New ownership of Royal Car Wash looks to make improvements to existing business
Royal Car Wash receives First Dollar Visit ... Royal Car Wash, located at 501 Rossville Road and now under the new ownership of Kyle Bugenhagen of Luana, recently received a First Dollar visit from the Waukon Chamber of Commerce. Pictured above at the First Dollar presentation are, left to right, Royal Car Wash owner Kyle Bugenhagen and Waukon Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Stephanie Dugan. Submitted photo.
Royal Car Wash, located at 501 Rossville Road in Waukon, is under new ownership as of the end of August. Kyle Bugenhagen of Luana took over ownership of the 24-hour car wash, noting that he would like to make some changes to the business, which first opened in 2008 and is scheduled for a grand opening under new ownership this Saturday, September 22 (see advertisement below on this same page for additional details).
“I would like to make a lot of changes based on customer reviews,” Bugenhagen said. “Better soap, wands, hotter water, etc. These will be done before our open house. Hopefully by spring, we would like to add a dryer to the automatic bay and a credit card reader to the manual bays.”
Bugenhagen was raised in Waukon before moving to Luana in 1994 and graduating from MFL/MarMac High School in Monona in 1998. He said one of the highlights of operating his own business is getting to meet new people, and he also likes the idea of being his own boss and helping others out as well.
“I liked the idea of setting my own hours and working at my own pace,” he shared. “I always wanted to be able to employ a few people so I could help out the community by creating jobs.”
However, Bugenhagen has also found that business ownership can bring a whole different set of responsibilities with it. “I always thought owning my own business would be easy and I would have more time for family,” he said. “Instead, I find myself working 12 hour days, sometimes seven days a week.”
Whatever the amount of time spent, Bugenhagen ultimately wants to make sure his customers are well taken care of. “I want to have good communication with the customers to better their experience at the car wash,” he said.
Another facet of improving upon the current business is the fact that there will be a greater amount of on-site oversight of the car wash. “Curtis Handyman Service will be occupying the office/shop section of the car wash to keep everything up and running,” Bugenhagen explained.
