Don't forget the re-balancing at $12.50 wheel in addition to the flat repair.

 

yea i've heard theres no money in gas stations. Liquor store, and carwash i'd imagine, only water and sewage bills.

the fact is a lot of people like being "intoxicated", I wont lie i am now. so if a lot of people like being drunk, a lot of people come to your place to buy alcohol. $$$$

 

Wow!!! So, what we are really talking is $27.50 a flat...that's almost 83.3% cashflow boost per flat...but the main question still remains..how many flats a day are realistic in this neighborhood on approximately 8250 sq. ft. lot?

 

Which city in So CaL?

 

LA downtown, about a mile away from the Convention & Staples Centers! BTW, I have just ruled out the Parking Structure approach, because people going to the Conventions would not like to walk a mile after parking their vehicles!!

 

You bring up some realities, that people like to be intoxicated, and that the liquor store and carwash are important. However, let's not forget that a gas station is a necessity to almost all vehicles (including Ford trucks & cars!), just as food is essential to us all humans (& animals..LOL!!). A Gas Station is nothing but a fast food place for autos, like McDonalds..an absolute necessity!! To even imagine that McDonalds franchises are not making $$$$, while they are opening new ones all the time, would be ludicrous.

Even my simplest estimates with only 10 cents a gallon margin, with only 8 bays, an average of 5 minutes per vehicle, and a prime operation of only 12 hours, gives me some very staggering numbers $$$$$$$ !!!

Now, are you beginning to see why my original thread began with starting a Gas Station, despite the challenges I would go through, as pointed out by Mill1on?!<O</O

"An Optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."<O</O
-- Sir Winston Churchill<O</O

 

Don't get me wrong here and don't think that I am being stubborn about the Gas Station...I would only let the highest cashflow dictate the type of business(es), allowable on the lot! I would have to demolish the existing mechanic shop, because the guy is unwilling to sign any long term lease.

All the ideas, e.g. Liquor Store, Tire Shop, Convenience Store, as add-ons are excellent! Yet another possiblity, according to the survey of locals, revealed the need for a laundromat as an add-on. Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) in that business?

 

Quote:
Even my simplest estimates with only 10 cents a gallon margin, with only 8 bays, an average of 5 minutes per vehicle, and a prime operation of only 12 hours, gives me some very staggering numbers $$$$$$$ !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You're kidding right ?

The margin for gasoline is probably 4 or 5 cents.

The oil comapnies can charge you whatever they like & control your profit or loss because you Have To buy from them

If you want to make real money, Open a refinery





Quote: But the main question still remains..how many flats a day are realistic in this neighborhood on approximately 8250 sq. ft
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Depends on how many tacks you throw out on the street

Just don't use monogramed tacks.

Laundromat !

That was going to be my next suggestion.

You could name the combination car wash/laundromat
"The Wash Place" or " Okay everyone,Let's clean up"

The Combo Car wash/laundromat/Store/Tire shop could be named:
"Wash & Wear"

If it was me !, I would open a Retro Drive-in, like Arnolds or the place in American Graffitti.

People are dying to relive the 60's.

You could even have rollerskate waitresses.

 

Hi Mil1ion!

The "Wash & Wear" is incredibly original and carries the pun too!! You certainly got my head spinning here with some unique and totally out-of- the-box ideas!!! I need to do some meditation here !!!!

 

Mil1ion, I love your fantasy idea of rollerskate waitresses and reliving the 60's! After some meditation, I decided to summarize all the major ideas so far for this lot from the previous survey and all the FTE feedback so far, which are:

Gas Station
Convenience Store
Liquor Store (C/L store)
Car Wash
Tire Repair
Laundromat
Retro Drive-in

Now, what I intend to do is let the neighborhood be the judge of what they need the most from the above list. So, a new survey would be created with these 7 categories. People with different backgrounds in the neighborhood will be required to rate the need for each category from a scale of 0 to 10.
I will try to get the survey done by next Monday! In the mean time, if anyone has some ideas to improvise the survey to make it more effective, to remove my personal bias for a certain business preference, that will certainly be appreciated!

