Joanne Williams
Editor
(Joanne Williams/TCJ: What a birthday present for Justin Keiffer’s wife, Stephanie – a car wash in Bellevue, where a refresh continues, with an emphasis on customer service.)
Most women like to be surprised by their birthday presents.
To say that Stephanie Keiffer was might be an understatement.
Her husband, Justin, bought her a car wash.
Hence, Steph’s Buff and Wash, and new owners (since January) of the Bellevue Car Wash, at the corner of Capital Avenue and East Street.
The couple are from Nashville by way of Carson City. Stephanie is a teacher at Maple Valley Elementary School. Justin is an engineer by trade and also serves on the Maple Valley School Board. The couple have four teenagers and a foster child.
“I never thought I would be doing this,” Justin said. He had just invested in a machine shop in Marshall.
Before he signed the car wash papers, he checked with friends on the viability of a car wash business. The former owners had bought it 25 years ago. He checked with a friend in the business in Delton, surveyed the area for traffic and location, and went with it. So did Stephanie.
Now, the two have been repairing, upgrading, adding and upgrading the four bays – two self-wash bays, one automatic, and one outside for larger, taller vehicles.
A big improvement has been the installation of credit card payments, though the quarter change machine still gets a lot of use. Also, the spotless water is once again spotless, there is salt in the softener, there are new soaps, and clean nozzles.
There are still bugs to be worked out, and a refresh, including the name. All will be completed and celebrated later this summer.
For now, Justin is emphasizing customer service. Comments on the business’s Facebook page are personally addressed. If someone has a problem while he is on premises, he fixes it and is likely to hand out a free car wash.
The car wash is open 24/7, with in-bay and outdoor lighting, vacuum, and a shampoo station for mats and such, now undergoing a refresh.
Justin has been happy be able to find parts at the local hardware store, and plenty of space in the building’s utility room to tinker.
“I’m learning the trouble-shooting of a car wash,” he says with a smile, noticing litter to pick up and a project to continue.
