BENNINGTON — A spokesman for Hoffman Car Wash confirmed Wednesday that the growing company hopes to expand into Bennington.
Kevin Zalazik, director of marketing for the the Albany, N.Y., area-based firm, said a site is being considered for a car wash but a purchase hasn’t been completed. Because of that, he declined to identify the location at this time.
Speculation on social media, however, has focused on the Bennington Lanes bowling facility on 2.82 acres at 219 Northside Drive, which has been on the market for several years. The property has been offered for $750,000.
Adjacent to the parcel and for sale is a .43-acre site with a dairy bar business that also has been for sale. That property is listed for $495,000.
The owners of the Bennington Lanes property could not be reached Thursday for comment on possible sale negotiations.
GROWING BUSINESS
Zalaznik said Hoffman Car Wash is a family owned business that began in 1965 and now has 23 car wash sites in the Capital District area and in the Binghamton and Utica-Rome areas of New York.
The company also develops, manufactures and distributes equipment for car washes around the U.S. and in other countries.
The proposed Bennington car wash would be the firm’s first in Vermont, Zalaznik said.
He added that, once the company has its permits to construct a new car wash, it normally takes about nine months from the groundbreaking to opening of the facility.
At this point, he said, no permits have been sought from the town because no site purchase has been completed.
EXPANSION MODE
In an interview this month with the Albany Business Review, company owner Tom Hoffman Jr. said Hoffman Car Wash plans to open at least two locations in 2023 and start construction on three more.
He also said the company is looking at sites outside of New York, including in Bennington.