A new coin-operated Kwiki Car Wash opened on Red Arrow Highway between Coloma and Watervliet in May 1966. The owner and franchisee was Regis Kniebes of Hartford. The self-service car wash was the first one in the state representing the ‘Kwiki’ franchise, according to Kniebes, who said he first saw the equipment in operation in Wisconsin and was “impressed by the excellent job it does.”
All the equipment, building and property were owned by Kniebes, who was a quality control supervisor at the Watervliet Paper Co. The franchise included the building style, the wand-type jet spray, and the wash hose which used 600 pounds of pressure on the spray. The spray included soap and water in a five-minute operation for 25 cents. The car wash was completely self-service. The vacuum cleaner and chamois were also coin operated.
The Behlen steel prefabrication building was sunk into a 16 x 28 foot concrete slab base. The building was 18 feet tall. It remained open at both ends during the summer and was closed in and heated for winter use.
The contractor who built the building was Harry Pagel. Construction costs totaled $8,000. Kniebes had a 52-foot well drilled and had to provide his own water disposal system. The operation was successful enough to prompt him to add a 29 x 20 foot steel stall addition to the Kwiki car wash in 1969 at a cost of $1,500.
In 1981, the Kwiki Car Wash was sold to Paul Arronda who refurbished it and installed new equipment. He sold it to the Turner family who in turn sold it to a South Haven resident. It was then sold on a land contract to an unknown individual. Shortly thereafter, the South Haven resident reacquired the business.
In the mid-1990s, the gentleman from South Haven offered it to the Thomas family who owned Culligan of Berrien and Van Buren County across Red Arrow Highway. The Thomas family updated the facilities with new equipment and awnings. They ran the Kwiki Car Wash through 2004 when vandalism and frozen pipes prompted them to close it permanently. Since 2019, the buildings have been used for parking of vehicles.
Original source can be found here.
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