“Every new site is a promise we make to a community, and we take it seriously because we are the ones standing behind it.” – Chris Salerno, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of QC Capital Group
The AquaShine Announcement
On October 13, 2026, AquaShine Express announced that its 12th location will open on December 4, 2026. The new site joins a portfolio of 11 active express wash locations across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, and it will operate as a stand-alone express wash. The full release is available on GlobeNewswire.
A second site in the same city
Returning to a city a few months after opening there is a deliberate choice. AquaShine Express held a grand opening for its first Winter Haven location on August 14, 2026, and that site was the platform’s first ground-up build. The December opening puts two QC-developed sites in one fast-growing market, so the brand can serve more of the city’s drivers and spread local marketing, staffing, and management across two locations instead of one.
Density also makes a membership more useful. In Auto Laundry News coverage of the first opening, QC Capital said a single AquaShine Express membership will be honored at both Winter Haven sites, and that the second location was planned before the first one opened. A member who can wash near home and near work is more likely to keep paying every month.
Free washes to mark the opening
To celebrate, AquaShine Express will offer free car washes to every customer from November 9 through December 6, 2026. Promotions like this are common for new express washes. They introduce drivers to the tunnel and give the site a chance to convert first visits into unlimited memberships, which is where an express wash earns its recurring revenue.
Hiring ahead of opening day
Hiring for the new site begins before it opens. Chris Stevens, Vice President of Operations for AquaShine Express and Cruz Express Oil, is leading hiring and site readiness. Stevens oversees operations at every AquaShine Express and Cruz Express Oil location, so the Winter Haven team will be trained to the same standard used across the platform.
Why Winter Haven
Winter Haven sits in one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the United States. According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released in 2026, the Lakeland-Winter Haven metro grew from 851,434 residents on July 1, 2024 to 874,790 on July 1, 2025, about 2.7%. That ranked fourth in the nation for percentage population growth among metro areas.
Population growth that keeps compounding
The growth is not a one-year spike. The metro had 725,042 residents at the April 2020 Census base, so it has added roughly 150,000 people in about five years. Polk County, which contains both Lakeland and Winter Haven, is growing fast enough that a University of Florida projection places it above one million residents by 2030 at the high end of its range. Projections carry real uncertainty, but the direction is clear.
More households, more cars
Central Florida growth is car-dependent growth. New residents in Polk County generally drive to work, to school, and to shop, and many commute along the I-4 corridor toward Tampa or Orlando. Each new household adds vehicles that need regular washing, which is the kind of steady, needs-based demand an express wash is built to serve.
Learning from the first site
Operating one site in a market teaches you things a feasibility study cannot: traffic patterns by hour, which membership tiers sell, how weather moves volume, and what the local labor market looks like. “We learned a lot from the first Winter Haven site, and this new location benefits from all of it,” said Chris Stevens. “The team is already being hired and trained, and we’re ready to show this community what a winter full of clean cars looks like.”
| Dimension | First Winter Haven site | Second Winter Haven site |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | Grand opening August 14, 2026 | Scheduled for Friday, December 4, 2026 |
| Address | 4324 Dundee Road, Winter Haven | 6990 Eloise Loop, Winter Haven |
| How it was built | Ground-up development owned and built by QC Capital | Ground-up development owned and built by QC Capital |
| Place in the platform | Brought AquaShine Express to 10 locations | Becomes the brand’s 12th location |
| Format | Express tunnel wash with unlimited memberships | Stand-alone express wash with unlimited memberships |
| Membership | One membership honored at both Winter Haven sites | One membership honored at both Winter Haven sites |
| Opening promotion | Free washes at grand opening | Free washes for every customer, November 9 to December 6 |
How AquaShine Express Grows
AquaShine Express grows only when the site, the team, and the economics line up, and QC Capital says so directly. “We grow when the operations, the team, and the site economics all say the same thing,” said Chris Salerno, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of QC Capital Group. “That’s how AquaShine Express reached twelve, and it is how the next sites will get built.”
