Sota Shine opens 300-foot tunnel it calls world's longest in Brooklyn Park
The Minnesota operator's newest site pairs a record-length tunnel with the Twin Cities' first all-indoor vacuum area across roughly 35,000 square feet.
By The Car Wash News Staff
3 min read
Minnesota-based Sota Shine has opened a new location it says features the world's longest carwash tunnel, measuring more than 300 feet at the intersection of Highway 169 and 109th Ave. N in Brooklyn Park. According to reporting from Professional Carwashing & Detailing, the site, named Sota Shine One-Six-Nine, surpasses the previous record of 255 feet held by a Buc-ee's location in Katy, Texas.
The tunnel length is more than double the national average of 120 feet. The overall facility spans nearly 35,000 square feet, which founder Nick Netley described as roughly five times the size of an average carwash. The opening continues a steady expansion for the company, which launched its first location in Waconia in 2022 and later added a Maple Grove site that combined a carwash with a self-serve dog wash under the Sota Pup brand.
An indoor approach built for Minnesota weather
Beyond the record tunnel, the Brooklyn Park location introduces what the company calls the Twin Cities' first all-indoor vacuum area. The space includes 32 vacuum bays, detailing carts and floor mat cleaning stations, all enclosed so customers can clean their vehicles regardless of conditions outside.
Netley framed the indoor design as the site's central innovation, pointing to the ability for customers to wash and clean their cars indoors no matter the Minnesota weather. The emphasis reflects a regional challenge: cold, snow and road salt drive demand for washing but also make outdoor vacuuming and detailing uncomfortable during long winters.
Project partners
The project was financed by local lender EntreBank. Frana Companies served as general contractor for both the Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove sites, working through pre-construction and design phases. The company credited Frana with helping hold budgets while delivering the finished facility.
Why it matters for operators
The headline here is a marketing milestone, but the underlying strategy is worth a closer look. A 300-foot tunnel and a 35,000-square-foot footprint represent a large capital commitment, and the record claim gives Sota Shine a distinct talking point in a crowded Twin Cities market. For operators weighing differentiation, a superlative that generates local and trade coverage can function as earned media that smaller marketing budgets cannot easily buy.
The more replicable lesson may be the all-indoor vacuum area. In cold-weather markets, outdoor vacuum stations sit unused or create a poor customer experience for months at a time. Enclosing vacuums, detailing carts and mat cleaners extends usable amenity hours year round and can support membership value during the seasons when competitors' lots feel least inviting. That design choice carries real construction and heating costs, so operators should weigh it against expected throughput and local climate.
Also notable is the multi-brand model. Pairing the wash with Sota Pup at the Maple Grove site shows how a single footprint can host complementary services that increase visit frequency and share overhead. Operators exploring ancillary revenue, whether dog washing or detailing, can study how Sota Shine integrates those offerings without diluting the core wash experience. Finally, the named financing and general contractor relationships underscore the value of consistent local partners when scaling a regional chain across multiple ground-up builds.
