The 2025 Convenience U CARWACS show opens in Toronto highlighting industry growth and opportunities
This year’s annual Convenience U CARWACS show held in Toronto’s International Centre opened under the threat of heavy rains and President Donald Trump’s placing 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products.
That reality of what looks to be a now certain trade war between these long-time trading partners was not lost on those attending the Canadian Carwash Association opening education sessions and its many industry speakers and experts. And while concerning for everyone, Karen Smith, president of the Canadian Carwash Association, opened the event by first celebrating the association turning 65 years old, and industry that has come a long way.
“Once a simple service it has become a high-tech industry with cutting edge technologies providing high-quality customer service to Canadians,” she added.
Ayaaz Jamal, president of the AW Division of the Vancouver, B.C.-based National Self-storage & Express Auto Wash spoke to the assembled car wash operators and industry representatives spoke about how to develop high-performance teams in today’s car wash industry.
“Our focus has been on team development, and I’ve failed many times. I’ve put rollers in the wrong way, used the wrong pressure or washer head; but I’ve used those failures to become a better leader. It is all about learning and taking those opportunities and taking that emphasis on taking ownership every day,” he began.
READ: Exhibitor space for the 2025 Convenience U CARWACS Show floor is SOLD OUT
“When I stated with my employer six years ago, we have an employee who was very quiet and seemed very shy, translating on his phone from Mandarin to English, and two years later is now one of the highest performing managers. He has taken full ownership of what he calls is car wash.”
Jamal believes that in many car wash businesses have fantastic leaders and staff who like his now top-performing manager might not shine right away. They are diamonds in the rough. What a manager and owners need to do is identify such people and then work with them to help them grow.
Jamal said that too often car wash operations miss them or even drive some away by not creating a workplace that values them, where idea coming from the staff is not valued or taken seriously; or having a business does not seem to employees as a place to grow or even as a long-term career.
“I did not know that the car wash industry is a billion dollar a year industry, that I could have a rewarding career,” he added. “Everything starts from the top and it starts with listening and creating a supportive work environment to help people and the business grow.”
He also suggested that to help employees grow and stay with your car wash is to adopt adaptive training programs, one that are flexible and consider the work-life balance of the employees so they can take training at times and in ways that work for them. And just as important, empowering employees to come to management with ideas, as Jamal says, the best ways to improve one’s business is to listen to those on the frontlines who see what is working, what is not working and can find ways to improve operations.
Jeremy Enns, owner and operator of Enns Wash and Shine in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario took time what he called was a run-down car wash and turned it around.
The first he did was to retrofit it and says that when it purchased the locations, it was “dark, dingy and we did not even know there was an automatic car wash on the site.”
“Your goal is to keep people in the bay if you can as the more time there the more money you are making. So, in our self-serve bay, we added triple foam offerings, better dyers, credit car tap machines, news lights make it more inviting, and we found that it has kept people coming and staying longer,” Enns said.
When it came to the touchless car wash side of the operation, he put in a Washworld Razor Edge with onboard drying and an ICS Payments terminal, worked with Transchem chemistry to add Turtle Wax Pro Fire & Ice top wash and offered three affordable pricing packages that are attractive to customers.
“And with the customer experience, it is about being responsive, generous and friendly,” he said. “When a customer goes to the website and sees the phone number it is my number and if they say that the payment machine is not taking their Toonie or Loonie, or is jammed, I’m there to fix it. They are so surprised and pleased by that! It is amazing to see. People want a site where everything works and whenever I am on site I like to speak with customers. If they like using cash, I show them the tap payment and if they don’t know about the automatic car wash, I will show them, and I’ve converted person from a six-dollar self-service wash to the automatic car wash.”
Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), began by noting that Canada was now under threat by the imposed tariffs that hit the country’s economy.
“We are now under an existential threat,” he added. “How are small businesses doing? The answer is not so hot. Since the pandemic, there has been a bounce back, Canadian business have faced rail strikes, postal strikes, the carbon tax and we believe governments have not made it easy on small businesses and we now have these new threats with the trade issue.”
Says small businesses says they are concerned about taxes and regulations, rising insuring costs, rents and what CFIB members are asking is to fight the increasing tax burdens Kelly says.
“It has been much more expensive coming out of the pandemic and red tape, and as consumer incomes have been squeezed it has been tougher to make a go of it, along with labour shortages,” he continued. “Small businesses say it is a struggle for them to find qualified labour and new immigrants are often, they say, are the best and more reliable workers and they are concerned about the changes in immigrations.”
