Attention UF Gators: K9000 Self Serve Dog Wash Now Open In Gainesville FL

The first K9000 self serve dog wash in Florida is now open for business at Scrubs Car Wash in Gainesville, FL. The outside dog wash has gated fenced in area around it and will soon include a canopy to provide shade for the dog owners. It's $10 to start for 10 minutes and $1 per additional minute including various shampoo and condition options along with 2 drying speed options. The dog wash is open 24x7 and accepts bills, coins and tokens. Pictures will be uploaded to our website soon and we are expected an official Grand Opening in the middle of August. Go Gators! And go wash your dog - it's simple, fun and affordable! Email or call us with any questions. info@tmcpetvending.com or 1-888-2PET USA

Address: Scrubs, 3135 SW 42ND ST

First Two K9000 Dog Washes To Be Installed In Canada This Year

We are so excited about the first two Canadian installations of the K9000 dog wash system. One of them is our first humane society/animal shelter and the other is a car wash, both in Alberta. More details will follow about their Grand Openings in a few months. The locations are:

1) Edmonton Humane Society
12251 67 Street NW
Edmonton AB T5B 1M8

2) Big Blue Car Wash
121 1st St. S.
Vulcan Alberta T0L2B0

For more information, please call or email the TMC Pet Vending Solutions team.

What The Animal Shelter Expo 2008 Proved

This was our first experience at the Animal Shelter Expo and most of the folks we spoke with are pretty excited about the potential of adding the K9000 dog wash to their shelter. The K9000 makes perfect sense for humane societies, spcas and other shelters. Especially the shelters with dog parks.

Think about it this way: if you are a dog owner, would you rather pay the car wash down the street $10 to wash your dog in a K9000 or your local Humane Society? ...knowing that your $10 is helping a great cause vs. going into someone's pocket who may not even know. Everyone wins when the K9000 is located and offered at the shelters.

Plus, shelters can easily promote the use of the K9000 dog wash by giving a token for a FREE wash when someone rescues a dog. And the fund-raising opportunities are endless. We believe that you will start to see the K9000 dog wash in a lot of shelters over the next few years. Be on the lookout for them!

Nation's First K9000 Grand Opening Saturday the 17th!

The first ever K9000 dog wash has been installed in the USA at Mesa Verde Shopping Center in Midland, TX. The Grand Opening is scheduled for this coming Saturday May 17, 2008. Do It Yourself Dog Wash is a small store-front location open from 6AM - 11PM every day. Dog owners can use the bill and coin operated dog wash whenever it's most convenient for them. The K9000 dog wash has a 10' x 10' gated fenced in area to secure the dog(s) and its owner during the bathing cycle.

You can view pictures by clicking http://www.flickr.com/photos/petclinusa. We hope to get some feedback from users at this location within the next few weeks.

Using the K9000 dog wash for the first time.

I washed my 100 lbs black lab and 25 lbs beagle today in the K9000 for the first time. How sweet it is! The platform is set at a perfect height. Not too high so that my arms didn't get tired and not too low so that I was bending over. Plus, it was very easy for my lab to get into the tub washing area. The water pressure is very nice and what we really like is that we have a conditioner option to clean him even better. My lab seemed to be very comfortable and able to look out. The dryer is amazing! We've used the Pet Clin unit numerous times and are familiar with that dryer - but the K9000 dryer is much more powerful, especially when on Turbo Dry. At the end of the cycle, what is really nice is that if your time expires, you still have about 20 seconds to deposit more money and extend the time. And with a few seconds left after Ike was dry, we used the disinfecting option and because of the design of the platform, there was virtually NO hair left in the tub... so it seemed to get a lot cleaner with the manual disinfecting option vs. Pet Clin's automatic disinfecting option. It's nice that I can disinfect before I start or after I start. I can get the tub area as clean as I want and have that control to feel most comfortable. The K9000 rocks! We absolutely love it! We are sure you will too!

Pet Industry Trends

We thought it would be a good opportunity to share with everyone the trends we have been witnessing over the past 6-12 months as it pertains to various vertical markets that are expressing interest in coin-op serve dog wash.

1) Groomers Struggling: What we find interesting is that recently, we have been receiving a lot of inquiries for the coin-op dog wash from groomers. Their reasoning is that they are seeing a decrease in traditional grooming revenue because of the slowing economy. The funny thing is that some of the groomers who think self serve dog wash equipment is a competitor are finally 'seeing the light'. They are realizing that a majority of dog owners wash their pet at home and are looking for an easier solution without the clean-up. In our opinion, dog owners will be cutting back on the amount of times they pay $70-100 to have someone else groom their dog. Groomers are now seeing the coin-op self serve dog wash as a complementary product that can help increase revenues and exposure.

2) Self serve dog wash store fronts are charging on average $12-20 to use their indoor self serve dog wash facility. The difference in price is based on the size and weight of your dog. Some will provide you with shampoo options, others will charge extra for higher-end products. Also, we have found that their tubs are typically made of plastic or fiberglass and some require you 'lift' your pooch into the tub. And most of the time, when you actually have the time to wash your dog, they are closed.
We think you will start to see coin-op self serve dog wash store-fronts opening up offering a more competitive price, open 24x7 (like the 24x7 fitness centers) and providing the dog owner the conveniences for which we look.

3) Residential and Commercial Real-Estate companies (REITs) are starting to seriously consider adding a more pet friendly environment by offering dog parks and the like. We are receiving a number of inquiries from REITs about the coin-op self serve dog wash, as it's a natural fit for them. Plus this value-add amenity will certainly be a differentiating factor for dog owners during their evaluation process.

4) Laundromats are looking to add another Profit Center. They have the space and the utilities... it seems to make sense ... they have coin operated equipment, why not add the dog wash. Google laundromats and dog washes and see for yourself how many are already out there. It's a nice fit.

In the coming weeks, we'll talk about other businesses expressing interest and other trends we are seeing in the self serve dog wash market.

How can the kids help with dirty chores?

A great way to get the kids involved in family activities and up off of the couch is to have them wash fido at the local self serve dog wash facility. Kids love using the dog wash and it provides them and way to get out of the house with Fido and do the dirty chore with minimal effort and cost. We see it happening a lot here in Tampa at our self serve dog wash units. The kids come first with the family, they learn the ins and outs of washing the dog, and are giving more responsibility by their parents by having them wash fido weekly on their own. Imagine that: a dirty chore that can be done by your son or daughter for under $10 ... and they (the kid and the dog) actually like it! What do you all think about this?