How a Pittsburgh PE firm built Mr. Magic into a 23-site car wash chain

Incline Equity Partners, a Pittsburgh private equity firm, has grown Mr. Magic Car Wash from a cluster of four local washes into a 23-location operation, according to reporting from Car Wash Business Center. Sixteen of those sites sit in the Pittsburgh area, with the remainder outside the region.

The firm assembled the initial platform by buying four local car wash businesses in different parts of the city in late 2021 and combining them into a 10-location operation. That base has continued to expand and improve since, according to Brad Phillips, an Incline managing director and the deal lead on the Mr. Magic expansion.

Why Incline entered the sector

Jack Glover, Incline founder and managing partner, began scouting the car wash industry in 2019 and personally invested in several Florida car washes in early 2021, which he still owns. He described the sector as one that can be highly profitable and pointed to the appeal of predictable, recurring revenue as a central reason for the investment.

Glover targeted Pittsburgh specifically because he saw no large existing provider in the market, creating room to consolidate. The firm's move followed a familiar private equity pattern: capitalizing on a fragmented industry ripe for roll-up, supported by the shift toward tunnel car washes and subscription membership programs. In a tunnel wash, a conveyor pulls the vehicle through each stage of the process from presoak to drying.

Operations kept separate from ownership

Incline does not manage the day-to-day business. That responsibility sits with Joe Krydick, president and chief operating officer of Mr. Magic. Krydick came from restaurant operations, having worked with Dunkin', Taco Bell, and Red Robin in the Pittsburgh area, before joining Mr. Magic as vice president of operations in August 2022. He was promoted to president and COO less than a year later.

Krydick spends much of his time working with the company's leadership teams and making sure locations have what they need. His scope covers operations, customer experience, staffing, training, equipment, membership growth, and support for continued expansion.

Why it matters for operators

The Mr. Magic story is a clear illustration of how private equity approaches car wash consolidation, and it carries lessons for independent operators weighing their options. The playbook is straightforward: identify a metropolitan market without a dominant player, buy several existing washes at once to reach scale quickly, then standardize and grow under a single brand. Operators in similar underserved markets should recognize that they may be acquisition targets, or that they face this kind of well-capitalized competition entering their territory.

The emphasis on recurring membership revenue is the financial engine behind these deals. Investors value the predictability of subscription income, which means operators looking to sell or to compete need strong, growing membership bases to command attention and pricing.

Just as notable is the division of labor. Incline provides capital and deal strategy while a dedicated operator with a background in multi-unit restaurant management runs the business. That separation underscores how much the industry now rewards disciplined, systematized operations across staffing, training, and customer experience. Independents that professionalize these functions position themselves to grow, to defend their markets, or to sell on favorable terms.