Development and acquisition, side by side
AquaShine Express has grown through both acquisitions and new construction. Every location before Winter Haven was bought, rebranded, and brought onto QC Capital’s operating systems; the Winter Haven sites are the first the firm built from the dirt up. Buying an existing wash brings in revenue right away but often requires fixing someone else’s site, equipment, or reputation. Building from the ground up takes longer and carries construction, permitting, and lease-up risk, but it lets the operator choose the site, the tunnel layout, and the stacking lanes from day one. Both Winter Haven sites are developments, so they reflect QC Capital’s own site selection and design. For more on that trade-off, see development vs. acquisition in car washes and flex space.
A shorter-tunnel, membership-first format
AquaShine Express runs a shorter-tunnel express format built around unlimited membership plans, family plans, and fleet programs. Memberships turn occasional washes into a monthly subscription, which makes revenue more predictable and less dependent on any single sunny weekend. Family and fleet plans extend the same model to households with several cars and to local businesses that run vehicles.
Stand-alone wash, shared operating standard
The new location will operate as a stand-alone express wash, without an oil change bay on site. That still connects it to the broader platform. In September 2026, QC Capital launched Cruz Express Oil, its quick-lube brand, with rebranded sites now serving customers in Duluth and Alpharetta, Georgia. Both brands run under the same operations leadership, so a wash in Florida and an oil change shop in Georgia are held to one standard.
What This Means for Investors and Advisors
For accredited investors and the advisors who serve them, the Winter Haven opening is a concrete example of how QC Capital puts its operator-led model to work: pick a growing market, build a site the firm controls, staff it ahead of opening, and expand only when the first location has proved out. QC Capital describes this as investing in the infrastructure of daily life, meaning the ordinary, essential services people use every week.
Growth markets help, but they do not guarantee results
Population growth supports demand, but it also draws competition. Fast-growing Sun Belt markets attracted a wave of new express washes during the 2021 to 2023 building boom, and not every site performed. The questions that matter are site-specific: traffic counts, access, visibility, nearby competitors, and how quickly a location can build a membership base. Advisors should ask any car wash sponsor how it evaluates those factors. QC Capital’s car wash fund due diligence questions for advisors is a useful starting checklist.
Development risk is real
A ground-up site does not earn revenue until it opens, and opening dates depend on construction, permitting, inspections, and financing. The December 4 date is a forward-looking plan and could change. A sponsor’s track record of opening sites on schedule, and how it handles delays, is worth examining before you commit capital.
Fit within a broader portfolio
Car care funds are private, illiquid investments, typically held for several years, and they are available only to accredited investors. Whether one fits depends on your liquidity needs, time horizon, and existing exposure to real assets. The express car wash fund suitability framework walks through how advisors can assess that fit for clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the new AquaShine Express in Winter Haven open?
The 12th AquaShine Express location is scheduled to open on Friday, December 4, 2026, at 6990 Eloise Loop in Winter Haven, Florida.
Is AquaShine Express offering free car washes?
Yes. To celebrate the opening, AquaShine Express will offer free car washes to every customer from November 9 through December 6, 2026. Visit aquashineexpress.com for location details.
How many AquaShine Express locations are there?
AquaShine Express has 11 active locations across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. The Winter Haven opening on December 4, 2026 will make it 12.
Who owns AquaShine Express?
AquaShine Express is owned and operated by QC Capital Group, LLC, a Charlotte, North Carolina based private equity and alternative investment firm founded in 2018. QC Capital also owns and operates Cruz Express Oil, its quick-lube brand.
Why did AquaShine Express choose Winter Haven again?
Part of the reason is growth. The Lakeland-Winter Haven metro ranked fourth in the nation for percentage population growth from 2024 to 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The brand also opened its first Winter Haven site in August 2026 and is applying what it learned there to the second location.
If you are an accredited investor or an advisor evaluating operator-led car care strategies, QC Capital’s team can walk you through how the platform is built and run. Start a conversation with QC Capital. This article is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Any offering is made only to accredited investors through a confidential private placement memorandum. Private investments are speculative and illiquid and involve risk, including possible loss of principal. Statements about development timelines and scheduled openings are forward-looking and may change.
