Ollie Wash is expanding again, with owner Levi Reames confirming plans to build a fourth location in Gateway Commons off KY 54 on Hayden Road.
Reames said the project is expected to open in approximately 10 months to a year. The new location comes after Reames briefly put the project on hold because of higher interest rates and economic uncertainty.
“We kind of tabled it for a while because of interest rates and not knowing what was going on,” Reames said. “Then I got word that other car washes were looking at the area, so I figured it was time to pull the trigger.”
Reames said Gateway Commons has become one of the county’s fastest-growing commercial corridors, with Publix under construction, Kroger planned nearby, new apartments, and continued residential growth driving traffic to the east side of Owensboro.
“The demand and traffic are just going to increase tremendously in that area,” he said. “It just makes sense for us to add another one.”
The Gateway Commons location will join Ollie Wash locations in Owensboro, Henderson, and Newburgh, Indiana. Reames opened the original Owensboro wash in 2018 after spending several years traveling the country studying car wash designs and technologies before creating his own concept.
That original location introduced several features uncommon in the local market, including a glass tunnel that allows customers to see throughout the wash process, a transparent roof to create a brighter experience, a staffed drive-up window alongside self-service kiosks, and colorful LED “lava flow” soap displays designed to make the experience enjoyable for families.
Reames said the company’s focus has always been producing a cleaner vehicle rather than simply moving cars through as quickly as possible.
“We build larger washes,” he said. “That gives us more scrubbing action, more soap dwell time, and more drying time. We also run a little slower through the tunnel, so customers end up with a cleaner car.”
He said Ollie Wash also invests in higher-end cleaning chemicals and wash materials designed to be effective while remaining safe for vehicle finishes.
Reames said the business continues to rely heavily on unlimited monthly membership plans, which he compared to a gym membership. Customers who wash their vehicles multiple times each month typically save money compared to purchasing individual washes, he said.
While the new east-side location may shift some existing customers from Ollie Wash’s Frederica Street site, Reames believes the continued population growth around Gateway Commons will more than offset that change.
“As far as new rooftops going up in Daviess County, east Daviess County is growing faster than anywhere else,” he said. “That tells you where people want to be and where things are headed.”
Reames also credited his employees for making continued expansion possible.
“I probably wouldn’t be expanding if I didn’t have such a good leadership team,” he said. “Those guys are truly the bread and butter of this company.”
