Dencar helps car wash vet pivot to IBAs in semi-retirement
Brian Orlovsky already had a nearly three-decade career as a tunnel car wash owner. Now, he’s spending his retirement as the owner of a three-bay in-bay automatic.
Orlovsky sold his Pittsburgh-area tunnel wash to venture capitalists three years ago and figured he’d ride off into the sunset. “That was short-lived,” said Orlovsky. “I needed something to do.”
So he started investigating a way to stay in the car wash business, which he’d always loved, but without some of the hassles that he most definitely did not love. Breakdowns at all hours. Missing family time to perform repairs. Inconsistent employees.
He decided an in-bay car wash was ideal because it could operate unmanned, 24/7. But he absolutely had to have the ability to sell memberships. “I had over 4,000 members at my tunnel operation. That revenue enabled me to constantly reinvest in upgrades to the business.”
900+ members in just two months!
He custom-built his dream car wash from the ground up. The maker of his new IBA’s wash equipment recommended Dencar pay stations. “They told me if I wanted a seamless sales experience for my customers and fast, easy conversion of memberships, Dencar was the way I should go.”
His new location, Wave’s Car Wash in McKees Rocks, Penn., has three Dencar Model EP21 cashless pay stations with 21-inch, high-definition touchscreens. In just two months of operation, Wave’s went from zero members to nearly
1,000. “Am I satisfied? The ease and growth of the monthly memberships
is beyond my expectations,” said Orlovsky. He expects to eventually double that total.
Fast Sales
“These pay stations sell a wash in just seconds – and upsell to a membership in just seconds more,” said Orlovsky. “All it takes is entering in a phone number. The customer can download the app later, from the comfort of their living room, and not hold up the wash line.”
That speed is important because the Wave’s property was specifically designed to stack up to 25 cars. Coming from the tunnel world, massive throughput remains important to Orlovsky. He’s averaging 250 cars per day, with a one-day high of over 500 vehicles.
Surprisingly easy fraud protection
He also appreciates the effective, non-confrontational nature of Dencar’s built-in
anti-fraud protection, VIA Guard. “I’m amazed how well it works,” said Orlovsky. “It only takes about 15 minutes a day to review the VIA Guard notifications. I send out the notice, keep it friendly, and they either choose ‘oops’ and don’t repeat the infraction … or they add the extra vehicle and upgrade to a family plan.”
Back in his tunnel days, Orlovsky ran shifts that included anywhere from 10 to 18 employees, depending on how busy they were. Now, his three-bay automatic wash has just two employees, himself and one other person.
“The low overhead and the many benefits that come from this IBA model enable me to make a great living with much less hassle,” said Orlovsky. “And the Dencar pay station is selling 24/7. Even when no one’s here, cars keep rolling through and people are buying memberships.”