OpenShine, a new division of OpenRoad Auto Group, is bringing the first-ever Tommy’s Express Car Wash to Canada with a location to be launched in Brampton next year.
OpenShine hopes to open the brand in the summer of 2025 with more locations to come. Three additional Ontario-based locations are already in the works – St. Thomas, London and Waterloo.
Christian Tjia, Operations Manager, OpenShine, said there is currently nothing quite like the upscale car wash service in Canada that Tommy’s Express Car Wash provides.
“There is a lot of potential, and we can’t wait for customers to get a first look very soon,” he said.
With more than 200 locations across the United States, Tommy’s Express Car Wash is known as innovators of the modern-day car wash platform, featuring a free-standing car wash tunnel with record-breaking power and processing ability – creating a smarter, cleaner, and greener car wash experience. It was named #7 on the 2023 Professional Car Wash and Detailing Magazine Top 50 Conveyor Car Washes brands list.
“They’ve got over 50 years of experience in car washes. Back in about 2015, 2016 they started franchising their car washes. They’ve grown to about 200 locations across the United States. So it’s actually one of the fastest growing franchises in the U.S.,” said Tjia. “They have a beautiful product.
“OpenShine is a new group that was created from the overall OpenRoad Group which is a mainly automotive retailer group based in B.C., Ontario and Washington State. OpenShine is a new business that’s been created that’s kind of adjacent to the core business of OpenRoad.
“It’s a complementary business so we can bring our customers a full service from purchasing a car to servicing their car and now finally being able to wash their car in between their dealer visits . . . It’s a new opportunity to bring this new elevated car wash experience that currently isn’t really developed here. The Canadian market is 10 years behind the American market in terms of the offerings for car washes.”
Key Tommy’s Express Car Wash highlights include belt conveyors, free vacuums and mat washers (including a first-to-market moulded mat washer), auto-entry via license plate scanners for monthly club members, and special Detail Kits for additional interior cleaning.
“OpenRoad Auto Group is one of Canada’s leaders in the automotive industry, and we are pleased to partner with OpenShine to launch Tommy’s Express Car Wash in Canada for the very first time,” said Ryan Essenburg, President and CIO of Tommy’s Car Wash Systems. “Car wash technologies have seen vast advancement in development especially with belt conveyors, app-based club memberships, and high volume processing tunnel speed – all of which sets Tommy’s Express Car Wash apart from others.”
Tjia said the company has a number of car washes in the pipeline that should be opening up in the next few years.
The first location will be a 110-foot tunnel.
“Looking into the future, we’re trying to expand as much as possible. As much as the market can support,” he said. “So for example, in London, we’re looking to be at least three to four washes there. Each of our core markets we want to be able to have enough car washes that our customers feel like they’re getting value out of their membership program. If you’re a member of Tommy’s Express you can visit any wash and be able to get the same quality, the same experience, whichever wash you go to.
“We’re really looking to grow throughout all of southern Ontario for now and then in the future we are also looking at expanding further west as well.
“We’re really focused on our customer satisfaction and our customer experience with these car washes. We’re trying to improve from your standard gas station tunnel . . . And I think one thing that makes Tommy’s unique is when we say unlimited washing for our members, we actually mean unlimited washing for our members.”
