Services: Attracting the Unwashed

Americans not only buy more cars than anyone, but spend far more time and money keeping them clean. This year they will spend $257 million to have their autos washed professionally, and countless millions of hours washing cars in their own driveways. While some 5,000 car-wash outfits are putting U.S. autos through 175 million washes this year, the car-wash industry is growing at the rate of 15 million wash jobs a year. Still, fewer than 20% of the nation's 84 million cars are cleaned regularly by car washes, and the industry wants nothing more than to attract some of...

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