One thing Josh Edmonds knows is that people appreciate a clean, shiny car.

That’s why he had to expand his Upper Macungie Township-based business, The Clean Garage. The new retail shop recently opened at 5619 Tilghman St. and it features just about anything a car owner would need to detail his or her ride.

“I’ve been doing this since 2017,” said Edmonds, a 2003 graduate of Parkland High School who has been working in various aspects of the automotive aftermarket for more than 20 years. “I used to do a part-time job which had a website and I did it from home. And then in 2019 we opened a store so that’s when I went full time.

“But just in those three years we’ve seen a steady increase. When COVID hit there were a lot of people ordering stuff because I think they’re right at home and wanted to detail their cars. Everyone’s kind of waiting for the business to slow down and it hasn’t been. We’ve been really lucky.”

According to IBISWorld, a market-analysis company, car wash and auto detailing is a $14.7 billion industry in the U.S. and has grown annually by an average of 2.1% since 2017.

The Clean Garage’s new location is 7,500 square feet, about five times larger than the previous location, which was about two miles away in Fogelsville. Edmonds purchased the property in 2021 for $775,000.

Including himself and his wife, Edmonds employs 10.

Online orders take up about 90% of the business and The Clean Garage uses the bulk of the property in the back of the building to warehouse products. On a recent Wednesday afternoon, workers were busy taking orders and filling boxes for shipping to customers across North America.

The company sells a wide array of car care and cleaning supplies, including soaps, shampoos, iron removers, wheel cleaners, glass cleaners, carpet and upholstery cleaners, anti-corrosion products, waxes and paint sealants; and tools and accessories such as pressure washers, steam cleaners, car dryers, vacuums, detailing brushes, LED work lights, polishing pads and drying towels.

Customers also can shop a variety of detailing kits, including buffer and polisher kits, foam cannon and pressure washing kits, ceramic coating combos, interior kits and polish, wax and sealant combos.

The main difference between The Clean Garage and an auto parts store is it stocks more than 2,000 detailing products, while the typical store may have around 20, Edmonds said.

“It’s just a lot more specific things, a lot of different brand options ,” he said. “They would have your basic wash wheel cleaner, probably one or two options of each. Whereas, we have like 10 or 15 options for each product.”

Edmonds said The Clean Garage moved into its new building, which used to be J.W. Auto Addictions, in January for shipping operations. The retail store in the front of the building opened earlier in August.

“We did a lot of renovations here,” Edmonds said. “It needed a lot of work, but the location was good for us. So basically, we used to have a small retail store, but most of our business is online, so we needed a lot more warehouse space so we could store products.”

Walk-in customers, in the interim, could order online and pick up their purchases as the retail section was built.

Edmonds said that he does draw walk-in business from beyond the Lehigh Valley with people from as far away as New York and New Jersey. The store’s location near the Interstate 78 split with Route 22 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension interchange helps, he said. Edmonds added that he’ll also get walk-in customers from the neighboring Kuhnsville Car Wash.

Many locals will personally pick up online orders, but there’s still an element that likes to personally know what it’s buying.

“For most local customers, they do prefer coming here,” Edmonds said. “Some of them are still doing pickup orders. Most of them started coming back to the store because they like to see everything and touch it. A lot of what we sell is kind of unique, so most towns won’t have a store like this that they could walk into.”

For more information on The Clean Garage and to stay up-to-date on the business’ move, visit clean-garage.com and follow the business on social media, facebook.com/TheCleanGarage.

Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.