By Jim Utter
Director of Journalism
It was just over a month ago that Links Car Wash announced several changes and additions to its executive team.
Links, a fast-growing express car wash company and affiliate of Madison Capital Group, in June announced Joe Teague as chief executive officer and that Kelly Bacon had joined the company as chief financial officer. Shortly afterward, Matt Pickelsimer was named the company’s new president.
Prior to joining Links, Pickelsimer served as senior vice president at Mammoth Holdings, where he revitalized a 155-store network, driving a 14-percent increase in same-store sales and delivered $2.3 million in annual savings through vendor consolidation.
Car Wash Daily News, in its ongoing Q&A series with car wash operator executives, recently discussed several topics regarding the car wash industry with Pickelsimer.
Today we present the first part of the interview, tackling issues such as his entry into the car wash business, his priorities in his new role and thoughts on consolidation in the industry.
Q: How did you first get involved in the car wash industry and then, specifically, with Links Car Wash?
My introduction to the car‐wash industry came at 7‐Eleven, where I oversaw the onboarding of the Exxon Mobil acquisition, including sites with in‐bay automatics (IBAs). I quickly saw how IBAs boost gross profit while expanding the offering for core 7‐Eleven customers. That lesson now guides my work at Links, where Joe (Teague) and I share a clear vision: to build the most trusted and rewarding car‐wash destination.
Q: You recently took a new role at Links. What are your priorities for your new position for the fast-growing company?
My top priority is harmonizing the guest experience across every Links location, so a customer receives the same world-class wash anywhere they visit. We started by locking in an unwavering mission and vision, anchored by seven core values that now guide hiring, training, operational standards, and how we show up for our guests every day. To translate that to the front line, we’re deploying ‘GOLF’ – a guided selling solution – as a simple, repeatable framework to educate customers on our value proposition: Greet brand pride, Offer the right solution, Listen for cues, and Finish strong.
On the course, we are standardizing KPIs (conversions, net member growth, chemical/water cost per car, and customer sentiment), standing up real-time dashboards, and aligning incentives and succession planning to those values so our talent scales with the business. We’re also stripping friction out of the customer journey – payments, loyalty, and digital touchpoints – so Links truly becomes, and consistently feels like, the most trusted and rewarding car-wash destination.
Q: Do you see the industry ripe for consolidation? Do you see Links playing a role, and if so, to what extent?
Absolutely, the U.S. car‐wash sector is still a classic roll‐up story: more than 60,000 individual washes operate nationwide and no brand commands even 1% market share, leaving enormous runway for consolidation and brand differentiation. At the same time, the market continues to expand on a dependable 2.1% CAGR, moving from roughly $14.7 billion in 2024 toward about $17 billion by 2030 – just over a billion dollars of incremental revenue that underscores the industry’s steady, recession‐resilient upside.
Within that landscape, Links is a fast‐emerging platform: while our current share is measured in basis points, we’ve set an aggressive roadmap to double our site count by the end of 2025 through a mix of disciplined acquisitions and a pipeline of greenfields. By harmonizing the customer experience across every location, scaling our subscription model, and leaning on the ‘GOLF’ selling framework to articulate our value proposition, we aim to capture an outsized slice of the sector’s next billion dollars of growth and rapidly transition from local player to recognized regional brand.
