LITTLE ROCK, Ark.— ZIPS Car Wash announced that Gene Dinkens will now serve as president of ZIPS, which developed through the company’s new partnership with Atlantic Street Capital, according to a press release.

Dinkens brings with him over 30 years of leadership and experience in consumer-focused industries to the already driven ZIPS team, the release continued.

Dinkens most recently served as chief operating officer of Lori’s Gifts, the nation’s largest provider of hospital gift shop outsourcing solutions, with over 400 locations across the country, the release noted.

Prior to his tenure at Lori’s, Dinkens served nearly four years as chief operating officer of Z Wireless, a Verizon premium wireless retailer, in which he helped scale from 200 locations to Verizon’s largest agent with over 1,100 locations by 2018, the release added.

“I believe ZIPS has a great business model and talented management team that when paired with my passions for scaling customer-centric, service-focused businesses, we can work together to build a winning team,” said Dinkens. “We’re in a great position to continue the aggressive growth track that ZIPS has already been on for several years, but also to truly shine in our efforts to be the best express car wash provider in the industry,” he added.

Dinkens started his retail career in the early beginnings of Blockbuster Video during a time of tremendous growth, the release noted, and he helped develop markets across the country through both organic and merger and acquisition activity. 

He served in executive positions both internationally and in the U.S., and at the time when he left, he had been in charge of the retail operations for the 5,000 U.S. locations, the release continued. 

“After bringing Gene into the ZIPS family, we began to immediately see the value of his corporate leadership background and his vast connections in service-focused industries,” said Brett Overman, founder and CEO of ZIPS Car Wash. “Our growth strategy will benefit greatly from his leadership, and he’s already providing a fresh take on our daily operations to make us an overall better company.”

Dinkens plans to help take ZIPS to the next level with his years of international experience in business growth, the release added.

The company plans to continue to expand and recently ventured into its 18th state with a brand-new ZIPS that opened in Cincinnati, Ohio, the last weekend of May, the release concluded.