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OpenRoad Group comes clean to bring Tommy’s Express Car Wash to Canada
Company executives break ground for the first Tommy's Express Car Wash in Canada, including (from left) Tommy's Express president and CIO Ryan Essenburg, OpenShine's Christian Tjia, Tommy's Express CEO Alex Lemmen, OpenRoad Group's Moe Saboune, Tommy's Express founder and chairman Tom Essenburg and OpenRoad Group director of corporate affairs Gaurav Manhas. Photo courtesy of OpenShine.
OpenRoad wants to clean up your act.
Or at least your car.
The dealership group, which operates 36 locations in the Vancouver metro area, Ontario and Washington state in the U.S. has created a new division: OpenShine, which is bringing the Tommy’s Express Car Wash franchise to Canada for the first time.
OpenShine’s first Tommy’s Express Car Wash location is set to open in Brampton, Ont., in summer of 2025. A groundbreaking ceremony for the location was held Tuesday, including executives from Tommy’s Express and OpenShine.
In a news release, OpenShine said three more Ontario locations are planned, in St. Thomas, London and Waterloo.
“Like our sister company OpenRoad Auto Group, leaders in the Canadian automotive retail industry, innovation, customer service and community building are at the forefront of who we are at OpenShine,” operations manager Christian Tjia said. “There is currently nothing in Canada quite like the upscale car wash service 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.”
Tommy’s Express currently operates more than 200 locations throughout the U.S. In a news release, OpenShine said Tommy’s Express is known as an innovator 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.”
The company was ranked seventh on Professional Car Wash and Detailing magazine’s Top 50 Conveyor Carwash brands list for 2023.
Tommy’s Express Car Wash features belt conveyors, free vacuums and mat washers (including a moulded mat washer), auto-entry via license plate scanners for monthly club members and special detail kits for additional interior cleaning.
“Car wash technologies have seen vast advancement in development,” Tommy’s Car Wash Systems president and chief innovation officer Ryan Essenburg said, “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.”
