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From: Lance (Economic City Report Service Sectort)
Date: 23 Jul 2003
Time: 22:40:39
Remote Name: 66.82.50.33
Wichita, KS Economic Outlook for Car Washing, Mobile Carwash, Automotive Detailing, Wholesale Car Detailing, Auto Aftermarket services and Truck Washing. Wichita has some interesting demographic characteristics and anomalies, which tend to be conducive to a service type business in our main marketing segments. In Wichita there is a 79.4% white, 9.1% Black and 22% of the jobs are in manufacturing which the average salary is over $18.45 per hour or at the average of 39.5 hours per week is over 45K per year annual income - High paying manufacturing jobs. Most of which are aviation related 56% are totally aviation only; Wee this article: http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0703/0000002b.htm ------ Even with the lay offs and more to come things look better than most manufacturing cities. 46% of employers thought they might lay off more people next year but the indication is that 54% will not. That is better than most manufacturing related towns we traveled to such as Stranton PA, Allentown PA, Manchester NH, Tulsa OK, etc. With similar MSA characteristics with regards to manufacturing. Last year 64% of the employers laid off. Retail is up a bit mostly due to newer stores such as Wal-mart, Grocery and Pet Retail Companies. Over all without that we saw a 3% decline in retail last year, probably again lay offs in aviation manufacturing sectors. Downtown area are receiving another upgrade, one area is similar to the OKC Brick Town, often travelers simply calling it Brick City, even AAA in there magazine called that. The Brick City http://www.bricktownokc.com/ theme and has attracted residents and tourists especially on weekends to shop around, hangout and spend. Bars similar to Nashville open for kids and places to eat outside as well. Also slated is a River Walk project, a scaled down version of the one in San Antonio http://thesanantonioriverwalk.com/riverwalkhistory/History4.asp those projects will hopefully keep downtown from any further decay. The Wichita Ambassadors are sponsoring a project to alert their commercial and retail businesses that they must keep downtown clean from debris to attract more commerce. They have published a little booklet “Whose Job is it? The lowdown on keeping our city safe and attractive” The brochure citing, awning repair, graffiti issues, trash containers, bus stops, etc. It is an issue as there are low income areas all around downtown especially due South. http://www.wichita.gov . Two new things are happening in Wichita which might help the nearly 6000 laid off aerospace and aviation workers; Cessna is building a Citation Jet Center http://customer.cessna.com/citation/locator.chtml for customer service issues and Boeings Dreamliner the 7E7 will be partially built in Wichita and recently an interesting twist of fate; Airbus will be building certain wing assembly sections http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/business/industries/aviation/6098084.htm and http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2003/05/05/story2.html in Wichita, due to the availability of highly skilled laboring the newest materials and components. Still the aviation sector predicts another 2500 job losses to make the total 8,100 job losses or 40% in the next year, without a return on the aviation market sector. Another recent good piece of news was the Boeing sale to AirTrans http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2003/05/05/story2.html and Thayer Aerospace getting a contract for a component on the Joint Strike Fighter http://webs.wichita.edu/cedbr/Forecast2003.Pdf being built North East of Dallas. If the sector continues a decline which we are hopeful it will not there could be another huge set of lay offs and more complications for small business machine shops servicing those industries and companies. Steinmart and Albertsons pulled out of Wichita and that cost 600 jobs which were replaced fairly quickly with new stores going up on Rock Road and on 400/54 Hwy (coined the Yellow Brick Hwy, KS has a good sense of humor with those road signs?) Personally I prefer to fly over KS it is just too far across to drive listening to the same music on your CD player five times as you run out of music in the box. No wonder they make airplanes there, the damn state is nearly as long as TX, it could be its own country no doubt. Lindbergh must have practiced flying mail there and decided hell it is nearly as long as the distance across the pond anyway? And it is about as flat at the ocean too. But the technology sector is hurt; http://www.wichitatechnology.com . What sectors are doing okay still? Small Businesses, Entertainment, Retail, New House construction, and some non-aviation manufacturing. Questions concerning the Wichita area include a tax revolt from high taxation especially in the wake of abatements and give aways needed to lure industry, specifically aerospace into town to provide jobs. Also a Howard Jarvis http://www.hjta.org/ type revolt against some of the highest property taxes in the nation in Wichita. Water issues also of concern as an algae is growing in the reservoir, which makes the water taste funny, it actually smells rancid and rank. Such an algae (cyanobacteria) bloom http://www.bassresource.com/about/golden_algae_control.html can occur from agriculture, raw sewage, heat and fertilizers. Another such algae bank in growing off the coast of Florida http://www.floridaenvironment.com/programs/fe00612.htm from the same issues but much different and concerns scientists and citizens, but in the water supply scares folks although it probably will not hurt them unless diseases, pathogens or other harmful to human things start feeding on it. Schools are also a concern with lower funding due to tax base erosion from closing of companies and downsizing. Heck sounds like CA. Also rising health care costs are a concern especially with people laid off. Wichita has a Federal Trade Zone http://ia.ita.doc.gov/ftzpage/fr/88/d29-88.html making it good for companies who sell around the world to manufacture and bring in parts and fly out complete projects without import fees and taxes. Wichita is ranked 13 in the country fro manufacturing sector and number one on the Planet for aviation manufacturing. We love Wichita because it has great all round weather except during ice storms and the once in a while Tornado threat, which could carry away you best workers to meet Dorothy. 