New London ― Rapid Car Wash, a longtime business on Colman Street, has been sold for $2.24 million to Soapy Noble, a newcomer to the region that is owned by a Connecticut-based company intent on creating updated experiences in an industry that before now had been largely left to mom-and-pop operations.

The property at 454 Colman St. also includes the Nowhere Cafe, which will be moving out in the fall, and a laundry business called Laundry for Less, which will stay, said Soapy Noble principal Mike Frisbie.

Frisbie is co-owner with Abdul Tammo of the Hartford-based Noble Gas Inc., which has recently opened a Noble gas and electric vehicle charging station off Exit 75 on Interstate 95 in East Lyme, paired with a new Soapy Noble car wash on Route 161 next to Stop & Shop. Another Soapy Noble has opened in Norwich, and a third is about to break ground in Groton, Frisbie said last week.

“We try to do things the right way,” Frisbie said. “We use brand-new technology to give you the best quality wash in the market.”

In New London, the plans are to knock down the former Rapid Car Wash, replacing it with an automated Soapy Noble-branded facility while revamping the open-bay, do-it-yourself facility behind the current building. Frisbie said the company is looking for a place to locate a Noble gas station nearby as well.

“We really like the market,” said Frisbie, whose wife grew up in Mystic. “It’s really good for our businesses.”

The Soapy Noble location, expected to be open in the fall, will replace Rapid Car Wash, a staple in the city that has been owned by the Levine family for more than six decades.

“We had a good run,” said Noah Levine, the longtime owner, in a phone interview.

Levine said he had begun looking for someone to buy Rapid Car Wash about four years ago, sped up by health concerns that led to him requiring a kidney transplant.

According to Levine and his brother Barry, a former owner of the business and chairman of the Planning & Zoning Commission, the family opened the business in 1961, partially because the lot was long and skinny, thus conducive to a car wash. A chain hooked to the front bumper pulled cars through as workers largely washed vehicles by hand.

“We’re a little nostalgic, but not too,” Barry Levine said. “I know how hard our parents worked and we worked to build it.”

“The whole industry is consolidating,” Noah Levine, a past president of the Connecticut Car Wash Association, added. “The mom and pops are being sucked up.”

The Levines said none of their progeny was interested in running the business, though Noah’s daughter has taken a job at Noble’s corporate headquarters. They noted that a lot of longtime family businesses in the city have been going by the wayside recently for similar reasons, including Kalamian’s rug shop on Bank Street and MJ Sullivan car dealership on Broad Street.

The Levines, who sold a total of four parcels off Colman Street, were complimentary of the Soapy Noble owners, calling them very ambitious and good for the community.

According to an article in The Hartford Business Journal, Noble has been working over the past decade to build or renovate more than a dozen service stations. Lately, Noble has been putting its own imprint on the rather stale gas-and-convenience landscape to evolve a clean and friendly brand that includes EV chargers, high-end deli offerings and upscale coffee options, while providing both interior and exterior seating and, in some cases, an ice cream store.

The first three of these new-generation stations, costing more than $30 million in total, were expected to all be open by this summer, including the one in East Lyme as well as Enfield and Sturbridge, Mass. Frisbie said Noble expects to add a total of 20 new stations over the next five years.

“We’re excited,” he said. “We see it as an opportunity to build some new stuff.”

“Our stations are in keeping with New England,” he added. “They’re not gaudy. They don’t stand out.”

Frisbie also likes to promote a family atmosphere at Noble. He added that most of the people at Rapid Car Wash, which officially closed March 31, though the property was sold in November, were kept on at other car washes in the area.

“Finding a good place to work, that’s half the battle,” he said. “We have a pretty good group. ... We try to do things the right way.”

Noble is an independent brand not directly associated with any major fuel brand, according to co-owner Frisbie.

“That gives us the flexibility to do whatever we want,” Frisbie said. “Our level of finish shows the pride we have.”

Frisbie said Soapy Noble, which has an automatic license plate reader, will include a membership program and car vacuums available at no charge. An area to wash and dry car mats will be located in a separate room from the car wash area, he added.

l.howard@theday.com