RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The latest addition to the Belle Oaks Marketplace mixed-use development is a car wash.
During a brief meeting held Tuesday (Sept. 24), City Council, without dissent, approved a conditional use permit that will allow construction of a Clean Express Auto Wash north of the new Firestone building at Richmond and Wilson Mills roads.
Clean Express is a growing business in the Greater Cleveland area. Company Director of Development Joe Bertucci, who appeared before council, said that there are now 13 Clean Express Auto Wash locations in the area, with two under construction, in Mentor (7796 Munson Road), and in and in Avon.
The Richmond Heights operation will be number 16. It also has locations in Toledo, Detroit and Pittsburgh. All told, it has 95 sites in operation.
With Tuesday’s approval, Bertucci said Clean Express is looking to start construction next spring, and open for business in summer, 2025. The building will measure about 3,700 square feet and feature either two or three lanes for simultaneous car washing.
Clean Express offers memberships at monthly costs ranging from $20 to $40. Members can wash their vehicles as often s they desire, even multiple times on the same day, at no further charge.
Members always have access to a prioritized “member lane.” Customers can opt to join as a member for as little as just one month.
Membership can be used at any Clean Express location.
When asked what makes Clean Express stand out among auto washes, Bertucci said, ”It’s our people that make us special. We offer an experience for our customers that others don’t offer.”
Bertucci described a customer experience at Clean Express as “Disneyesque.”
“When you first enter the site you have a feeling that everything is clean and well-maintained. Our team members, our employees, will welcome you with a wave and a smile. We get to know our customers.
”We’re excited to see families — kids get lollipops, dogs get dog treats. And, we offer 100-percent guaranteed satisfaction for our washes.
“It’s a car wash that has state-of-the-art equipment, the best of the best in the industry. We sweat the details and make sure that every product that goes through is cleaned and the customer is 100-percent satisfied. We’re environmentally friendly and use super-soft foam.”
Clean Express will employ 10-15 people in Richmond Heights. Its locations are open seven days per week.
Auto wash costs for non-members are $7, $12, $18 and $22.
“Another thing we’re proud of is we partner with local nonprofits,” Bertucci said. “Typically we help underprivileged children.
“We really want to help children in the communities we operate, so we partner with hyper-local charities. We’re not talking the city of Cleveland, this is in the cities we operate.”
Clean Express also sells items related to car washing with proceeds going to those local charities. In 2024, the company made $400,000 in total charitable donations.
“This is definitely the community we’ve had our eye on,” Bertucci said of why Richmond Heights was chosen as a new location. “Belle Oaks helped push that along, but with or without (Belle Oaks) we’d be looking at this market.
“It’s great Belle Oaks is being developed. It will be great for the community, but this (Clean Express) will also be a benefit to local customers.”
Read more from the Sun Messenger.
