Business Brief: Grand Auto Spa

What products/services do you offer?

We are proud to say we offer the only self-serve wash bays in the Grand Rapids area. We offer a touchless automatic wash at our Highway 2 location and a touchless/ soft touch auto wash at our new location. We also have a tall bay for washing larger vehicles, such as Semi Trucks. We are currently working on adding an indoor self serve detail bay. This bay will come complete with indoor vacuums and vending of all products needed to keep your vehicle clean.

How long have you been in business in this community?

We opened our first business in Grand Rapids in 2004 and have been serving the Grand Rapids area with several businesses. We have been open at our Highway 2 car wash for over 4 years, and recently opened up our newest location,40 SE 11th St. (South of Walgreens/behind Auto Value).

How did you get in this line of work?

We acquired the Highway 2 location over four years ago as we thought it would be a fun, rewarding venture to pursue. We recently purchased the former Crystal Car Wash building that has been out of service for many years. We thought it would be a great asset to bring back to life, especially as it is on the south side of town.

What do you think is a significant challenge facing your business today?

One challenge we are facing is the competition with national car wash chains. Being a small, family-owned business, we may not have the national brand recognition of our competitors, however, we make up for it with our responsiveness and state of the art equipment.

What is your favorite part about your business?

We love working together as a family to create something lasting. We love all the compliments we get from our customers on how we run such a clean, well-operating car wash.

What are your long-term goals?

We would like to extend our tall bay to allow sportsmen to pull in boats, fish houses, and trailers indoors for washing.

What makes your company stand out from your competitors?

We are the only family-run local car wash in town. The money spent at our business is then spent locally. As most of our customers are our neighbors, friends, and people we see in the community, we strive to make sure everyone is well taken care of.

How has your business changed since it started?

Four years ago, Drew started the business with a business partner. With the addition of our second location the partnership has become father, son, and son-in-law, a true family business.

What values/guiding principles guide you?

The main reason we are here is to serve our customers. Our customers are our neighbors, our friends, people we go to church with, people we’ve gone to school with or even coached in a sport. We want our customers to have a great experience.

What are things about owning your business or running your business that people don’t often think about or consider?

Running a car wash is 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There’s a million things that can go wrong, and usually something does. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, whenever it is needed.

What’s something that has surprised you about your chosen career path?

We are surprised by how much other people care and appreciate what we’re doing. We are surprised at how many compliments and suggestions we get.

What is your favorite local business (other than your own)?

Our favorite local business is L&M Fleet Supply. They are a local family owned business like we are. They have just about everything we need for our car wash. In the last month, we have been there over 40 times getting supplies.

We’ve been a locally owned family business in the Grand Rapids area for over 20 years now. We’ve grown up here, gone to school here, moved back here and plan on raising our families here. We truly love Grand Rapids and look forward to serving our community.