Car wash wants to be topless operation
By Thomas Jordan
Contact reporter
October 31, 2003
A new concept in car care is planned for Memphis - topless car washing.
And we're not talking about convertibles.
The wash is scheduled to open in part of a warehouse at 575 Suzette near downtown.
A sign atop the building proclaims: T&A Gentlemen's Car Wash & Lounge.
A young man at the warehouse who wouldn't identify himself said Thursday the operators weren't ready to talk.
He said, however, the wash will have all the necessary permits when it opens soon.
But City Atty. Robert Spence said it would be difficult to get a go-ahead for anything that could be considered pornographic.
"It's probably safe to say that their request for a permit would be very closely scrutinized," he said. "It's masquerading as a car wash and really is something else."
A topless car wash would most likely violate city ordinances, even if it did not serve alcohol, he said.
The wash already has begun advertising.
One newspaper ad says, "Coming soon the only topless car wash around."
The wash's owners couldn't be determined Thursday.
The business's location, just off Crump, is in an industrial and commercial area.
City Councilman Rickey Peete, who wasn't aware of plans for the car wash, said industrial areas are meant to house the kinds of businesses people don't want near their homes.
"If they're operating within the laws, there's nothing we can do about it," he said.
Carl Johnson, president of the Memphis School Board, is renovating a building at Suzette and Walnut.
He will use the building to teach skills such as carpentry and masonry.
Johnson said he wasn't worried about a topless car wash opening in the neighborhood.
"I'm not upset because I won't be going there," he said.
During the summer a bikini car wash opened at ClearTone Wireless and Car Audio at 683 Union.
That business appears to have closed. The phone has been disconnected and the office is empty.
By Thomas Jordan
Contact reporter
October 31, 2003
A new concept in car care is planned for Memphis - topless car washing.
And we're not talking about convertibles.
The wash is scheduled to open in part of a warehouse at 575 Suzette near downtown.
A sign atop the building proclaims: T&A Gentlemen's Car Wash & Lounge.
A young man at the warehouse who wouldn't identify himself said Thursday the operators weren't ready to talk.
He said, however, the wash will have all the necessary permits when it opens soon.
But City Atty. Robert Spence said it would be difficult to get a go-ahead for anything that could be considered pornographic.
"It's probably safe to say that their request for a permit would be very closely scrutinized," he said. "It's masquerading as a car wash and really is something else."
A topless car wash would most likely violate city ordinances, even if it did not serve alcohol, he said.
The wash already has begun advertising.
One newspaper ad says, "Coming soon the only topless car wash around."
The wash's owners couldn't be determined Thursday.
The business's location, just off Crump, is in an industrial and commercial area.
City Councilman Rickey Peete, who wasn't aware of plans for the car wash, said industrial areas are meant to house the kinds of businesses people don't want near their homes.
"If they're operating within the laws, there's nothing we can do about it," he said.
Carl Johnson, president of the Memphis School Board, is renovating a building at Suzette and Walnut.
He will use the building to teach skills such as carpentry and masonry.
Johnson said he wasn't worried about a topless car wash opening in the neighborhood.
"I'm not upset because I won't be going there," he said.
During the summer a bikini car wash opened at ClearTone Wireless and Car Audio at 683 Union.
That business appears to have closed. The phone has been disconnected and the office is empty.
