This week, we cover new construction for Waterway Express and a company hire.

Waterway Express to open in December in Cleveland

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — According to www.cleveland.com, the Al Paul Auto Wash, which closed in May 2019 after being under various ownerships since the 1950s, is now being converted into a Waterway Express.

The business is expected to open in December at 2128 Warrensville Center Rd., the article continued.

This will be the fifth Waterway location in Ohio, the article added.

“We’re making a major investment of several million dollars,” Waterway Vice President and General Counsel Michael Goldman said of the South Euclid location. “We liked South Euclid as a location, because we’ve seen that several of our customers use our other locations and we wanted it to be more convenient for them.”

The carwash will remain a single-tunnel exterior-only wash, the article added.

“Our goal is, from on-site to completely done, your entire experience will be around five minutes,” Goldman said. “We’ll have very affordable prices.”

As for the environment, Goldman said, “We’ve got a whole program of capturing the wastewater, which is super important. We capture the wastewater and process it so that it doesn’t go into the sewer system. We’ve also got a whole slew of green initiatives, but I would say that’s the biggest thing. When you’re washing your car in the driveway and you’re using the soaps and detergents you get from your auto parts store or wherever, all that goes straight into the storm sewer. That’s hard for the storm sewers to handle. They’re not set up for that. So, capturing that water is the most impactful thing we do.”

The location is expected to employ about 15 people, the article noted.

“We take great pride in our level of customer service,” Goldman said. “A lot of people talk about how their employees differentiate them, but we really believe our employees do. You’ll be met on-site by somebody with a great smile and we’ll do a great job cleaning the outside of your car, and we’ll be fast and efficient and friendly.”

Waterway celebrated its 50th anniversary in August, the article concluded.

Woodie’s Wash Shack announces new president 

TAMPA, Fla. —Woodie’s Wash Shack, a Tampa-based express carwash, has announced the appointment of Tim Miller to the position of company president, according to a press release.

Miller is joining Woodie’s during a period of exponential growth and community support, the release continued.  

With multiple locations at various stages of development, Woodie’s Wash Shack is currently operating its top-of-the-line services at 5601 66th St. in St. Petersburg, Florida, the release noted.

An additional Woodie’s is being built at 4545 Gandy Blvd. in Tampa and is expected to open Dec. 15th, the release added.

Nine other Woodie’s are being staged for construction in the greater Tampa area as well as in Memphis, Tennessee, the release continued. 

Donald Phillips, founder of Woodie’s, stated, “We are very excited to welcome Tim to the Woodie’s team and look forward to his leadership as we execute our aggressive expansion plan. His experience and skill set will help us deliver a unique ‘50s and ‘60s surf vibe carwash experience that includes old-school values, best-in-class service, unbeatable quality, and community and member focus to our markets in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Memphis and beyond. Tim brings nearly two decades of executive automotive experience to the Woodie’s team. His experience in building teams, aggressive growth strategy execution, operations excellence, and passion for innovation and customer service will expedite our goals of bringing the Woodie’s experience to market.” 

As the long-time chief financial officer and executive vice president at TBC Corp., Miller led the company through nearly every aspect of corporate growth, including spearheading mergers and acquisitions, the release noted.

He has also managed teams who were responsible for growing the company from less than $1 billion in revenues to almost $5 billion, the release added. 

In addition to driving growth, he oversaw the transformation and execution of many strategic functions, including real estate construction and development, IT, accounting, customer analytics, supply chain, fleet and e-commerce, the release stated. 

Miller received his undergraduate degree from Washington State University and his M.B.A. from the University of Memphis, the release noted. 

Miller stated, “I’m excited to join forces with Donald to execute on the incredible vision he has for Woodie’s Wash Shack. I look forward to building on the foundation of Woodie’s and creating a community focused, unbeatable quality, employee-driven experience to our customers … including a bit of surf sounds and beach vibes.”