machine owner spotlight
Brandon Schaffer
Hays, Kansas
Brandon Shaffer, from Larned, KS, first learned of Kooler Ice at the Car Wash Show. Since then he has added machines to two of his car wash locations! Brandon enjoys the supplemental/passive income the machines bring to his washes, as well as the quality ice and water he has been able to provide his customers.
PRODUCTS OWNED
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“I’m Brandon Schaffer, and I’m living the Kooler life. I live here in Hays, Kansas. We have five car wash locations total. Two here in Hays, two in Great Bend, and one in Larned, Kansas. We have ice machines at two out of the five locations, and we put our first machine in about two years and a month ago. And that was here in Hays, and it’s doing great. And then about a year ago we added a second location in Larned. One thing also nice about my location in Hays, the bigger one, the touchless. I was able to put a car lot in. So I’ve got my own dealership to sell used vehicles. The good thing is, you know, I don’t spend all my time at work. The car wash industry is great because you could still make a dollar while you’re not there. That’s the beauty of having an ice machine there as well.
In my free time, I definitely like to play golf. Me and my friends would definitely get out a couple of times a week and try to play when it’s nice out. Definitely like going to sporting events. My favorite college team. And definitely a big Kansas City Chiefs fan as well. Well, when we first decided to get into ice vending, we were at the car wash convention and basically just saw the Kooler Ice machine and was immediately attached to this one. The graphics on the machine are awesome. Got a nice flashy blue canopy, lights up at night, and it’s by far the best looking machine out there and you get so much more for twice the size. A lot of these competitors, their machines are like, they’ll take up the whole lot. So many customers will always come up to me and just say, you know, this water is the best.
The ice is like so clear. By far some of the best ice for the cheapest price. When we decided to go with Kooler Ice we definitely spent a lot of time talking with Matt and Jeff as well. From the installation to when we actually bought the machine. It really wasn’t difficult at all. Worked out good for all of us. There’s about probably anywhere from I’d say 13 to 15,000 cars a day drive by our locations. Having a location like that is definitely huge and the Kooler Ice machine pretty much advertises for itself. The Kooler Ice machine it’s something that you know has been very easy to learn. If you can turn a wrench, you can run a Kooler Ice machine. Restacking the bags is a very simple process. The water goes through more filters just when it gets to the machine.
An infrared light to take out all the impurities. One thing really cool about a lot of our new car wash technology and our Kooler Ice technology is that you can pretty much control everything directly right over the phone. So if someone calls and says, “Hey, you know your ice machine ate my dollar.” Or, “It didn’t vend out a bag.” You can just say, “Hey, are you buy the machine right now?” And you can vend them out of bag at any point in time.
It’s a total green machine. You don’t have all the trucks driving around wasting gas and everything else. This ice doesn’t get bagged until you buy it which is really cool. The whole setup of how it works. There’s a blower in there and then an auger and then it all goes into the shoots. And then it comes out and you’re a happy customer. What I would suggest to somebody that is wanting an ice machine is definitely weigh out your options, make sure you have a great location, factor in how much time, money, and effort you’re going to put into it. Always be looking for great locations to put a Kooler Ice machine in because they are definitely number one in quality and just bang for the buck type machine. The buff carwash has the best ice for the best price.”
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