Setting the record straight: Where is Quality Car Wash expanding?

Cassandra Lybrink, The Holland Sentinel
·2 min read
The remains of Holland Township's former Pizza Hut on North Park Drive. The building was demolished last week, and the site is slated to become a Quality Car Wash.
The remains of Holland Township's former Pizza Hut on North Park Drive. The building was demolished last week, and the site is slated to become a Quality Car Wash.

HOLLAND TWP. — Over the past week, demolition began on the former Pizza Hut on North Park Drive in Holland Township. The once red-roofed building between Burger King and Chick-fil-A is no more.

But what, exactly, is going there next? The answer is Quality Car Wash — no gas station, no interior detailing. Just a wash with multiple pay lanes and vacuums.

More: Quality Car Wash receives approval to build on North Park Drive

More: Quality Car Wash planning location at former Burger King

More: Car wash conglomerate grows footprint in Holland with new headquarters

Construction on the new building is expected to begin in 2022, but that's not the only Quality Car Wash expansion in Holland Township. The second is near the border between the township and the city, at 187 N. River Ave.

That location will become the brand's first car wash with interior detailing, including vacuuming, glass cleaning and towel drying.

“A person will drive in, get out of their vehicle and the car will get on a conveyor,” said Quality Car Wash Civil Engineer Steve Witte during a planning commission meeting in early 2021. “The customers will wait in a designated area, and there will be two conveyors going through the detail area with machines and workers.”

There are four Quality Car Wash locations in Holland, on Chicago Drive, River Avenue, Eighth Street and Washington Avenue. The two new developments will bring the total to five, as the wash at 187 N. River Ave. will replace the wash just up the street at 243 N. River Ave.

The gas station and convenience store currently on River will remain.

Quality Car Wash began its 50-year history in Holland under the ownership of Julius “Sonny” Essenburg and his brother, Jacob.

The former red-roofed building between Burger King and Chick-fil-A on North Park Drive is no more. The site will become home to Holland's newest Quality Car Wash.
The former red-roofed building between Burger King and Chick-fil-A on North Park Drive is no more. The site will become home to Holland's newest Quality Car Wash.

Jacob's granddaughter, Mandi Brower, now helms the company, while her brother, Ryan Essenburg, runs Tommy's Car Wash Systems, an offshoot created in the 1990s to build equipment for the iconic washes.

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Tommy's Express, the family's national brand, was created four years ago when Brower and Essenburg paired the equipment from Tommy Car Wash Systems with the concept from Quality Car Wash. The franchise has more than 50 locations nationwide, including sites in Jenison, Hudsonville, Grandville and Grand Rapids.

Quality has explored additional locations in several spots over the past year, including a site in Zeeland near Gentex that was ultimately denied by Zeeland City Council.

Meanwhile, Tommy's Express has broken ground on its new headquarters in Holland at Waverly Road and M-40.

The project aims to consolidate operations for Tommy's Express and Tommy's Car Wash Systems. Quality Car Wash will remain at its current headquarters on Lakewood Boulevard.

— Contact reporter Cassandra Lybrink at cassandra.lybrink@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Instagram @BizHolland.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Setting the record straight: Where is Quality Car Wash expanding?