225 sunny days a year snow about 5 days a year. Wichita easy to cross. 28 minutes on Rock Road during non rush hour, 18 minutes on the 35, 14 minutes on the toll way, 21 minutes across the bottom on the Yellow Brick Highway, actually it is full of construction and hard to follow. East side growing nice and good markets near the 96 outer northeast ring road also good East going out of town on 400/54 with new condos and golf course communities. Springdale good and Westside past 235, South in the town of Derby growing from older town to newer town with subdivisions. Rock Road area very good for our type of services even a 24 hour Starbucks next to a huge Krispy Kreme also 24/7 with no locks on the doors, never closes, similar to the five star hotels Castro stole from our US companies. Northeast areas we also like Brookhaven and Lakeside and love Springdale. We discussed the economic factors with commercial local real estate gurus J.P. Weigard and Son’s, the sons were playing golf, got to talk to a secretary and young research person, they publish some great data that might be interesting to anyone thinking of finding out more about the market there, and we found data quite in conflict depending on the source, unemployment figures between 8.1% and as low as 5.4% depending on whose data you have. I think they are trying to hide some stuff, but that is typical of our investigation of the Wealth of out Nation when broken down by region, similar to redistricting for political power or Ross Perots many charts http://www.askmen.com/men/business_politics/56b_ross_perot.html So many charts to make a point. It is hard to say other than people use figures to make a point, we use them to make decisions and appreciate candor over Bull sh_t. As far as washing cars we agree that the best mobile car washing and detail customers will surely come from the areas of greatest commercial improvements on North Rock Road as Weigard enlightened us too. Even say two car washes already there who obviously saw the same potential. Rock Road Car Wash and a very nicely done coin op. In another part of town we saw an interesting one of a kind co-brand opportunity? Joes Seat Cover and Car Wash? It works for them. There is also good business in facilties cleaning for our http://www.concretewashguys.com brand. And some competing companies such as Facilities Maintenance LLC. Owned by Richard Collins, good service oriented company there. On Rock Road were some high end office parks for instance Polo Club Office Park, Premier Office complex-Tech Center and many two-four story office buildings surrounded by the typical specialty box stores, Toys R US, Barnes and Noble, Old Navy, Office Depot, Pets Smart, etc. And sporadically placed around the newer mall was Outback Steak House, Red Lobster and other nicer chain outlets and restaurants. Wichita has potential in other aspects since the housing costs are in the bottom 15% of the US, judging by the ACCRA http://webs.wichita.edu/cedbr/priceindexes.pdf cost of living studies. The National Association of Realtors estimated that Wichita was similar to such places as San Antonia, El Paso, Tulsa, Des Moines, OKC, Spokane and Little Rock which are all also good markets for service businesses and car washing and previously manufacturing might have the best chances. Also other MSA statistical analysis showed comparisons to Amarillo, Corpus Cristi and Ft. Wayne Indiana. About 17% of all of KS population is located in and around Wichita, it is a big city and a big deal to KS, it represents 21% of all tax revenues due to the higher paying jobs, which is similar to Overland Park and Olathe KS. Wages even lower in Salina and Hutchinson. Code Enforcement said to be a big pain in the ass to local small businesses at least the ones we talked to although we have no real knowledge since that is all second hand smoke, however when you start hearing the same thing over and over there must be something to it. No need to worry about downtown parking tickets, enough vacant buildings allows for streets die parking to visit the areas many Museums and attorneys (parasites) who still have a job downtown. Or perhaps locusts is a better term, over course cockroaches are said to easily evolve more and remain after humans have become extinct. Perhaps Lawyers and Locusts is a good title for a revised edition of Darwin’s Ghost Part II ? Stop calling me cynical, we only report our observations we rarely take sides. Lawyers have cars too and of course will be surcharged to make up for the other lost business. The entire state of KS had 5.6% unemployment at the beginning of the 2003 first quarter. Add ons in the number of weeks you could draw unemployment has kind of messed up the numbers as KS Senators got that into the relief bill for aerospace workers where auto workers did not. Age criteria for mobile car washing was good 35-44 age represented 16.2% of pop and 45-54 13.2 % and those are our best customers from our history of markets and Kenneth Dyckwolds thoughts. 