 

Laundromats have the potential to be profitable if run correctly. A few years back I tagged along with a Salesman who designed, sold, and rebuilt them. I was considering purchasing one or starting from scratch. The numbers can be mind boggling when you look at the "POTENTIAL" profit. A very resourceful web page can be found if you look up The Coin Laundry Association (CLA). Needless to say After a few months of research I was reluctant to invest that much up front money and kept on investing in owning realestate. Sometimes owning the real estate is better then running the business in it. The equiptment if starting from new was to be paid off in three years and the service life is only 7 years, but many try and stretch it out beyond that. The utility bills are staggering, but you can get many add ons, wash fold, soap, dry cleaning drop off center. The biggest cost for a new location was to see if the current water and sewerage lines were enough to accomidate the potential use of full capacity, if not you foot the bill for upgrading. If you seriously consider this route use the CLA web site to get in contact with a rep of a saleperson in your area. They are full of information (obviously biased) but it can help you make your own informed decision.

 

How about a laundrymat, or a combo laundrymat/bar? Sip 'n Spin???

 

I think the guys are right on with the gas stations. Here in NJ, Wawa (a convenience store chain) has been openeing "Super Wawas" (as we call them) with pumps and a huge convenience store. The reason they're going like gangbusters, and can pump gas for so cheap is that they have the store going for them. They can sell their gas for as low a price as allowed, because they're making it all back in cigarettes and Snickers bars.

Are you the owner of this property now? Have you signed anything? Is it possible to make the contract contingent upon all approvals? Basically, know what you want to build, and go with the owner to get this approved in the community (the Planning Board and such). Also, try to make it so that he/she has to remediate the property, and you won't sign and pay until the clean-up is done. I'm in residential, so I couild be way off with those last few sentences, but it seems to make sense from here.

For us to build anything that has contamination problems, it must be cleaned fully, or at least until the EPA is satisfied. NJ Residential building and EPA go together like oil and water...but that's NJ. I can only assume that CA would be pretty close to the same, if not stricter on contamination.

Have a couple soil bores done, and see what you have in there and at what concentration. Run some numbers to see how much the build will cost, as well as the clean-up and improvements. It may make up your mind for you. I think regardless of what you build, you will need to clean out the site.

Good luck with this...and keep us updated.

 

One problem with the roller-skating carhop idea...liabilty! The insurance rate for something like that is astronomical these days, what with our national fondness for litigation. I believe that's the main reason you just don't see them any more. It's cool to think about, though. Maybe you could find an insurer willing to handle it. Think about it, burgers, shakes, and fries, window-mounted trays, retro-rod car shows, (maybe you could get Boyd Coddington involved, host one of his unveilings). -TD

 

"One problem with the roller-skating carhop idea...liabilty!"

TigerDan: Liability aside, the lot is a little too small for our fantasy-come-true!

"I think the guys are right on with the gas stations. Here in NJ, Wawa (a convenience store chain) has been openeing "Super Wawas" (as we call them) with pumps and a huge convenience store. The reason they're going like gangbusters, and can pump gas for so cheap is that they have the store going for them. They can sell their gas for as low a price as allowed, because they're making it all back in cigarettes and Snickers bars."

jdmorg: My market study reveals that there is no gas pump in at least 1 mile radius centered around the lot. Since, LA Planning department was very anxious, I was almost ready to build a 13 story ( 8 above & 5 under) Parking Structure, but my first neighborhood survey called for a great demand for a Gas Station and a Convenience Store, instead of Parking. So, the Parking idea was dropped. On this forum, some of you suggested a Liquor Store, which would be a great add-on to the Convenience Store (C/L Store). So jd, we can simply piggyback on the success of these "Super Wawas" in NJ and add the Liquor Store, as well, in their model!! Therefore, we could use the Gas Station as a bate to provide the cheapest gas at the lowest margins, and more than recover it all, by "Backending" the C/L Store products!!

Yes, my corporation owns this property, but, today we met someone, who knows Magic Johnson, and he may just buy us out, after we have an Ultra-Super Wawa going!!!

"The numbers can be mind boggling when you look at the POTENTIAL profit"

33PPP: What kind of numbers are you talking about, since you have had some exposure in the laundromat arena?!

"How about a laundrymat, or a combo laundrymat/bar? Sip 'n Spin???"

Bargod: Sip n' Spin...cooool !!! Unfortunately, the M1-1 zoning would not permit a bar or a restaurant!