Tommy's Express adds La Vista, Nebraska site with 10 days of free washes
The franchise brand is opening at 10779 Hillcrest Plz and offering free washes from August 7 through August 16 to introduce the location.
By The Car Wash News Staff
3 min read
Tommy's Express has opened a new location in La Vista, Nebraska, at 10779 Hillcrest Plz, and is marking the debut with a 10-day free wash promotion running Friday, August 7, through Sunday, August 16. According to reporting from the International Carwash Association, the free period is designed to introduce the site to the surrounding community.
The location carries the brand's standard building design and equipment package, including large bay windows that let customers watch vehicles move through the tunnel. The wash runs on a dual-belt conveyor built to handle a range of vehicle types, and the company says a full wash takes under three minutes from start to finish.
What the site offers
Beyond the tunnel, the location includes free self-serve interior vacuum stations and mat washers. Customers can sign up for the TommyClub Unlimited Wash Membership through the brand's mobile app, which uses license plate recognition to allow automatic entry for members. The membership program is structured around four wash packages positioned at different price points.
Tommy's Express operates as a national franchise built on the 57-year history of Quality Car Wash, founded by Jacob, Sonny, and Tom Essenburg in 1969. The building and equipment trace back to Tommy Car Wash Systems and are manufactured in West Michigan. The company provides franchisees with training, marketing, technical support, and access to proprietary wash products and technology. Entrepreneur Magazine has ranked the brand first in the car wash category on its Franchise 500 list and included it among fastest-growing franchises.
Why it matters for operators
The La Vista opening is another data point in the continued expansion of express tunnel franchises into secondary and suburban markets, and it underscores tactics that independent operators face as national brands move in nearby. The extended free wash window, running a full 10 days rather than a single grand opening weekend, is a customer acquisition play. It gives the location repeated chances to convert first-time visitors into TommyClub members before charging for a wash.
Operators competing against a new express entrant should note the emphasis on membership capture from day one. License plate recognition, app-based signup, and tiered package pricing are all aimed at locking in recurring revenue during the honeymoon period when curiosity traffic is highest. A rival wash that lets those visitors drift away without a counteroffer risks ceding the recurring-revenue base in its trade area.
The free-wash launch also raises the local bar on speed and amenities. A sub-three-minute wash, free vacuums, and mat washers are now table stakes in many markets, and independents nearby may need to sharpen their own throughput, self-serve offerings, and membership incentives to hold share. Watching how a new franchise opens, from the length of its promotion to the structure of its membership tiers, can help operators anticipate the competitive pressure and plan a response before traffic patterns shift.
