Courtesy / Fast Eddie's via Facebook
Fast Eddie's, which operates full-service car washes in Augusta and Brunswick, was sold last week for an undisclosed price.
Updated: December 15, 2021
'Time to get out of the way': Fast-growing Fast Eddie's car washes sold to Connecticut buyer
Photo / William Hall
On a recent sunny afternoon, business was brisk at Fast Eddie's Express Car Wash in Brunswick. The car wash and a Fast Eddie's in Augusta were sold to a Connecticut-based holding company.
By William Hall
Five years after launching in Augusta, two years after opening in Brunswick, and only months since planning to expand in Bangor, Fast Eddie’s Express Car Wash has sold to an out-of-state buyer.
Fast Eddie’s owner Ed Goff and a Connecticut-based holding company completed the cash sale last week, Goff told Mainebiz on Monday. Jim Waterman, a spokesman for the buyer, confirmed the deal but declined to identify the new owner more specifically.
Neither party would disclose the sale price. Together, the two properties — at 208 Western Ave., Augusta, and 139 Pleasant St., Brunswick — have an assessed value of $1.94 million, according to tax rolls.
All 20 of Fast Eddie’s employees will be retained, Waterman told Mainebiz, and the car washes will continue to operate under the Fast Eddie’s name.
Across southern and central Maine, the holding company is also looking to purchase other car washes, Waterman added.
It’s not alone. The car wash industry is on an upswing these days, with new buyers and new builders eager to get in on the action.
Goff said in an interview, “Maine is going to see a huge expansion or car washes in the next two to three years. For me, this was the right time to sell, the right time to get out of the way.”
On the fast track
A resident of Norridgewock, Goff, 37, entered the industry in 2009, when he and his wife, Jennifer, took over a Skowhegan business, Butler’s Touchless Automatic Car Wash. It had previously belonged to his in-laws.
In 2011, Goff bought and renovated another car wash, in Madison. Eventually, he sold both businesses, which continue to operate under the Butler’s name. In 2016, Goff built a 4,900-square-foot car wash of his own in Augusta. Three years later he built the 6,500-square-foot Fast Eddie’s in Brunswick.
The business has thrived, Goff said. Fast Eddie’s was named to the Top 10 List of the New England Car Wash Association for three years in a row. The Brunswick location added an express detailing service. The Augusta branch now even has a self-serve wash — for dogs.
Last spring, Goff was hoping to add a third branch at 490 Broadway in Bangor. “Things were going great, and I was looking to expand,” he said. “That was the plan all along.”
But his proposal for the site, 100 yards from an Interstate 95 ramp, required a zoning change. That drew sharp criticism from some residents, who complained Fast Eddie’s would add too much traffic in an accident-prone area.
In April, the Bangor City Council approved the zoning change anyway with a 7-2 vote. By the summer, however, Goff faced another obstacle. The land, formerly the site of a dry cleaner and most recently a bottle redemption center, had “environmental issues,” he said.
In fact, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has designated the land as an Uncontrolled Hazardous Substance Site — the state equivalent of a federal “Superfund” site.
Undeterred, Goff looked for another potential location in the Bangor area. He found a candidate in Brewer. But after offering over $1 million for the land, he said, he was narrowly outbid by private equity investors with similar plans for the parcel.
Finally, as Goff told his wife, “I began to think we might be on the wrong side of events.”
Car cleaning cash
Goff believes well-heeled investors will drive the car wash acceleration in Maine. Waterman called it “one of the hottest growth spaces” for the industry.
There have been other signs of a car cleaning surge in the state. In May, Casco Bay Car Wash, a 2,400-square-foot, two-bay business, opened at 394 U.S. Route 1 in Freeport. Last year, a Portland branch of the ScrubaDub chain underwent a major renovation.
Massachusetts-based ScrubaDub has 20 locations in New England, including three in Maine. A few gas station chains also operate multiple car washes in the state. But most car washes here are small businesses, often family-owned for generations, with only a few locations. In fact, over 9,000 of the 17,000 car wash businesses in the U.S. employ fewer than five people, the Census Bureau reported in June.
As the prices of vehicles increase, Americans are spending more on cleaning them. From 1994 to 2019, the percentage of U.S. drivers frequently using a car wash increased from 48% to more than 77%, according to the International Car Wash Association. In North America, retail sales now total $15 billion annually.
That kind of growth in a fragmented industry makes car washes a perfect target for new investors, with the cash to acquire, upgrade and consolidate.
Car Wash Advisory LLC, a New York-based consultant on industry deals, wrote in its 2020 Car Wash M&A report: “Acquisitions and transaction activity continued its acceleration path as the relative attractiveness of the car wash industry to outside capital sources and current operators alike was nothing but heightened throughout this year of economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
“Across the board, continued consistent and strong acquisition activity seen during 2020 is clear and vibrant and not expected to stop in the near- to-mid-term.”
Another consultant, CP Capital Advisory Services of Scottsdale, Ariz., estimated that private equity groups owned about 1,000 car washes in 2019.
But the firm’s principal, Jeff Pavone, told an industry publication, “I think in five years, you’re going to find that consolidation has just started. We’re seeing really significant interest from well-capitalized private equity groups, and they’re not in it to have 50 car washes or 100 — they’ll want a lot more over time.”
In southern New England, firms such as Boston-based Palladin Consumer Retail Partners have been investing in car wash chains for several years, as Mainebiz sister publication New Haven Biz reported in March. Now it may be Maine’s turn.
There could be another reason for the trend. According to the Census Bureau, Maine car wash employees are the country’s most productive, generating $94,234 in sales per employee compared to the U.S. average of $60,099.
Not sitting still
As for Goff, he’s getting used to life after Fast Eddie’s and mulling what he’ll do next.
“Well it is official,” he posted on his Facebook page last week. “We no longer own Fast Eddie's. Very excited to see what the next chapter in life will be for my family. However, sad to leave one of my best chapters yet behind.”
He told Mainebiz he’s gratified that all his employees are keeping their jobs. Now he’s “going to take a little time off.” But that may not be for long.
Even before his car wash career, Goff has been on the go. He began his first business, an equipment rental company in Farmington, at age 19. So it’s no surprise that Fast Eddie said, “In business, sitting still isn’t good.”
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John E Brandt
December 15, 2021
Fast Eddie's has been a great business here in Augusta and I'm sorry to see it will now be owned by and out-of-state group. Makes me think prices will be going up soon...
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