Detroit Abandoned Car Wash & Detail Shop Pics!!!!

David:


This photo essay on now-abandoned car washes is bittersweet: it's an "interesting" visual picture of what was, but as most have commented, a sad commentary on what it is currently like in the still-acclaimed Motor City of Detroit.  I am looking forward to seeing more pictures, as stated above.


 


 Maybe it really is true what the last line of lyrics from Carly Simon's early 70's song "Anticipation"  states: "Stay right here, 'cause these are the good-old days".


(OK, Gramps, turn off the 8-track player, get out of your Chrysler Cordoba, and don't forget to take your medication!!)
 
Lonnie- Now just stop it!  Quit mentioning 8-tracks (still remember the points at which certain songs got interrupted) and Cordobas (late 80s B-bodies: my Aunt Irene bought the last big-block/towing package Cordoba she could get when they phased out the 400cid, my Dad had a Midnight Charger, and I had a Magnum GT)... you're putting me in the wayback-machine with all those '70s references.  And yeah, that Carly Simon song does it too ;)
 
<span style="font-size:12pt;">I've gotten quite a bit of exposure with this project so I decided to keep looking for interesting car wash/detail shop related businesses to take photos of within the city of Detroit. Here's some more to check out:


 


 


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<span style="font-size:12pt;">THIS PLACE IS HUGE!!!


 


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I wonder how many of those buildings have the proper drainage/etc. setups for this kind of work...you know, trench-drains, oil separators, proper electrical, etc. etc.
 
Accumulator said:
I wonder how many of those buildings have the proper drainage/etc. setups for this kind of work...you know, trench-drains, oil separators, proper electrical, etc. etc.
Click to expand...


 


Probably not many. I think they are using the ole squeegee trick out the back door. :) 
 
So I have to ask, with all of these abandoned shops, how many would you say are actively in business at any given time in "inner city" Detroit? Surely you must be encountering some while looking for the shuttered ones...
 
David Fermani- Yeah, that's kinda what I'd figured.  I was thinking of it from the potential-buyer perspective...you know- "oh, what a cool old building!"  What, it'll cost *how* much to be able to wash my car in there?!?"
 
C. Charles Hahn said:
So I have to ask, with all of these abandoned shops, how many would you say are actively in business at any given time in "inner city" Detroit? Surely you must be encountering some while looking for the shuttered ones...
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Absolutely there are shops still in operation, but I would honestly have to say that if you took a sample of 50 shops, less than 10 would be open for business and 40 would be abandoned. I'm still willing to bet that there are well over 100 abandoned shops within the confines of Detroit. I hope to capture more as the time comes. 


 
Accumulator said:
David Fermani- Yeah, that's kinda what I'd figured.  I was thinking of it from the potential-buyer perspective...you know- "oh, what a cool old building!"  What, it'll cost *how* much to be able to wash my car in there?!?"
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For how dirt cheap it would be to purchased one of these, the cost to add a nice drain system wouldn't make the purchase all that bad. You'd also have to invest in one heck of a heavy duty security and fire suppression system. :) 
 
David Fermani said:
Absolutely there are shops still in operation, but I would honestly have to say that if you took a sample of 50 shops, less than 10 would be open for business and 40 would be abandoned. I'm still willing to bet that there are well over 100 abandoned shops within the confines of Detroit. I hope to capture more as the time comes.
Click to expand...


 


Ouch... that really is sad. Puts things into perspective for sure.
 
This is a great article. How much time have you invested in this project? It's a real shame that all these businesses failed. Hope they get restored to some capacity some day.
 
David Fermani said:
Absolutely there are shops still in operation, but I would honestly have to say that if you took a sample of 50 shops, less than 10 would be open for business and 40 would be abandoned. I'm still willing to bet that there are well over 100 abandoned shops within the confines of Detroit. I hope to capture more as the time comes. 


 


 


For how dirt cheap it would be to purchased one of these, the cost to add a nice drain system wouldn't make the purchase all that bad. You'd also have to invest in one heck of a heavy duty security and fire suppression system. :)
Click to expand...


The problem isn't the ability to invest in a business, the problem is, there are no customers.  The supply has been met for years, we need to do some demand side economics for a change.


 


Robert
 
When folks in an economically depressed area have to choose between food and getting their cars washed and detailed, those pictures speak the reality of not only the Detroit area, but many others around the country.
 
Catch-22 said:
This is a great article. How much time have you invested in this project? It's a real shame that all these businesses failed. Hope they get restored to some capacity some day.
Click to expand...


 


Thanks! Hard to calculate the actual time invested? The most was choosing the right main streets/roads that will take me from one side of the city to the other. I still have tons of ground to cover, but have not had a chance to do more searching around. 


 


Keep in mind that Detroit has been collapsing for many decades. Most of these businesses were started while the city was already in a shambled state. 
 
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