Fast-growing Zips Car Wash coming to Bowling Green
Published 9:00 am Tuesday, April 9, 2019
One of the nation’s fastest-growing ride-through car wash chains is opening a location in Bowling Green, with plans to expand to multiple sites in the city.
Zips Express Car Wash, which was started in Arkansas in 2004 and is headquartered in Little Rock, is building a car wash at 453 Campbell Lane on a 1.14-acre tract behind the Western Kentucky University Center for Research and Development at Nashville Road and Campbell Lane.
A building permit on file with the city of Bowling Green said Zips is making improvements to 3,876 square feet on the property at a cost of $1,372,000. Warren County clerk real estate records show the property, formerly part of the Center for Research and Development back parking lot, was purchased for $384,000 in February by a limited liability corporation called Zips Campbell Lane.
“We are coming to Bowling Green,” said Sarah Elizabeth Falanga, a Zips public relations representative. “We should be open around July 1, and we have other projects in the works for Bowling Green.”
Zips has 156 locations in 16 states, according to Falanga, but it is only beginning to expand into Kentucky. Louisville has one Zips location, and another is in the works for Owensboro.
“We’re excited to grow in Kentucky,” Falanga said. “Bowling Green is a growing area, and we would like to grow with the city.”
Growth would not be unusual for Zips. Started by Brett Overman with two Arkansas locations in 2004, the chain has expanded through acquisition of existing car washes and by building new locations.
A 2018 listing of the country’s top 50 conveyor car washes put together by Professional Carwashing & Detailing magazine lists Zips at No. 2 behind Arizona-based Mister Car Wash.
In an April 2 news release announcing the purchase of car wash locations in Oklahoma, Missouri, North Carolina and South Carolina, Overman said: “We’re developing new ways to reach customers and meet their buying and budget needs and are excited to grow in these markets where we can see a great potential to better serve our customers with added locations in their area.”
Falanga said Zips offers promotions and incentives that can be used at all of the chain’s locations.
“One of the things that sets us apart is our ability to offer unlimited wash clubs,” Falanga said. “The unlimited washes are valid at all sites.”
According to its website, Zips offers four levels of car wash packages and free self-serve vacuums.