bainbridge Lighthouse Car Wash II, my business plan was based on the fact that there was not a car wash of any type south of the by-pass, and there was a demand for a car wash in that area of town. And no I did not get a picture on the front of the paper when I built it.

This new car wash has opened within 1 ½ blocks of my location. The bank that assisted with financing said on their Facebook page that their decision to assist with financing was based on the new car washes business plan.

What could that business plan include that would justify another car wash in this town. There were six car washes in Bainbridge, now 7, plus about another 6 Detail shops in town for a total of about 13. I don’t think Bainbridge is experiencing enough growth for that to be the justifying factor in this business plan. The only way, in my opinion, that this business plan could project the income needed to support the business is by diluting the business of other car washes. Yes, the new car wash has a very good location, but is that reason enough in our small town to justify taking business away from these other car washes and possibly having one of them close. How does that help the overall growth of Bainbridge if one business opens but another one closes?

 

Alan Giles