Dirty cars and time management are a big business, and if there’s any doubt, consider the expansion of express car washes in Northeast Florida.
One of the newest players is Camel Premium Express Car Wash, which plans two locations in Arlington and Mandarin.
Camel’s sites are in Arlington at 9094 Merrill Road east of Interstate 295, and in Mandarin along San Jose Boulevard near Westberry Road.
Both sites are undeveloped.
Developer Frank Bennett said his group created the brand and concept in Atlanta and under other names in other markets.
He said both will be express tunnel car washes.
Bennett expects to break ground in 60-90 days and hopes to be open late this year or early in 2018.
He declined to say how much will be invested in each, “but suffice it to say the facility will be a state-of-the-art multimillion dollar facility.”
His group paid almost $1.7 million in January for the two vacant sites.
Bennett said his group doesn’t plan any more car washes in the Jacksonville market at this point but is looking in other states.
The decision to expand in Jacksonville was because his group likes the market’s demographics, population, climate and other factors.
What makes Camel different, he said, is that it offers “an exceptional time and value proposition for our car wash customers.”
He said that for half the price of full-service car washes and in half the time or less, “we offer a higher quality car wash experience enabled by the high tech, state-of-the-art equipment that does the work more safely than a hand wash.”
He said customers drive up, select their wash and pay at a touchscreen computer, and then proceed to the tunnel entrance.
They stay in their cars and are pulled through the tunnel in a three-minute automated process that cleans and dries their cars.
Customers can then access free vacuums to clean their car interiors if they want.
Bennett said he can’t speak about other companies’ decisions to open express car washes in Jacksonville, but he said the industry has changed.
“The express tunnel concept represents a paradigm shift in the car wash industry as new technology allows people to let machines do the work once done by hand,” he said.
Camelcarwash.com shows a Marietta, Ga., car wash. It’s open 8 a.m.-7 p.m. daily and a basic wash starts at $7.
Upgraded services cost more.
That facility also offers free drying towels, glass cleaner and a carpet mat cleaner for customers to use, in addition to vacuums.
The city is reviewing plans for the two locations.
The 1.11-acre Mandarin site is designed with a 4,393-square-foot car wash. The developer is San Jose Real Estate Holdings LLC, led by Bennett.
It bought the land in January for $900,000.
The 2.48-acre Arlington site is designed with a 5,214-square-foot car wash and the developer is Merrill Realty Holdings LLC, also led by Bennett.
It paid $795,000 for the land in January.
Taylor & White Inc. is the engineer for both.
Another newcomer appears to be Prime Car Wash, whose developer paid $1.065 million in December for Mandarin property at 11860 San Jose Boulevard to build an automated car wash with an enclosed customer waiting area at a cost of $2.2 million.
Plans show an 11,016-square-foot building.
The primecarwash.com site shows full-service interior services as well as the exterior wash.
Also, Zips Express Car Wash has four locations in Jacksonville, recently buying the Jacksonville-based CarbuX centers.
It’s a growing business.
Northeast Florida offers many full-service car washes, and some offer conveyer washes that lead customers through in their cars.
It’s the entry of new companies — and new concepts by existing companies — that shows the strength of the trend.
Research by the Southwest Car Wash Association showed that in 2014, the “express exterior” segment was creating growth in the tunnel systems.
“Investors that have always been drawn to the industry see they can enter the business without the labor headaches and management problems of the full-serve model and still get a good ROI on this real estate based investment,” it said.
Between 2008 and 2014, the percentage of car-washing consumers using exterior washes grew from 14 percent to 21 percent — the highest growth rate.
Camel Premium Express Car Wash joins Jacksonville-based Gate Petroleum Co. and Columbus, Ga.-based Goo-Goo 3 Minute Express Wash, which also are rolling out the concept.
Goo-Goo plans to build at least two locations in Jacksonville, including at The Crossing at Town Center.
Goo-Goo features an express-wash tunnel, in which drivers remain in their vehicle as it is washed in three minutes.
Florida and South Georgia Goo-Goo franchisee Todd Buckner did not respond to a call or email Wednesday about the status of the projects.
At Goo-Goo, 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.
Gate said in October it will build and operate more than 20 free-standing express tunnel Gate Express Carwashes throughout Northeast Florida.
Gate Express Carwashes will feature a 125- to 145-foot tunnel system that can accommodate five to seven vehicles at a time and provide a wash in less than 4 minutes. Customers don’t have to leave their cars.
Pricing starts at $5. When through the wash, a customer can pull the vehicle into a bay and use a free vacuum.
While many Gate stores feature car washes, the new design is for stand-alone developments.
Gate executive Hill Peyton is leading the car wash development and said when announcing it that Gate wanted to be the first in the market to do it.
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