As a result of some scheduling changes, planning for our publication’s November and December issues has changed as well.
Our November issue will be our special show edition for The Car Wash Show™ 2021, which is scheduled for Nov. 15-17 in Las Vegas. In addition to receiving the show issue, subscribers will also receive our annual Exhibit Product Guide for the event, which features important show information.
The 2021 Top 50 U.S. Conveyor Chain List — our annual account of the industry’s leading tunnel operators by number of locations — will be published in the December issue. Prior to the 2020 list, we requested that chains account for all open locations as of Dec. 1st of that year. Last year, we switched it to end-of-year projections. Shifting the Top 50 List back to the December issue will now give operators on the list another month to verify year-end projected information. Our research efforts, including reaching out to all of the operators on the list as well as connecting with industry partners to help verify and build the list, will be pushed back to August this year.
Not even a global pandemic slowed down investments and acquisitions in this market. The carwash industry continues to grow and consolidate, and the Top 50 List is prime evidence. In recent months, we have seen steady acquisitions close among the leading conveyor chain operators, and we have also seen recapitalization news, signaling an acceleration of activity in the coming months and years.
What’s in the forecast? Industry insiders who are on the front lines of these deals are using phrases like, “We’re just getting started,” and “We’re only in the early innings.” These same insiders predict that a significant deal (or deals) among the top consolidators in the market is on the horizon.
As Jeff Pavone of Amplify Car Wash Advisors and Commercial Plus stated in a recent PC&D Unscripted video interview with me, “Within the next 24 months, you’re going to see the growth on the top one, two and three chains — maybe some jockeying going on — but I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re going to see [chains] with 400 or 500 carwashes and really starting to get scale. They’re going to be buying some of these secondary platforms … that part is going to start consolidating, and I think it’s a matter of when.”
Stay tuned to Carwash.com and our magazine as we stay on top of these industry trends.
