Sud’s Factory, a car wash at 7885 Oxford Ave., officially opened on Saturday morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a donation to a school.
Car washes were free for a period of time after the Oct. 2 soft opening, though customers were invited to make a donation to St. Hubert cheerleaders. Co-owners K.C. Fordham and Chris Caporale kicked in some money and on Saturday donated $1,500 to a cheerleading program that is among the best in the nation.
Sud’s is open seven days a week, and Fordham and Caporale are hoping the Oxford Avenue site is as successful as their one at 7930 Roosevelt Blvd. They are confident because that portion of Oxford is heavily traveled due, in part, to the Wawa and McDonald’s.
The new site was a longtime Amoco and BP gas station and Gentle Touch car wash. Ed Smith worked there 40 years and now works for Sud’s.
While the Boulevard tunnel is 135 feet long, the one on Oxford is 93 feet. Customers enter at Hasbrook Avenue and get a free vacuum before going through the car wash. They put their cars in neutral, and the vehicles are clean and dry before they turn back onto Oxford Avenue (right turns only).
There are three pay lanes – including a members-only lane – and attendants are on site to accept cash or credit payments and direct drivers to the tunnel. Right now, motorists can pay $9.99 for an unlimited number of washes in the next month.
Fordham thanked Sud’s investors and Linda Gaynor, an aide to City Councilman Brian O’Neill, for her support. ••
