Valor Oil LLC, a distributor of petroleum products in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, North Carolina and South Carolina, is attracting attention with an unusual concept—disco bathrooms.
The newly remodeled bathrooms in the company’s Hop Shops convenience stores feature a red button on the wall and a sign that says, “Do Not Push the Red Button.” When a curious customer does press the button, “the lights go down, the music starts, the colorful spotlights come on and a disco ball starts spinning,” the company said.
Damon Bail, vice president of retail marketing and operations with Valor Oil, came up with the idea in 2022.
“Talk about surprise and delight, this was it,” the company said. “We thought it was very cool and unexpected. But how could we do it? [Bail] didn’t let go of the idea. He started asking around. He found the resources and experts to make it happen. For those that like to push buttons just to see what they do (you know who you are), they will not be able to resist.”
Verona Hop Shops Store Manager Heather Taylor said the bathrooms have had a phenomenal response. “The disco bathroom has already brought joy to many. Customers come out of the bathroom with a huge smile, as they walk swiftly to get their friends and family to experience it too,” she said.
Customer’s videos shared on TikTok and YouTube have gone viral with more than 50 million views, said the company.
Six Hop Shops locations in Kentucky and Ohio currently have the disco bathrooms, and each has a different song:
- Verona, Kentucky: The Bee Gees, “Stayin Alive”
- Florence, Kentucky: Rhianna, “Diamonds”
- Walton. Kentucky: Bill Medley, “Time of My Life”
- Carrollton, Kentucky: ABBA, “Dancing Queen”
- Mount Zion, Kentucky: Bruce Springsteen, “Dancing in the Dark”
- Maineville, Ohio: Miley Cyrus, “Party in the USA”
More disco bathrooms are coming soon, Valor Oil said. It plans to put more in its truck plazas in Owensboro, Kentucky.
The Hop Shops store in Verona will host a disco bathroom wedding on Valentine’s Day.
Beginning in 1966 and with three generations of the Emmick family, the Owensboro-based company has six petroleum bulk plants in Kentucky and South Carolina; 132 retail c-store dealer locations, a race fuel division; and 10 Hop Shops in northern Kentucky, three in southern Ohio and one truck plaza in Owensboro.
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