Owners: Bob Brown and Chad Morley

This metro Kansas City operator has a story to tell about the evolution of his 38-year-old site that looks brand new. It started out as a 10-bay self serve with one inbay automatic. It then morphed into an eight-bay site with three IBA’s and is now an eight bay with two friction tunnels. Brown will share the evolution of Quick Clean and why it all makes sense. The wash features two 50-foot AVW belted tunnels in a 60-foot building with InnovateIT bay boxes and pumping stations, free Vacutech vacs and Shore Corporation chemical.

Owner: Emilie Baratta & Elijah Williams, Director of Operations

Gleam Car Wash is a female owned and operated flex serve in Denver, CO. Owner/operator Emilie Baratta is committed to sustainability and green footprint. And according to an article in Professional Carwashing & Detailing magazine, she has “truly revolutionized what an environmentally-friendly carwash can achieve.” The site features VFD’s, LED lighting and recycles and composts. In addition, it features 41 kilowatts of solar panels. Basically, the wash’s solar energy can provide A/C to approximately five homes daily. It also includes an EV charging station at no cost to its customers. And, Baratta emphasizes diversity and inclusion in her hiring practices and 20 percent of her staff is comprised of individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). The 140-foot tunnel features primarily Sonny’s equipment and chemical. The site opened in 2016.

Baratta’s newest wash, Gleam II, is under construction and sits on 1.2 acres. It is a hybrid wash combining a 140-foot express tunnel with 29 vac drops and one full detail shop. It is a Genesis Modular Carwash Building Systems site.

Owner: John Shalbey, Jr.

Second generation operator John Shalbey, Jr. owns and operates four diverse sites. His Route 1 Norwood location is the largest of the four on three acres with corner lot access off a divided highway. It features two currently PDQ IBA’s, a mix of Sonny’s and Peco in the tunnel, DRB controls and POS and 16 Vacutech vac spots for members or customers with the purchase of a wash. The site also boasts five Carolina Pride self-serve bays and a fueling station with truck lanes and a convenience store. In 2021, he raised the fueling station and installed central vacs. In 2023, the self-serve equipment was updated.

The Walpole location, one of his newer sites, is an eye-catching express wash with free vacs for members and single wash customers. The tunnel is on 1.5 acres, is a corner lot parcel and also sits on a divided highway. The Peco-equipped tunnel boasts an AVW belt, a full suite of DRB controls including its LPR and Fastpass and is housed in a Modernwash building with AutoVac vacuums.

His other two sites include a wash on Dean Street in Norwood, a traditional full serve with complete detailing services. This site has Peco equipment and the full suite of DRB hardware and software. This site also has an express only lane that is handled by a DRB xpt.

His fourth location is in Wareham and mirrors his Walpole wash. It is also on a corner lot on a non-divided highway. The only difference is that this site features Vacutech vacuums.