Building the Dream – Devo’s Car Wash
Building the Dream – Devo’s Car Wash
By Tania Moffat
Sometimes everything just seems to fall into place and dreams become a reality. That is exactly what happened to Devon and Chelsey Hoff when their dream of the past five years came true with the opening of Devo’s Car Wash in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
“It had always been our dream to open a barn-style carwash in Moose Jaw. The city didn’t have one and we knew Moose Jaw could support this type of carwash. Everything came together over the year and we opened Devo’s Car Wash on July 1st, 2020,” says Devon Hoff of the business he and his wife are equal partners in.
After purchasing a lot on Thatcher Drive East in May of 2019, the couple broke ground on their build in October of the same year. This location allows them to cater to both the rural and urban sectors, and the active agriculture and mining industries surrounding them. It was important to Devon and Chelsey that their carwash would stand the test of time and Saskatchewan’s grueling elements.
“We spoke with other owners and decided to hire Zak’s Building Group to construct the carwash using Nuform Building Technologies Inc’s CONFORM wall forming system.” Specially designed to withstand the abuse from high humidity buildings like carwashes, CONFORM offers significant savings during and after construction. The system can be constructed quickly and creates durable pre-finished, maintenance free cement walls that will never rot, stain or discolour, cutting out finishing expenses.
The barn-style system was appealing to the couple for several reasons. “Moose Jaw didn’t have a carwash system like this and we felt that it would prove to be much more beneficial for people during the winter months,” Devon says.
Bitter Saskatchewan winters can create difficulties for carwashes. To combat these issues the couple incorporated a built-in floor heating system to prevent ice buildup on the interior floors. Heated aprons were installed outside the wash doors to prevent ice from forming and the doors from sticking allowing cars to enter and exit with ease.
Devo’s Car Wash is equipped with eight self-serve wash bays each offering 14 different washing and waxing options to choose from courtesy of D. A. Lincoln Pump Service & Supply. “We really wanted to be able to offer our customers as many options as we could. That means that in addition to 14 washing and waxing options it was important to offer several different payment options as well, to do that we went with D. A. Lincoln Pump Service & Supply’s D. A. Easy Pay Premium Payment Stations,” adds Devon.
The newly offered stand-alone payment system allows customers to pay with coin, debit, credit, fleet cards and preloaded gift cards as well as android and apple pay by phone, all right in the bay itself. When a customer taps their card or phone an amount of $20 is preauthorized to turn the system on. Upon completion of their wash the customer presses the stop button and is charged only for the time used. The system also provides operators with webbased reporting and e-receipts.
Unlike other barn-style washes the Hoffs wanted an office attached to the building and ensure the wash is always staffed. Customers are therefore able to find someone to assist them during operating hours seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. This set up also allows staff to be present to disinfect the wash bays after every use. Reloadable gift cards can be purchased in the office, and clients can also take advantage of Devo’s U-fill water station that offers five gallon jugs for 99 cents.
Customers looking to clean their pooch are also in luck as Devo’s Car Wash has a K9000 dog wash set up in an area just off the office. Dog wash tokens are $10 and include shampoo, conditioned, flea wash and use of a blow dryer. Clients are provided with complimentary towels and use of a washing apron.
Devo’s Car Wash, it seems is a dream come true for more than just the Hoffs, but Devon and Chelsey aren’t quite done dreaming yet. “We have room on one side of the building that we can build on. In the future we will likely add on an inbay automatic wash or potentially a tunnel system that uses the Belanger SpinLite system,” adds Devon.
Tania Moffat is a freelance writer, editor, publisher and photographer. She has worked on a wide variety of B2B and consumer publications, both in print and online. You can connect with her through her blog www.chiccountrylife.com
