Four Seasons car wash in Sterling sold, opening soon under new ownership

STERLING – A rapidly growing Midwest car wash company bought the closed Four Seasons Power Wash on 35th Avenue, next door to Aldi at 3409 E. Lincolnway.

Club Car Wash, based in Columbia, Missouri, paid $3.5 million for the car wash Oct. 2, Whiteside County property records show.

Depending on the weather, the car wash is set to open late this year or early 2024, Kendell Palmquist, director of marketing, said in an email Wednesday.

Hiring will begin in November; those interested can apply at www.clubcarwash.com/careers. Palmquist said.

According to its website, www.clubcarwash.com, Club Car Wash has more than 130 locations in 10 states across the central U.S., from Michigan to Texas, and is about to expand into Colorado. There are 11 locations in seven Illinois cities: Springfield, Peoria, Decatur, Bloomington, Collinsville, Jacksonville and O’Fallon.

The company was founded in 2006 as Tiger Express Wash in Columbia, and is among the “largest and fastest-growing express car wash companies in the central United States,” according to the website.

It offers a variety of car wash options, each of which includes free towel and vacuum use. Customers can buy individual washes or a monthly membership.

The car wash will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

The company also supports Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, with MVP washes reduced to $10 on Tuesdays, with a dollar from each wash donated to the hospitals, according to the website.

Four Seasons closed more than a year ago, and the company no longer is in business.

Larry McCormick sold the vacant land to Four Seasons Power Wash Real Estate LLC on July 23, 2018, for $255,000

Four Seasons built the high-tech tunnel car wash and opened March 8, 2019, at 2410 35th Ave., in the lot on Aldi’s east side.

The wash could accommodate up to 100 cars an hour, and customers could stay in their vehicles during the wash-and-dry process, during which they were shown a series of water sprays lighted in neon colors, soap sprays that sprinkled rainbow-colored solutions and large brush and sponge apparatuses.

Because the building is completely enclosed, it was open year-round. It was the company’s first site, and part of its business model was to sell subscriptions to the service, such as Club Car Wash, and also to give a portion of its sales to local charities.

The business was hit hard by COVID-19, and was plagued by customer complaints and periodic closures.