Retail
The Path to Growth at El Car Wash is Paved with Technology
Founded in 2011 and based in Miami, El Car Wash is the largest and fastest growing express car wash operator in Florida. El Car Wash is a Portfolio company of Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm with offices on six continents and over $90 billion in assets under management.
Chief Information Officer Jerry Gomez is harnessing technology to elevate the customer experience, improve visibility to data across multiple systems and keeping the company secure while growing at an exponential pace.
“Our goal is to continually raise the bar and set new standards for the industry,” said Jerry. El Car Wash was seeking a technology partner capable of supporting its ambitious growth trajectory—scaling to 50, 100, even 200+ locations—while seamlessly managing day-to-day operations and enabling sustained expansion. This is where Thrive came in!
The High-Tech Car Wash Keeps Doubling in Size
When Warburg Pincus acquired El Car Wash in 2022, there were 17 locations. By this fall they will operate 80 locations, with plans to significantly expand its footprint through greenfield openings and future acquisitions. El is a widely recognized brand in South Florida, known for its prime locations, high quality operations, distinctive aesthetics, and industry leading membership program.
“Having strong operational processes was essential and Thrive enabled us to establish those quickly,” said Jerry. The collaboration between El Car Wash and Thrive allowed for secure growth and scalability.
Know Your Customer
El Car Wash CEO, Geoff Karas, has an intimate understanding of his customers and what motivates them. He was one of the first operators in the country to offer car wash subscriptions. “People thought I was crazy. Who needs a car wash subscription?” Today, memberships have become the lifeblood of the industry, with nearly 80% of revenue coming from subscription plans.
“We do one thing really well,” Karas said. “Wash cars.” This singular focus allows El Car Wash to gain momentum around scaling a high-value, convenient experience. Success was all about delivering better, faster, and more securely. That is where Thrive came in.
Best of Breed Delivers
To grow the right way, El Car Wash has been deliberate about selecting the most effective tools, systems, and partners for each critical function rather than relying on a single all-in-one solution. This approach allows them to pair agility with scale, equipping their stores and support centers with best-in-class capabilities for marketing, operations, customer experience, and analytics.
By integrating specialized solutions, El Car Wash can adapt faster, optimize performance at the store level, and create a competitive edge that compounds across the portfolio. While it requires thoughtful integration and governance, a best-of-breed strategy ensures that the business is always operating with the sharpest tools available, fueling sustained growth and long-term enterprise value.
“We want decisions to be based on meaningful data that drives action. We utilize partners with technical depth and an understanding of how to leverage best practices to grow at rapid scale while ensuring our customers have a great experience,” Gomez said.
The AI Road to Cleaner Cars
El Car Wash is embracing AI to manage their data across the business. For example, AI helps improve user experience with an AVR system to more quickly address frequent customer tasks, like cancellations, credit card updates and finding nearest locations.
“Ultimately, we want to use AI across all areas of the business—from analyzing memberships all the way through the usage of chemicals,” says Gomez. “We track every KPI so that we’re not wasting water, time, or chemicals. The more you can dial all of this in, the more positive business outcomes emerge.”
Leveraging data analytics and AI will allow El Car Wash to further accelerate speed to market, transforming a fragmented industry with a commitment to excellence and technical precision.
A Thriving Car Wash Business That Continues to Push Boundaries
Thrive is helping in many core technology areas, including the management of El Car Wash’s Microsoft environment, Network Management across all sites, Security, and the on/off boarding of systems. There are clear standards, consistency, and security in place to support rapid growth.
“We transformed from a company playing catch-up with technology to one that’s driving innovation at scale. What began as a focus on site openings and equipping new team members has evolved into an engine for rapid expansion—powered by Thrive as our strategic technology partner,” shared Gomez.
In the End, it’s People Who Matter Most
Private equity works at a fast pace and demand the same from their strategic partners.
Gomez insists, “we always want to be better than ‘good enough’. We push hard on our team to keep raising the bar. I have confidence in Thrive because of their technical depth, their ability to provide solutions, and their people. They are smart, they have speed, but more importantly they have a human touch.”
“I have confidence in Thrive because of their technical depth. They have speed, but more importantly they have personality. We want to work with nice people. At the end of the day, when we all succeed, you know, we’re having a little bit of fun.” – Jerry Gomez, CIO, El Car Wash
About Thrive
Thrive delivers global technology outsourcing for cybersecurity, Cloud, networking, and other complex IT requirements. Thrive’s NextGen platform enables customers to increase business efficiencies through standardization, scalability, and automation, delivering oversized technology returns on investment (ROI). They accomplish this with advisory services, vCISO, vCIO, consulting, project implementation, solution architects, and a best-in-class subscription-based technology platform. Thrive delivers exceptional high-touch service through its POD approach of subject matter experts and global 24x7x365 SOC, NOC, and centralized services teams. Learn more at www.thrivenextgen.com or follow us on LinkedIn.