Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores is selling its hotels. The travel center chain made the decision to sell its 19 hotel properties in June, a spokesperson told CSP Daily News. The transitions are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.
“This will allow the company to continue to focus on its core operations—store, restaurant and truck care solutions—while adding complementary services and products that meet the evolving needs of the current customer base,” the spokesperson said.
As of Thursday, Love's had already sold 15 hotels and still had four left, the spokesperson said. Those four hotels are: A Fairfield by Marriott in Van, Texas; a Sleep Inn & Suites by Choice Hotels in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, and Cumberland, Maryland; and a Best Western Plus in Chandler, Arizona.
Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores is No. 16 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
Love’s said it would not disclose the buyer names, citing confidentiality provisions in the purchase agreements.
Love’s opened its first hotel in Pecos, Texas, in 2014. At the time, there was growing industry demand for this amenity and Love’s had extra land as part of commercial real estate purchases for new travel stops, the spokesperson said.
“Hotels were considered an extension of the highway hospitality business as guests were offered the same peace of mind that they have come to expect at a travel stop with ‘Clean Places, Friendly Faces’,” the spokesperson said, referring to Love’s slogan. “A decade later, additional hotel brands have entered the market, and the company’s growth plans, and capital investment strategies have changed based on current and projected customer and market demand.”
Love’s Travel Stops, Oklahoma City, recently surpassed 650 total stores. The chain is celebrating 60 years in business in 2024. One of its co-founders, Judy Love, died Nov. 5 at the age of 87. Alongside her late husband, Tom Love, Judy was instrumental in building their family-owned business, which they founded in 1964 with a $5,000 loan.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.