Since launching in 2018, Spark Car Wash has posted remarkable growth with its own take on modernizing and elevating the car wash experience. Founder and CEO Kyle Van Decker, a New Jersey native, was working in banking providing loans to businesses and became interested in starting one of his own. Around that time, he was introduced to the concept called express exterior, which Van Decker described as a modern take on the car wash.

It was in the summer of 2017 when Van Decker got interested in bringing the idea to fruition – which he launched the next summer.

NJBIZ recently caught up with Van Decker to discuss the start of the Summit-based business, the features, recent milestones, plans for expansion and more.

To date, Spark has opened five locations in New Jersey – Sicklerville, Woodland Park, Woodbridge, Mount Holly, Ledgewood – with three more facilities under construction (including the first in Pennsylvania and New York) and a handful additional approvals throughout the region. “And we have a pipeline of over 30 additional stores that we are working on – that’s all of New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Hudson Valley and Long Island,” Van Decker told NJBIZ.

For those who have not visited a Spark location, Van Decker described the premise.

“It’s highly automated – a large investment into the equipment, into the look and feel of the site,” he explained. “An elevated experience, overall, that I knew that this region didn’t really have. It was growing in other parts of the country – and we really didn’t have a similar offering in our area, in all of New Jersey, or really Pennsylvania or New York either. So, that’s what got me interested in it.”

The goal he says is to make it a customer experience that is enjoyable, efficient, and something that is viewed as a pleasurable task for someone to do.

“What we try to do, first of all, is co-locate with grocery stores or other convenient shopping centers – so that people are continually in the area of our location,” said Van Decker.  “Our sites are large so they can process a lot of vehicles. We have multiple lanes that you can pull into – and those have pay stations. And there are specific lanes for members. So, 65% to 70% of our customers are members – and they have their own lane so when they pull up, we have license plate recognition, and the gate automatically opens up like an EZ-Pass. So that is a very efficient process for our members. They can be in-and-out in three-to-five minutes – without ever having to roll down their window or talk to somebody. That is a very large convenience factor for somebody who is running their daily errands.”

In addition, Van Decker said customers will be greeted by a smiling, uniformed employee near the pay station and tunnel who is engaged and trying to ensure a great customer experience.

“As they enter into the tunnel, they’ll see probably more equipment than they’re used to seeing – lots of soap, lots of colors and scents, and this bright, airy feel as well with the windows,” Van Decker explained. “And that is a process that is around two minutes max. On the other end of that, you have what we call ‘The Spark Park,’ which is a lot of self-serve materials that are free – that our customers really enjoy. We have free vacuums always running – and not like those old cannister style vacuums. They’re centralized vacuum systems that have these booms on them, so they come from over the top. They have different applicators, like a claw tool which is wider, and a crevice tool, which is thinner.”

He also noted that there are free mat cleaners, free glass cleaner with microfiber towels, compressed air and more.

“So, there’s a lot of services that make cleaning out the car an enjoyable experience for yourself – to make it easy,” said Van Decker. “But you get the efficiency of the express exterior model. The efficiency of – I’m staying in my car. I can be in and out in three to five minutes, relatively inexpensive. But if I want, I can go to this area with all these amenities that make it a nice experience to enjoy cleaning out the car. It’s a great activity with kids.”

The membership tiers start at around $24 and currently go up to around $37 per month, which Van Decker says works out to about one-and-a-half to two times the standard rates for an individual wash.

The customer response has been positive, according to the Spark founder. “We feel really blessed to be able to offer the product to the local communities in which we operate,” he said. “A lot of times wanting to know more about who we are, what we’re looking to do.”

He explained that it represents the great work being done onsite by the team, alongside the product, focused on engaging the customer base. “And I think people feel that. But also outside of the site, we really focus on engaging with the local community – representing sports teams, engaging with local charities, going to the events and community days in individual towns,” said Van Decker. “And really embedding ourselves – being a responsible citizen of the community. But also, just being a local small business that’s engaged in things, helps out, and makes ourselves available. And we are that. We are based in New Jersey. We are looking to grow throughout the state and the region. But really, one of the most enjoyable aspects for all of us is engaging at the local level.”

Van Decker stressed how great it has been growing this business in the Garden State. “I grew up here. I live here. I know the markets very well,” he said – noting how Spark has worked with each of the municipalities it operates in to develop facilities responsibly within the town’s vision and rules.

“We engage very, very deeply with the town very early in the processes and all throughout – to make sure that everybody is going to be excited with the way in which we come to town,” he said. “That’s a process that we welcome because we believe very firmly in taking a holistic approach to joining a community. All-in, that could be up to a three-year process from when we identify a store to when we open it. That’s a long period of time. That’s a lot of upfront work with the towns and between Spark, our engineers, our architects, and all of us to make sure it’s the right fit.”

That work, engagement and dialogue, Van Decker believes, leads to a nice opening. “We’ve never not had a great opening in the state. The town officials have come out to every single launch,” said Van Decker. “We still try to earn it every day. But we’ve had great feedback from all of the town officials – for all of the stores that we’ve opened to date. That has been really rewarding to see – as well.”

The road ahead

In November, Spark raised $30 million as part of a Series B round led by GoPoint Ventures, which will help fuel the company’s growth plans. “The majority of that capital is being spent on building new car washes,” Van Decker said. “But it really is being invested across the business – ensuring that we have the right capabilities for the team; ensuring that we are able to invest from a brand perspective, a technology perspective; and have all of the resources at the corporate level to really support the teams on the site. Because that’s what we are all here for. It takes a lot to operate a business in support of the ops function – and that includes human resources and includes all of the corporate functions that you need to make sure everybody on site can do the best that they can.

“So, there’s a portion of that investment that will go to just the overall institutionalization and development of the company,” Van Decker added, who estimated Spark has a total team of about 75 employees – noting that the number can fluctuate depending on the amount of staff at the stores.

When asked whether there are any plans for franchising, Van Decker affirmed the organization’s current model. “I think we will remain being a company-owned store concept,” he said. “I don’t see franchising being a fit for us. At this point, all under the corporate umbrella.”

Beyond expansion and some of the other items, Van Decker discussed focus areas in the months and year ahead. “For us, just to reiterate, it starts every day with the stores on the local level – delivering for our customers, delivering for our employees,” he stressed. “As long as we are doing that, we feel confident. That is who we are and that is what we do – first and foremost. When you think about longer term – for us, we’re really committed to the region. We want to be the leading car wash company in the New Jersey, Philly Metro, New York Metro areas – with New Jersey being the primary corridor of that.”

He said it is about thinking long term. “We are very selective on our real estate. We are very selective about the people we bring on to the team,” Van Decker explained. “We are very selective in the way we’re building out the company – the way we are building out the brand. But it’s very, very targeted to the region. For us, focusing on the region and becoming a leading player in the region – in a durable manner – is the most important thing to us.”