The owners of the Pittsfield Township Zippy Auto Wash broke ground for construction of their new location in Scio Township two weeks ago.

The owners of Zippy Auto Wash just broke ground at their new location located at 177 S. Zeeb Road.

Katrease Stafford | For AnnArbor.com

Corey and his wife, Michelle, opened their first Zippy location in December 2007 at 233 W. Ellsworth in Pittsfield Township.

Weaver said he is hopeful the new 5,000-square-foot site, which is located at 177 S. Zeeb Road, will be ready to open by October or November at the latest. The facility will be located next to a Burger King and directly across the street from Meijer, he said.

“ If all goes well and the weather is cooperative, we should be washing cars by that time frame,” he said.

Weaver said he reached a purchase agreement for the one and a half acre site last summer and immediately began working with the Scio Township Planning Commission through the fall and winter to obtain site plan approval.

“Just in recent weeks we were able to get our construction products and start the construction process,” he said. “It was about a year from the time we were able to start discussing sales agreements until we actually started construction.”

Weaver said he decided to open another car wash because his first venture proved to be successful. Another reason? His customers asked him to.

“We had a lot of requests from customers who live on the west side of town,” Weaver said. “ The idea is to make it another option for people on that side.”

In addition to the location and proximity of the site to I-94, the commercial and residential growth on the west side of Ann Arbor was attractive to Weaver.

“It seemed like a natural choice for our second location,” he said. “With any type of automotive business, whether it be McDonalds or a car wash, you want to have good access to traffic. It’s very convenient for customers to enter and exit from businesses along Zeeb. It’s literally only one minute south of I-94.”

Weaver said when completed, the building will look a bit different from the Ellsworth location.

“We sit in what’s called the Jackson Overlay District which has enhanced aesthetics to the buildings, so we have to make certain changes so it fits in with the rest of the buildings in the district,” he said. “The buildings are very tastefully finished. “

Zippy has 10 employees and Weaver plans to double that number closer to the time of the grand opening. He will be looking for attendants, assistant managers and site managers.

“The goal is to have 20 to 25 employees supporting both sites,” he said.

While some might believe the car wash business thrives predominately during the summer, Weaver said it’s a lucrative business year-round.

“It’s actually less seasonal than most people might expect,” he said. “We wash a consistent number of cars month to month. In the winter, people are washing off salt and in the summer, people are washing off mud, so it's always an endless supply of dirty cars out there.”

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