CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QC Capital Group, LLC today announced continued expansion of its AquaShine Express car wash platform, and makes the case that the discipline separating winners from casualties in the current market has almost nothing to do with how fast an operator grows.
The firm closed on a new site in Alpharetta, Georgia on July 10, 2026. Its first ground-up development location, AquaShine Express Winter Haven, held its grand opening on August 14, 2026 in Winter Haven, Florida and is now open to the public. Two additional development sites are under contract, and a second Winter Haven location is under construction with an opening anticipated in the winter of 2026. AquaShine Express currently operates ten locations across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
The sector has changed. The scoreboard changed with it.
Between 2021 and 2023, express car wash development was a land grab. Capital was cheap, multiples were high, and unit count was the metric that mattered. Operators competed to sign sites rather than to underwrite them.
That period has ended. Transaction multiples have compressed from their peak toward roughly eight times earnings. A large national operator filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2025. New development has slowed and competition for sites has become more rational. Industry observers now describe the market as a reset rather than a retreat, because the underlying business held up even as the capital markets around it did not: express tunnel EBITDA margins remain in the range of 30% to 45%, and subscription membership revenue continues to grow at more than 12% annually.
"The fundamentals never broke. What broke was the assumption that any site would work if you built fast enough," said Chris Salerno, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of QC Capital Group. "A tunnel on a mediocre corner was a bad asset in 2022 too. Cheap capital just meant nobody had to find out for a few years."
Three disciplines QC Capital does not relax
Site selection over site volume. QC Capital underwrites traffic counts, ingress and egress, visibility from the primary corridor, competitive density within the trade radius, and rooftop counts before it underwrites returns. Sites that do not clear those thresholds are passed on regardless of how attractive the price looks. The firm closed on one site in July, not five.
Format discipline. AquaShine Express is built around a shorter express tunnel. That single design decision compounds: it lowers construction cost, shortens the development timeline, brings a location to cash flow sooner, and, most importantly, opens up high-traffic infill corners that operators requiring longer tunnels physically cannot use. QC Capital competes for a different set of sites than the national consolidators, which is a more durable advantage than outbidding them for the same ones.
Operating control. QC Capital owns the operator. AquaShine Express is not a third-party manager placed on top of the firm's real estate, and QC Capital is not a passive equity holder in someone else's chain. When a location underperforms on membership conversion, throughput, or labor, the firm has the authority and the operating personnel to fix it rather than to write it down.
"Vertical integration sounds like a slide in a deck until a site misses its numbers in month seven," Salerno said. "Then it is the difference between a problem you can go work on and a problem you can only watch. We would rather own the harder job."
What the current market gives a disciplined buyer
QC Capital's view is that the sector's dislocation is an entry-basis opportunity for operators positioned to act, and a warning for those who are not. Land and construction competition has eased. Distressed and underperforming assets are coming to market, including car wash and express oil and lube facilities that can be acquired and rebranded under the AquaShine Express platform with standardized operating systems. Meanwhile the permanent restoration of 100% bonus depreciation under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has improved the after-tax profile of newly developed assets, which are unusually rich in short-life property.
"Four things arrived at once: better basis, less competition for corners, a membership revenue base that held through the downturn, and a permanent tax deduction," Salerno said. "The correct response to that is not to sprint. It is to keep buying the same way we bought when none of it was true."
QC Car Wash Fund III, launched in January 2026, remains open to accredited investors and funds the platform's development and acquisition pipeline.
About QC Capital Group
QC Capital Group, LLC is a Charlotte, North Carolina based private equity and alternative investment firm founded in 2018. Guided by its slogan, “Investing in the infrastructure of daily life,” the firm acquires, builds, and operates real assets and operating businesses for accredited investors, with active portfolios across car care, flex industrial real estate, business and commercial real estate credit, healthcare, and venture partnerships. QC Capital's strategies pair real estate ownership with the operating businesses that occupy it, with the objective of producing tax-efficient current income alongside long-term capital appreciation. The firm is led by Founder and Chief Executive Officer Chris Salerno, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and a Charlotte Business Journal Most Admired CEO. QC Capital Group is an independent firm and is not affiliated with QC Holdings, QC Capital Management, QC Capital Partners, or QC Home Buyers. Learn more at qccapitalgroup.com.
About AquaShine Express
AquaShine Express is a growing express car wash platform owned and operated by QC Capital Group, with ten locations across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina and additional sites in development. AquaShine Express operates a shorter-tunnel express format built around unlimited membership plans, family plans, and fleet programs. Learn more at aquashineexpress.com.
Media Contact
Amy Tuck
Vice President of Marketing
QC Capital Group
(704) 281.8580
amy@qccapitalgroup.com
qccapitalgroup.com
Important Disclosures
This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Any such offer is made only to accredited investors, as defined under Rule 501 of Regulation D, and only by means of a confidential private placement memorandum and related offering documents, which should be read in their entirety. Private investments are speculative, illiquid, and involve substantial risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and the performance of any individual location or platform is not indicative of fund-level results.
Market statistics cited in this release, including transaction multiples, operating margins, and membership revenue growth, are drawn from third-party industry sources, are presented as general market context, and are not representative of the performance of any QC Capital Group fund or property. Statements regarding bonus depreciation are general in nature and do not constitute tax advice; prospective investors should consult their own tax advisors. Statements regarding development timelines, site acquisitions under contract, and scheduled openings are forward-looking and subject to construction, permitting, financing, and market risks that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially.
