In 2024, Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores will add 20 to 25 new locations, update 35 to 40 aging stores and rebuild four stores, President Shane Wharton shared in a media roundtable on Wednesday. Other changes will include added food and restaurant options and increased service offerings like RV hookups, truck washes and more, the company said.
The Oklahoma City-based travel-stop chain is also celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
“Six decades ago, Tom Love opened our first service station in Watonga, Oklahoma, and almost immediately started selling household items to make stopping in more convenient for customers,” Wharton said. “Today, as the only major travel stop that is still family owned and operated, we continue with his innovative spirit by adding new products and improving the experience to give customers more reasons to stop in.”
- Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. is No. 14on CSP’s 2023 Top 202 ranking of convenience-store chains by store count.
Love’s has more than 640 locations in 42 states, and its remodeled sites will be scattered throughout its network. While about half of Love’s locations were built out in the past decade, the other half is older, Wharton said. Many of the remodels will involve expanding the stores, adding more room for amenities like showers and for foodservice operations.
“Our customers, we hear loud and clear, want a lot of food options,” he said. “And in those older, smaller locations, we just don’t have the square footage to do it.”
Love’s is also “looking at all opportunities,” when it comes to acquisitions, Wharton said.
He noted the chains’ acquisition of EZ GO from Carey Johnson Oil Co., Lawton, Oklahoma, in April. The acquisition included six truck stops located on Oklahoma turnpikes, five on the Kansas turnpike and 11 convenience stores in Oklahoma and Nebraska for a total of 22 stores.
It also marked Love’s first turnpike location, “and we’ve seen really good results from that,” Wharton said. “We’re looking at other opportunities in other states specific to turnpike systems.”
After opening its first truck wash in 2023, Love’s has plans to double its truck wash network by adding seven new locations in 2024. It’s also bringing RV hookups to 44 more locations in 2024, which by the end of the year will bring a total of 1,500 hookups to 98 locations.
Love’s branded food and snack items will expand to include new chip flavors, meat sticks, honey buns, powdered donuts and cookies. Its Fresh Kitchen concept is also growing based on customer feedback on offering fresh, healthier and diet-specific options. Love’s will add a new omelet bowl, upgraded snack trays and elevated mac and cheese bowls, among other items, to the Fresh Kitchen, in addition to adding 20 new restaurants to its network this year.
When it comes to the forecourt, Trillium Energy Solutions plans to add to Love’s national electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging network by adding chargers to 29 Love’s locations. Love’s has received awards to help fund this from the Federal Highway Administration’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program. Musket, a top producer of diesel exhaust fluid, will continue to grow with fuel and terminal procurement, allowing Love’s to offer customers quality products at competitive prices, the company said.
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