Flagstop’s location on Ironbridge Road in Chesterfield is one of 19 in the region. (Courtesy Flagstop)
Flagstop Car Wash’s growth streak continues.
The locally based, private equity-backed car wash chain just completed its second acquisition in the past 12 months, this time buying three existing locations from rival chain Green Clean Express Auto Wash.
The newly acquired locations are 8201 Brook Road, 9486 W. Broad St. and 4810 Nine Mile Road. All three are in Henrico County and have been rebranded as Flagstop.
The purchase comes about a year after Flagstop bought Hogwash Express’ lone location at 4205 W. Broad St. Both deals were fueled by the war chest Flagstop took on from private equity investor Garnett Station Partners in December 2022. That investment involved Flagstop President and CEO Jamie Nester selling a majority stake to Garnett Station while staying on to lead the company.
Jamie Nester
Nester said that while Flagstop’s bread-and-butter has been and will continue to be building car washes from scratch, this latest acquisition helps fill out the company’s footprint in the region.
“It fits well with our model being from Richmond and looking to continue to grow and expand and give our attention to the Richmond market,” Nester said. “We weren’t in the East End/Sandston area and the others on Brook and Broad are good in-between sites between our other stores.”
The deal closed Feb. 26 and gives Flagstop 19 locations, all in the Richmond region.
Financial terms of the sale weren’t disclosed. The deal included Flagstop’s purchase of the West Broad and Nine Mile locations and assuming the lease on Brook Road. The transactions for the Nine Mile and West Broad sites had yet to post in Henrico property records online as of Wednesday afternoon.
Nester said last month’s deal keeps Flagstop on pace to achieve its goal of 25 locations in the region by the end of 2025.
“This certainly puts us on that track and we’ll probably exceed that by a couple,” he said.
Nester would not comment on how much revenue Flagstop produces annually. He said the company has 218 employees, 22 of which came on board with the new locations.
That headcount is set to continue to grow. The company has at least six new from-scratch locations in the works.
It’s under construction on car washes at 7600 Harpers Green Way in Chesterfield and 360 Charles Dimmock Parkway in Colonial Heights. It’s in the planning stages for its first outpost in Ashland along Washington Highway and one on Route 1 in South Richmond.
Nester said the company also is under contract to purchase two sites that will take the chain as far out from Richmond proper as it has ventured to date: to New Kent County and Farmville.
Flagstop typically spends around $6 million to build a new car wash.
He said the company’s goal is to continue to focus on the Richmond region while slowly branching out to surrounding areas.
“It’s still Central Virginia and still works for us and still lets us use our marketing dollars more wisely,” Nester said of the New Kent and Farmville locations.
Nester said the company for now wants to maintain a geographical spread that allows him and Flagstop’s regional managers to keep a close watch on the growing roster of locations.
“Right now, even with 19 stores, I can wake up and leave my house at 8 in the morning and visit every single one of my sites and still be home by 5 or 6 in the evening,” he said. “Richmond will always be our home base.”
Looking ahead, Nester said the goal with Garnett Station’s backing is to develop three to five new locations a year for the foreseeable future. He said the majority of those will be built from scratch.
“We would prefer to build new sites because we know the market and we know what we want to do,” he said.
Nester said it typically costs between $5.5 million and $6 million to build a Flagstop location, depending on the cost of land acquisition.
Last month’s sale marks Green Clean’s exit from the Richmond market, since the car washes sold were the only three locations it had in the region. The Hampton Roads-based chain made its first foray into Richmond in 2021.
Green Clean parent company Express Wash Concepts said in an emailed statement on Wednesday, “This divestiture is a key component of EWC’s strategic development plan, aimed at concentrating on markets where unit density can be rapidly achieved through greenfield development.”
EWC operates several car wash brands that total nearly 100 locations. Its nearest locations to Richmond include about a dozen outposts in Hampton Roads and one in Charlottesville.
While Nester didn’t comment on Green Clean’s motivation for leaving the Richmond area, he said he’s confident that Flagstop’s growth to date and in the near future give it an edge over any competitor in the market.
“It would take a lot for a competitor to come into the Richmond market and gain any market share from us,” he said. “It would be really hard for somebody to catch up to us.”
Flagstop’s location on Ironbridge Road in Chesterfield is one of 19 in the region. (Courtesy Flagstop)
Flagstop Car Wash’s growth streak continues.
