Zips Car Wash of Little Rock is buying 10 more car washes in Florida next month.
Zips founder and CEO Brett Overman said the acquisition is really three separate deals that are scheduled to close in July. He said the acquisitions will push Zips’ car wash count to more than 80.
Overman said the company isn’t done expanding, either. He said Zips is under contract to purchase another 27 car washes in a deal that is expected to close in August or September; he didn’t share details on where those 27 car washes are located.
Zips is one of the largest tunnel car wash companies in the United States, and Overman said he expects Zips to soon be the unquestioned second largest. A tunnel car wash, for the uninformed, is a facility in which the vehicle is taken through the wash on a conveyor-type belt.
Tunnel car washes are a capital-intensive business because the equipment and construction can cost about $3 million or so. Overman said Zips is constantly looking for existing tunnel car washes to buy or promising locations for new ones.
“It’s really a fragmented industry,” Overman said. “I’ve been in it for a long time, but we’ve turned it up the last 36 months,” referring to his company’s expansion push.
Overman said buying an existing car wash is preferable because there is less uncertainty about the location’s viability and none of the headaches that come with new construction.
“We’re trying to get real strong in markets we’re in,” Overman said.
Overman didn’t share financial information about the purchases nor which car washes are involved since the deals have not been finalized. He did say the car washes are located on both coasts of Florida.
Zips operates car washes in nine states, including Arkansas, where the company was founded by Overman in 1994. Overman, who lives in south Florida, and Zips have been on a buying spree in the past year; it bought a car wash in Tennessee in May, four locations in San Antonio in April and 44 locations in 2016.
The 2016 total was enhanced greatly by Zips buying 31 Boomerang car washes. Zips was founded in Jonesboro but has relocated its headquarters to Little Rock after buying Boomerang, which was based in Little Rock.