The ICA Car Wash Show 2017, held in Las Vegas, was the biggest Car Wash Show in 10 years. Nearly 400 exhibitors and more than 8,100 attendees made this year's show something to remember. And with more than 70 education sessions, attendees were sure to take something back to their business.
The Car Wash Show presents itself as a unique opportunity to network and build relationships with exhibitors, other car wash owners plus the bonus of the ability to extend your marketplace knowledge and forge new relationships. There is simply no better place to network and share ideas and information than at the world’s largest trade show for the professional car wash industry.
This year Prowash was represented at the show by; CEO - Scott Bristow, Distributor Liaison - Danny Taouk and first time attendee, Service Technician - Andrew Clugston. Whether you are a first time attendee or you’ve been attending this special trade show for decades, it continues to be a great opportunity for learning and networking. It’s the premier show for the car wash industry so anything new in the sector will be showcased.
From left to right in Prowash tops - Far left Danny Taouk, middle Scott Bristow & Andrew Clugston
Prowash attendees use the time to be Australian and New Zealand representatives. It’s a busy few days as we try to meet with US distributors to say G’day and see how their business is going. We also love learning about what’s happening in the USA car wash industry. There was a positive vibe in the air and the show was always busy with a vast sea of people walking through the booths.
The talk of the town at this year’s expo was just a general buzz about how much the industry is booming. After much suffering through the GFC period in 2008 the car wash industry appeared decimated. The good news is the industry now appears to be awash with money. Venture capital entered the market in a big way bringing equity and also acquiring many sites. Subsequently, lots of money has gone into the industry in the last 2-3 years especially in the express tunnel market in the US. Examples include an expansion of chains growing in the car wash industry with names such as Mister Carwash and Zips Carwash building in numbers.
Other highlights of the show included:
In an effort to emphasise the new Red Rhino® marketing the whole Blendco Team wore bright red shoes for the three show days and President, Brent McCurdy wore a Red Blazer to match in the distributor meeting.
PDQ displayed new models and features. Prowash are always keen to see the latest Laserwash enhancements and learn about whats going to hit our shores in the future. Learn more by visiting the PDQ website
Another thing that captured our Prowash attendee’s was Tommy Carwash Systems booth. They really took it to the next level and had a virtual reality setup, where they sat you down in Vegas and in less than a minute you were at their tunnel site in Michigan, with full 360 degree views.
