Longtime employees purchase Car Pool Car Wash chain

The Car Pool location on West Broad Street. (BizSense file photo)

A pair of seasoned employees are getting behind the wheel of a longtime locally owned car wash chain.

Car Pool Car Wash and its five locations in the region were purchased last month by the company’s longtime COO Tyree Brown and CFO Mark Harrison.

The business has operated in the Richmond area for 47 years and has around 200 employees across its locations in Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield counties. It offers both exterior and interior cleaning, something of an anomaly in Richmond, where many car washes do automated exterior cleaning only.

Tyree Brown

Harrison and Brown, who have been with Car Pool for 10 and 37 years respectively, told BizSense that they were approached by the chain’s previous owner, local venture capital and private equity firm Virginia Capital Partners, to buy the business. Virginia Capital had owned Car Pool since 2003.

Financial terms of the sale weren’t disclosed.

Harrison said Virginia Capital felt it was the right time to sell the business. Representatives with Virginia Capital could not be reached for comment.

“Tyree and I would have dreamt of having it, but it becoming a reality was a good thing,” Harrison said.

Brown added that they “eagerly seized the opportunity” and were comfortable buying the business because of their familiarity with the staff and customer base.

The car wash industry in Richmond has become a focus for private equity investment in recent years. Locally based chain Flagstop Car Wash has grown with the support of investor Garnett Station Partners, to which Flagstop CEO Jamie Nester sold a majority stake in December of 2022, while Nester has stayed on to lead the company.

With their purchase of Car Pool, Harrison and Brown are bucking the private equity trend.

“It may not be obvious, but we are certainly not (a private equity group),” Brown said.

The pair said they are excited to keep Car Pool’s ownership local. Harrison said he’s noticed appreciation from customers that the car wash chain has remained in local hands over its almost 50 years in business.

“I think Richmonders are very loyal to Richmond brands,” he said.

The car wash chain has five area locations.

Now at the helm, Harrison and Brown have some ideas for Car Pool’s future. One of those includes a return to commercial customer accounts, and to the menu that Car Pool had before COVID-19 that includes three lower-priced, exterior-only washes starting at about $13.

Within the next 30 days, the new owners also plan to reintroduce the business’s previous rewards program, which will feature free birthday washes, tiered discounts based on wash frequency and member-only digital promotions.

Car Pool will also be introducing an app in the next five to six months that customers can use to track washes.

As Car Pool enters a new chapter, the two new owners are optimistic about the future of the longtime Richmond establishment.

“I am excited about reaching out in a grassroots-type way and re-engaging the community with Car Pool,” Brown said.

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