Some folks can hardly stand the thought of driving by an amusement park without stopping for a visit.

Others are drawn to the zoo in whatever town they travel. Some wouldn't dream of visiting a Major League city without trying to catch a game.

Ankur Shah, of Erie, understands those urges. For him, it's laundromats.

"Whenever I go anywhere, I will go to the local laundromat to see what they are doing," he said.

Shah said he's always happy to compare what he sees with the D-Express Laundry Services, located at the northeast corner of West 12th Street and Powell Avenue in Millcreek Township, that he opened in April 2020 with partner Kevin Kujan.

Shah isn't just looking to reassure himself when he sizes up others in the coin-operated laundry business. He's looking for ideas and making plans for his next location.

Even before D-Express Laundry Services opened, Shah predicted it would be the first of many.

Now, 19 months later, demolition is underway for a second, larger location at the site of what had been the Train Shop at 3310 Buffalo Road in Wesleyville.

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Shah, who has experience in the hotel industry, and his partner, who has a background in construction, are proud of their first laundromat, located in what had been an abandoned Shell station and convenience store.

"Things have been great," he said. "It took a little while for people to know we were here, but it's been great for the last 12 months. The business keeps improving."

That success has helped them to decide that now is the right time to expand.

Finding and purchasing a second location presented its share of challenges.

Originally, the two partners had been interested in the former Lakeside Auto property in Harborcreek Township. When that deal fell through, they instead purchased the former train shop for $170,000.

A sewer inspection indicated problems with tree roots that had damaged sewage lines. While those problems are being fixed, demolition was underway last week to make way for extensive renovations.

This second location will be bigger than the first one on 12th Street, 3,500 square feet compared to about 2,000 square feet. While the location in Millcreek Township includes 19 washing machines and 24 dryers, the Wesleyville location will offer more machines.

Like the other location, customers will be able to pay with coins or by using an app on their mobile devices that also allows them to track the progress of their laundry.

The washers and dryers won't be the only technology on display.

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"We have the best cameras in our locations," Shah said. "It's almost like a bank. The images are very clear. We want people to feel very safe."

All these new machines, along with other improvements, including upgraded HVAC and electrical service, will come at a price. The partners, who obtained financing from ErieBank and the Erie County Redevelopment Authority's Office of Capital Finance & Lending, say the price of the project will likely top $1 million.

Technology is only one selling point.

Above all else, Shah said, their business stresses one of the world's most traditional virtues.

Nothing is more important than cleanliness, he said.

"To me, when you go to a laundry, you are going as a customer to clean something. It's counterproductive to go clean at a place that is not clean."

Coin- and app-operated laundries are big business in the United States with annual earnings of about $5 billion. But success isn't guaranteed. In fact, a 2017 article in The Atlantic, reported 20% of all U.S. laundry facilities had gone out of business in the previous 12 years.

The owners of D-Express Laundry Services say they aren't concerned.

Shah said he's convinced that the business that has been successful in Millcreek Township will do just as well in Wesleyville. He and Kujan are hoping that success could lead them eventually to franchising their business.

"This location is not going to be our last location," Shah said. "We are going to grow."

Contact Jim Martin at 814-870-1668 or jmartin@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNMartin.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: D-Express Laundry Services begins work on new location in Wesleyville