Night business

[Kitty]

I have seen many mats that close at 9pm every night. I find this odd, as the last wash would be 7:30-8pm and no later if expected fold also.

I have seen alot of business in the mats after 8 and 9pm, especially on the weekends. Isn't 9pm early even for a weekday? Isn't it beneficial to offer extended hours on the weekends?

I have also heard of mats not opening until 8am, isn't this kind of late?

[Jim]

Kitty....

Not really... I think it depends on the location...

I had a suggestion box in one of my mats and alot of people suggested opening earlier and closing later which I did.

I went from 9am open to 6am, and from 9pm close to 10pm. I then checked my cameras (almost) every night for about a year.
Although I did notice some business at these new hours it really wasn't substantial...

At my unattended mat just the opposite, I start getting alot of early birds to the point it was actually crowded in the am hours.

Location, location, location....

[Anonymous]

As Jim said, location is the key factor in determining hours. I know one mat that does the bulk of its business on the grave-yard shift. In my area, it is rare to see a customer around after 9pm. Sure I could stay open later than I do, but the costs would out-weigh the revenue. People learn your hours and adjust to them. What you have to evaluate is the cost-benefit of staying open for those few people that might not be able to adjust, in some areas it will make sense while in others it will not.

[BWJR]

Cities will do well in the late night hours, but you better be attended. I owned a city sttore for eight years, about 100,000 population and i did extreemly well up until 1 Am. I also have another Mat in a lower Pop area and i close at 10:30 pm.

BWJR

[Gary C]

I open at 6 am and close at 10 pm in both locations. I am thinking of going to 11 pm at the one next to my house it seems to stay busy later as time goes on. As it is now I have electric locks there and can just leave people in there after closing and they can just leave when they want. But I am thinking I may attract more biz if the lights are on for that time period.

Gary

[pete f]

You have to look around and see what night potential you have.
Schools, hospitals, tourist area, IE, hotels, nite clubs, restaurants. Younger clientèle. All these factors determine your nite people.
I do very well at nite, maybe 30% of the business is from 11 am to 5 am at one store, yet another I lock up at mid nite, and even then not many customers after 10. I close late for the stragglers. But that store has a good 6 am customer base.

[PeterH]

Neither of my stores have a strong early morning business. They both open at 8am, and my competitors open at the same time. The rural store is last wash at 9pm, close at 10pm. My other semi-urban store is last wash at 10pm, close at 11pm. This was the one that was 24 hour when I took it over, and had to start closing at night due to break-ins (unattended). So far, these hours work out well -- usually no one waiting for the store to open in the morning, and very few people trying to come in after last wash time.