After almost 30 years of business and locations in two states, Rainforest Carwash & Oil Change has opened its 10th site in Petal.
The car wash, which is located at 1116 Evelyn Gandy Parkway next to Zaxby’s, held a soft opening on June 27 and an official grand opening on July 1.
“Our customer base that kept traveling to Hattiesburg, they kept asking us to go to Petal,” said Andrew Wright, operations support manager. “So we looked at it, we found a place and we built it. We built for the convenience of our customers; we’re here to serve.”
The Petal location is open from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday.
Services at that location, which is known as an “exterior express wash,” offers several different wash options ranging from $6 to $21.
There is also an oil change bay on site, and customers are able to utilize free vacuum stations after going through the wash.
“It just kind of depends on what level of wash you want and how long you want it to stay clean,” Wright said. “The better wash you get, the longer it’s going to stay clean.
“The basic wash will actually clean your vehicle just as well as any of the other ones; the other ones will just help it stay clean longer. The ‘everything’ wash has the Rain-X in it, which is my favorite feature, and that’s what makes the water bead up on your car windshield.”
There’s also the Fast Pass option, which is a monthly subscription that ranges from $19.95 for the basic wash all the way up to $49.95 for the everything wash with the hot wax option.
So far, the reception at the new location has been positive.
“The number one compliment that we’re getting right now is, ‘I’m so glad you’re here,’” Wright said. “So we’re glad that everybody is here and enjoying it with us.
“We’re always ecstatic to do what our customers want of us, and to help them with that whenever we can. In fact, we try to get involved with community – specifically local communities where we are. We have a fundraiser program that we do, which is available on our website.”
The first Rainforest Carwash location opened in 1993 in Covington, Louisiana.
Although that location was closed, the company still operates four locations in Hattiesburg, the new one in Petal, one in Magee, two in Laurel and two in Slidell, Louisiana.
“Me personally, I’ve been with this company for more than 8 years now,” Wright said. “I’ve seen it grow, not just by building washes, but in our employee growth.
“We’ve had employees leave us and go to bigger, better jobs and do great things. We actually had a past employee who is now the mayor of Moss Point. So we’re all about growing ourselves and our employees.”
