Wednesday, 7 October 2026
US automated car wash operator Tommy’s Express is preparing to enter Poland and is looking for franchise partners and property investors capable of developing a network of locations across the country. The company is targeting operators with the capital and management capacity to establish several sites rather than concentrating on a single facility.
Tommy’s Express operates close to 300 locations and has more than five decades of experience in the car wash industry. Its Polish expansion is being supported by the Commercial Section of the US Embassy in Warsaw. The company has not yet disclosed its first Polish locations or a timetable for opening them.
The proposed expansion also creates a property development opportunity. Tommy’s is considering sites of approximately 1,500 to 2,700 sqm and is open to build-to-suit arrangements under which a developer or real estate investor acquires the land, constructs the facility and leases it to the franchise operator. This could make roadside and urban sites with strong vehicle traffic particularly relevant to the company’s search.
Several facility formats are being considered. The smallest is intended for more constrained urban locations and uses an approximately 18-metre automated washing tunnel on a site of around 2,000 sqm. The company estimates that this format can be constructed in approximately 130 days and requires limited staffing because much of the operation is automated. Larger concepts are also available, including facilities combining exterior washing with additional vehicle-cleaning services.
Tommy’s sees Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Katowice as its principal initial markets. Based on its own analysis, the company estimates that the six metropolitan areas could eventually accommodate between 70 and 168 locations. The figure represents an assessment of market capacity rather than an announced development pipeline, and no franchise agreements for that number of facilities have been disclosed.
The operator’s business model combines high-throughput automated washing with digital customer management and recurring subscriptions. In the US, subscriptions account for around 70% of revenue, according to the company. Registered customers can use automated vehicle identification to access facilities, while the tunnel format is designed to process vehicles considerably faster than conventional manual or self-service alternatives.
For prospective Polish investors, Tommy’s is presenting a model based on both operating franchises and property partnerships. US financial disclosures cited by the company show that locations in the highest-performing quartile generated average annual revenue of USD 2.75 million with an EBITDAR margin of around 45%. These figures relate to established US operations, however, and should not be considered forecasts for Polish facilities, where land, construction, labour and operating economics will differ.
The Polish launch would represent an attempt to introduce a large-scale, subscription-based car wash network into a market dominated by other washing formats and fragmented operators. The immediate test will be whether Tommy’s can secure multi-site franchisees and suitable development locations in Poland’s largest metropolitan areas before translating its proposed network into a confirmed investment programme.