The locally based, private equity-backed car wash chain just completed its second acquisition in the past 12 months, this time buying three existing locations from rival chain Green Clean Express Auto Wash.
The newly acquired locations are 8201 Brook Road, 9486 W. Broad St. and 4810 Nine Mile Road. All three are in Henrico County and have been rebranded as Flagstop.
The purchase comes about a year after Flagstop bought Hogwash Express’ lone location at 4205 W. Broad St. Both deals were fueled by the war chest Flagstop took on from private equity investor Garnett Station Partners in December 2022. That investment involved Flagstop President and CEO Jamie Nester selling a majority stake to Garnett Station while staying on to lead the company.
Jamie Nester
Nester said that while Flagstop’s bread-and-butter has been and will continue to be building car washes from scratch, this latest acquisition helps fill out the company’s footprint in the region.
“It fits well with our model being from Richmond and looking to continue to grow and expand and give our attention to the Richmond market,” Nester said. “We weren’t in the East End/Sandston area and the others on Brook and Broad are good in-between sites between our other stores.”
The deal closed Feb. 26 and gives Flagstop 19 locations, all in the Richmond region.
Financial terms of the sale weren’t disclosed. The deal included Flagstop’s purchase of the West Broad and Nine Mile locations and assuming the lease on Brook Road. The transactions for the Nine Mile and West Broad sites had yet to post in Henrico property records online as of Wednesday afternoon.
Nester said last month’s deal keeps Flagstop on pace to achieve its goal of 25 locations in the region by the end of 2025.
“This certainly puts us on that track and we’ll probably exceed that by a couple,” he said.
Nester would not comment on how much revenue Flagstop produces annually. He said the company has 218 employees, 22 of which came on board with the new locations.
That headcount is set to continue to grow. The company has at least six new from-scratch locations in the works.
It’s under construction on car washes at 7600 Harpers Green Way in Chesterfield and 360 Charles Dimmock Parkway in Colonial Heights. It’s in the planning stages for its first outpost in Ashland along Washington Highway and one on Route 1 in South Richmond.
Nester said the company also is under contract to purchase two sites that will take the chain as far out from Richmond proper as it has ventured to date: to New Kent County and Farmville.
Flagstop typically spends around $6 million to build a new car wash.
He said the company’s goal is to continue to focus on the Richmond region while slowly branching out to surrounding areas.
“It’s still Central Virginia and still works for us and still lets us use our marketing dollars more wisely,” Nester said of the New Kent and Farmville locations.
Nester said the company for now wants to maintain a geographical spread that allows him and Flagstop’s regional managers to keep a close watch on the growing roster of locations.
“Right now, even with 19 stores, I can wake up and leave my house at 8 in the morning and visit every single one of my sites and still be home by 5 or 6 in the evening,” he said. “Richmond will always be our home base.”
Looking ahead, Nester said the goal with Garnett Station’s backing is to develop three to five new locations a year for the foreseeable future. He said the majority of those will be built from scratch.
“We would prefer to build new sites because we know the market and we know what we want to do,” he said.
Nester said it typically costs between $5.5 million and $6 million to build a Flagstop location, depending on the cost of land acquisition.
Last month’s sale marks Green Clean’s exit from the Richmond market, since the car washes sold were the only three locations it had in the region. The Hampton Roads-based chain made its first foray into Richmond in 2021.
Green Clean parent company Express Wash Concepts said in an emailed statement on Wednesday, “This divestiture is a key component of EWC’s strategic development plan, aimed at concentrating on markets where unit density can be rapidly achieved through greenfield development.”
EWC operates several car wash brands that total nearly 100 locations. Its nearest locations to Richmond include about a dozen outposts in Hampton Roads and one in Charlottesville.
While Nester didn’t comment on Green Clean’s motivation for leaving the Richmond area, he said he’s confident that Flagstop’s growth to date and in the near future give it an edge over any competitor in the market.
“It would take a lot for a competitor to come into the Richmond market and gain any market share from us,” he said. “It would be really hard for somebody to catch up to us.”
I love Flagstop Car Wash. I pay a once-a-year fee and get their top-of-the-line wash whenever I want it! This acquisition puts me even closer than the one near my house.
Good for Flagstop, but I wish Car Pool could keep up. Put me in the minority of folks who would prefer that they clean the inside of my car as well.