When a friend mentioned to real estate developer Emilie Baratta that the Northwest Denver neighborhood lacked good car care services, Baratta quickly came up with an idea for her own car care business — enter Gleam Car Wash.
Gleam, which is a flex-serve carwash and detail center located at 4895 W. 38th Ave. in Denver, Colorado, has provided a lot to its community since its creation in 2016. As a flex-serve, the Gleam team offers quick exterior washing, interior washing and a combo wash, which, for $38, does the standard exterior wash on top of interior dusting, window cleaning, carpet and seat vacuuming, and more.
Extra interior services, such as rubber mat washes, can be added on an à la carte basis.
According to Baratta, “[The] Gleam staff is dedicated to providing top notch carwashing service, offering everything from simple exterior carwashes to the highest end detailing.” Baratta noted that keeping on top of Gleam’s detailing business has been a great approach, because it is less weather-dependent than exterior carwashing — which is an important perspective during Colorado’s cold and snowy winters!
On top of offering numerous services, Gleam offers more than just carwashing to its community. When opening the business, the leadership team wanted to use Gleam to provide inclusive hiring opportunities in their community. In fact, Baratta reported that roughly 20% of Gleam employees are individuals with intellectual and/or cognitive disabilities (IDD).
Additionally, the brand applies impressive environmental practices. The flagship Gleam facility has a 41 Kilowatt solar panel to power the building and an on-site water treatment system to reuse water as much as possible.
After the success seen in the first Gleam Car Wash, the team is expanding with two express exterior locations coming soon. A location in Aurora, Colorado, is currently under construction.
Learn more about this unique carwash here.
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