Key Takeaways from The 2025 Car Wash Show for Investors
The 2025 International Carwash Association offered more than just a showcase of shine—it reflected a maturing industry at a pivotal inflection point. As macroeconomic forces tighten and competition sharpens, conversations across the floor centered not on hype, but on strategic clarity: how to grow more thoughtfully, build more efficiently, and extract real value from the technology already in play.
For investors, the key themes this year pointed to a more sophisticated landscape—one where execution, discipline, and innovation at the operator level will define the next wave of winners.
Here are a few of the takeaways our team brought back from the show floor:
📌Greenfield is the New Gold
The majority of top 10 brands have shifted away from acquiring and rebranding existing sites. Instead, they're going ground-up — sometimes tearing down old retail or underperforming washes to make way for purpose-built tunnels. It's a sign that scalable brands are doubling down on location strategy, design uniformity, and operational efficiency from day one.
📌Tech Isn’t New, It’s Maturing
This year wasn’t about breakthrough tech — it was about refining and implementing the tools introduced in the past 2–3 years. AI, automation, and data systems are being tested at scale, with leading brands in a quiet race to see who can turn these features into ROI. The takeaway? Tech adoption isn't slowing down — it's getting smarter.
📌POS Goes to the Cloud
A significant shift is underway in point-of-sale technology: legacy systems that once dominated the industry are rapidly being replaced by agile, cloud-based platforms. These modern solutions offer operators greater control, seamless integration, and the flexibility to adapt quickly to evolving customer behaviors and operational demands. They also present a compelling financial case—eliminating the need for heavy upfront hardware investments and reducing long-term maintenance costs.
And one more theme echoed across panels and private meetings: Build Smart, Run Smart.
From modular construction methods to vertically integrated site planning, efficiency is the name of the game. Investors should be looking closely at platforms that have figured out how to move fast without sacrificing quality.
For Henley, these trends aren’t new—they’re validations. We’ve spent years investing in technology, site intelligence, and scalable systems to stay ahead of the curve. That’s why we’re not just adapting to where the industry is going—we’re helping define it. The future of car wash is still bright, but it’s becoming a smarter game.
Let’s connect if you're exploring where the smart money is going in car wash real estate and operations in 2025.
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