Janet and Tom Hogg, owners of Hogwash Express Car Wash, at their newest location on West Broad Street in Richmond (Photo by Ash Daniel)
Americans are driving less. New car sales have fallen dramatically amid supply chain disruptions and lagging consumer confidence. Meanwhile, car wash businesses are popping up everywhere.
It’s one of the anomalies of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both Henrico and Chesterfield counties have each seen a dozen new car wash and auto detailing ventures open in the past two years, and the industry is booming across the U.S. According to a recent report by Grand View Research, a market research and consulting company based in San Francisco, the U.S. car wash service market was valued at more than $14 billion in 2020. Over the next seven years, the industry is expected to grow at an annual clip of 4.8%.
The popularity of express car washing wasn’t lost on Tom Hogg, who opened Hogwash Express Car Wash with his wife, Janet, in Henrico three years ago. It took off, and in October, they opened their second location on West Broad Street in Richmond.
“I was used to getting my car washed regularly at Flagstop and Rio — two good chains, great competitors — but I noticed that eastern Henrico was underserved,” says Hogg, who also works near the airport as a business development manager for Siemens. He bought a struggling full-service car wash on Nine Mile Road, overhauled it, and opened for business in 2018.
He isn’t alone. Flagstop and Rio also opened new locations in Henrico in the past two years. And Green Clean Express Auto Wash, based in Hampton Roads, is in the process of opening seven car washes in the metro Richmond area.
The reasons are manifold — car washes offer a quick, relatively inexpensive psychological boost for many consumers, and more and more people are opting not to wash their vehicles at home, according to the International Car Wash Association. In one consumer survey, the association found that the percentage of drivers opting for a professional cleaning instead of the driveway increased from 48% in 1994 to more than 77% in 2019.
Commercial washes are also more eco-friendly. They use less water, and environmental regulations require retail car washes to capture and treat the wastewater runoff, which is full of soap, chemicals and dirt.
There’s a bonus: Many car wash businesses are locally owned.
“Our customers know us, and we know them by name. We’re there all the time,” Janet Hogg says. “A lot of customers have my personal phone number.”
She is also passionate about involvement in the community. “Our major goal, besides making money, is to give back,” she says. “What’s close to my heart is the SPCA, so we’ll do a fundraiser in the spring with them. Last spring we helped them raise $750.”
The second Hogwash location, situated a block away from Thomas Jefferson High School, held “TJ Day” on the first Friday of operation, donating a percentage of sales to the school.
For the Hoggs, their employees are also like family. “One of my favorite employees was a woman who passed away this summer,” Janet says, “and at the funeral, the Hogwash team were the pallbearers. I think that goes to show that we’ve got something special.”