7.4% Hispanic has moved into the area, most are in auto manufacturing of parts and small machine shops and service businesses. Dallas unemployment is 7%, Kansas City is 5.3% or at least before the roadway-Yellow freight merger and Sprints last round of lay offs. Wichita for the same period as this study was taken was 6.3% although has been hit again and again by unannounced 200 here 300 there layoffs nearly every Friday since Jan.1, 2003. The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment is a trickery campaign often used with farm labor related areas and is no different there in Wichita. If you are coming into the city they add in by use of this figure another 1% unemployment making employers think there is more skilled labor than exists. I must say that in Visaila and the rest of Central Valley CA they play the same trick. How are business owners suppose to make decisions and no mistakes and be held accountably to transperibility when no one else they do business with in government is? Or their foreign counterparts, suppliers or competitors? Just though I would throw that in too as I am quite frustrated by the bull crap I read and study and the reality of what I see. Other people should travel the country and see it before they swallow that crap hook, line and sinker, because last time I checked they are not catch and releasing corporate America execs. No we have to swim in a polluted reservoir and are fed BS from those who attack us. Okay enough cynicism, after all these all known facts of anyone who has ever had to meet the deadline of a payroll, unlike the workers at most regulatory bodies or over billing scum bucket lawyers, cheating their paralegals out of their hard earned work. May I ask now how a lawyer who works 30 hours a week can have 450 billable hours in the same week? So time travel is possible, and it is legal too. Back to subject matter, if you are a lawyer you cannot buy our franchise. Keep sitting in your office getting fat and stupid. There is a much lower than average poverty rate in Wichita, due to the higher paying jobs, availability of jobs and lower cost of living. The service industry is now 27% while manufacturing is 21-25% depending on who is floating the numbers and dervitive trading on misdirection. Population has had steady increases with 13.% growth in the last decade, you can see the growth. Sedgeway County has some 452,000 at last census meaning about 462K now. There are 19,600 apartments in Wichita. AYSO and Soccer are big in Wichita along with Baseball and other youth sports thus allowing for easy entry into community volunteer related services for our team to show our spirit. New Commercial Permits are down 50% over the past year. And there is a lot of industrial space available very inexpensively for a detail shop or storage for our trucks. South Central Kansas Economic development had some of the best updated data we found, better than our tiger files and ERSI, census and overlay CD ROMs. Enterprise Rent-A-Cars Wichita Chief Strategist with 2 satellite offices and 8 locations including a new airport office who met with us said they own that market which is good for us because they do need our services. We exchanged information about marketing to the various sectors and how we could assist each other. Finding a common thread in Jack, Enterprise Rent-A-Cars founder and purveyor of commitment and fervor and inspiration. We both agree he is a great leader and entrepreneur. The market has other potential customers too, including four tour bus lines and 26 trucking companies. Rail Service is also there. Lowe’s just finished and opened another store to help contractors with the east end growth. We visited with Margaret Davis at the Chamber and luckily she was no relation to the governor of CA, http://syninfo.com/ian/PRIVATE/2003/04/27/2003042721534391.html soon to be former governor of CA. She explained the significance of Old Town Center and Old Town Market Place a smaller version of Brick City that is the hit of tourists and locals in OKC. The chamber has some 1900 members and mails its newsletter to over 2700 VIPs. She agreed that the Derby area was a good place to wash cars as it is growing middle income. We talked with one older sweet lady who moved from Minnesota into Derby and found a real good buy on an older refurbished home so she could live by her daughter a crack marketing wiz for the number on Hospital in the region in charge of the entire department. Derby is building a pool for the community and that is one of the larger projects of the area, able to do it from the property tax base and higher than normal property taxes of the Wichita area. We also discussed cool hang-outs and cars with one student from Butler Community College also studying Computer science to get a good job admitting after school they were o move to where the best job might be. Also Butler had several students hanging out at the coolest little fifties diner studying such things as Business Administration and Psychology so they could charge $50.00 per hour and going to transfer to KSU in Fall. Loni also told us of the fact that most students do stay after graduation in Wichita. They party in Padre Island during Spring Break and go to Aspen skiing and Breckenridge CO. They also go to the old town brick building area and we feel that valet parking and detailing on weekends would be a sure thing and instant kill in that marketing sector, they agreed and would have their cars washed and maybe on payday detailed. Graham Central Station is the local bar hangout and most popular this year they have an interesting policy on Friday nights, if you are 18 you can go in and get you hand “X’ed” but cannot buy alcohol and must give them you ID and also get a wrist band. The other nights Thurs, Sat the place is packed. Everyone goes to the all night Starbucks afterwards or to Krispy Kreme. Park City is getting a new 55 million dollar coliseum which is a middle income growth area.
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