Goo-Goo 3 Minute Express Wash won’t end its run with just one Jacksonville location.
Construction should begin in February on the first area Goo-Goo along Gate Parkway in The Crossing at Town Center for a targeted opening July 4.
Florida and South Georgia Goo-Goo franchisee Todd Buckner said Thursday a second area car wash is planned, and possibly more, although he declined to discuss the location of the next site.
“This is a rapidly expanding industry,” Buckner said.
More are planned elsewhere in Florida, too.
“Goo-Goo has the intention of expanding in Florida in the coming years,” Buckner said.
The company’s website, googooexpresswash.com, shows about 40 locations in six states, but doesn’t include the Florida operation. The six states are Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.
Buckner focuses on South Georgia and Florida, where four are open and three more are planned.
The first Florida location opened in the spring in Lake City. Jacksonville will be the second.
The South Georgia car washes are in Valdosta, Tifton and Douglas and another is under construction in Cordele.
Buckner said he wanted the Town Center location to open by July 4 so it can honor area military veterans, who are given discounts with their IDs at Goo-Goo on that holiday as well as Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
Law enforcement officers also receive year-round perks. Buckner said Goo-Goo will provide one free basic car wash each week for vehicles assigned to police, patrol and other officers.
“They are in their squad car and receive a free wash per week,” he said.
Buckner said that is the main give-back to the community “to honor them because they protect and serve.”
Goo-Goo features an express-wash tunnel, in which drivers remain in their vehicle as it is washed in three minutes.
Prices range $8 to $30, which is the top full-service. For full-service, drivers remain in their vehicles through the tunnel but park for staff to complete the process. Customers can wait inside the building and drink free coffee and bottled water and access Wi-Fi.
“We are basically taking it top to bottom, inside and out, and cleaning your vehicle and putting you back on the road,” he said.
Buckner said that customers know to look for the red ties. All personnel wear those, a white shirt, a red ball cap and pressed khaki pants.
“That is our image,” he said.
Buckner anticipates that up to half of customers at The Crossing will use the full-service offerings.
Eight staff members work in the tunnel wash. The three lanes in the full-service area, which can handle nine vehicles at a time, could have six employees each.
That adds up to up to 26 employees on-site.
Buckner said Goo-Goo offers discounts with gift card sales. For example, customers can pay $40 for a $50 gift card.
The discount is even higher – as much as 33 percent – for gift cards sold during the Valentine’s Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day time frames, and during the Christmas season, which runs from the Monday of Thanksgiving week through Jan. 1.
The Jacksonville Goo-Goo at The Crossing is designed with a different façade because it will be more upscale, Buckner said.
He worked with Cantrell & Morgan Inc. Senior Vice President Pete Fraser and retail sales and leasing associate Sean McGill for site selection. Cantrell & Morgan also has been working with the developer, Preferred Growth Properties.
Preferred Growth Properties is developing The Crossing and The Strand at Town Center at Gate and Town Center parkways, near St. Johns Town Center.
The city issued a conditional capacity availability statement Monday for the car wash. The 4,510-square-foot operation will be developed on 1.64 acres just north of Black Creek Outfitters.
England, Thims & Miller Inc. is the project engineer. Doherty Sommers Architects Engineers Inc. is the architect.
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