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_(49417678437).jpg) Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores inBushnell, Florida. | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Energy,Retail (Convenience stores),Hospitality,Storage |
| Founded | 1964; 62 years ago (1964) |
| Founder | Tom Love and Judy Love |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Number of locations | 630 |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Greg Love (CEO) Frank Love (co-CEO) Jenny Love Meyer (Chief Culture Officer andEVP) Shane Wharton (President) |
| Services | Diesel fuel Fuel Truck maintenance Restaurants Convenience stores Driver amenities Hospitality Storage |
| Revenue |  US$24 billion (2024)[1] |
| Owner | Love family (100%) |
Number of employees | 40,000 (2023)[2] |
| Website | www |
Love's Travel Stops, doing business asLove's (or stylized asLoves), is an American family owned-and-operated chain of more than 650truck stops in 42 states in the United States. The company is privately owned and headquartered inOklahoma City. Love's ranked No. 10 on the 2022 Forbes list of America's largest private companies.[1] Love's has two primary kinds of stores: country stores and travel stops. Country stores are fueling stations with a convenience store attached. The larger travel stops are located along highways and offer additional amenities such as food from restaurant chains such asArby's,Bojangles,Burger King,Chester's,Dunkin' Donuts,McDonald's,Taco John's,Subway,Wendy's,Hardee's/Carl's Jr., truck parking spaces, showers and laundry. The company started adding RV hookups and RV Stops in 2022. Love's had more than 40,000 employees in 2023.[2]
In 1964,Tom and Judy Love spent $5,000 (equivalent to $50,700 in 2024), which was borrowed from Judy's parents, to lease an abandonedservice station inWatonga, Oklahoma, an hour northwest of Oklahoma City.[3] They named their company Musket Corporation. Over the next eight years, Musket opened 40 additional gas stations. All of them operated under theKerr-McGee fuel brand. Some of the innovations that the company introduced included extended service hours and the sale of non-fuel merchandise.[4]
When thefuel crunch of the early 1970s began and gasoline was in short supply in the United States, Tom Love diversified for the sake of the company's success. He launched a new concept in Watonga: the "Mini Stop Country Store". The Mini Stop was successful and the company quickly opened more stores in westernOklahoma.
In 1972, Musket set out to convert all of its locations from fuel stations to convenience stores with self-serve fuel. By 1973, the company began using the family name to identify its locations. Love's Country Stores was the new name.
By 1978, Love's Country Stores had 60 locations in small communities throughout Oklahoma,Kansas,Colorado,New Mexico, andTexas. That year, the company began offering the Fresh Daily Deli, sandwiches made fresh daily on location. Food service became the company's third profit center in each location, along with self-serve gasoline and convenience store items. The Fresh Daily Deli is branded today as Love's Subs.
By the end of 1981, the company reached a milestone with 100 Love's Country Stores locations in operation. The in-store decor was changed from the previous dark country look to a brighter theme. The same year, it opened the first Love's Travel Stop onInterstate 40 inAmarillo, Texas. The travel stop opened a newtarget audience to Love's business; the addition of self-serve diesel fuel broughtprofessional drivers to Love's. The Travel Stop was unique in that it served both the professional driverand the motoring public, resulting in more growth for Love's.
In 1985, Love's added gifts and novelties. Then in 1993,Taco Bell became a partner, opening a cobranded location in Oklahoma City. The success of this partnership quickly grew.
In 1995, the company opened its first triple-branded food service operation inEl Paso, Texas. The location offeredSubway,Taco Bell andPizza Hut.
In the late 1990s, food service continued to grow. Soon the company was partnering with an array of cobranded restaurant concepts, including Arby's,Baskin-Robbins,Bojangles,Burger King,Carl's Jr.,Chester's,Dairy Queen,Del Taco,Denny's,Dunkin' Donuts,Godfather's Pizza,Green Burrito,Hardee's,IHOP,McDonald's,Sonic Drive-In,Subway, Taco Bell,Taco John's andWendy's.
In 2000, Sales & Marketing Executives International awarded Love's the 2000 Outlook Award, for innovation and outstanding contribution to the future of the convenience store industry.
The first truck tire care location opened in 2008, and since then, the business has grown into a nationwide network of centers (under the nameSpeedco), offering tires, equipment, light mechanical work, oil changes and roadside service.
On June 30, 2010, Love's Travel Stops acquired 20Pilot Travel Centers locations and sixFlying J locations as part of a divestiture required by the Federal Trade Commission to addressantitrust concerns related to the merger between Pilot and Flying J.[5]Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores entered into a partnership agreement with theNational Basketball Association (NBA)'sOklahoma City Thunder on March 15, 2019. The agreement allows Love's to prominently place its logo on the front left shoulder of allOklahoma City Thunder jerseys.[6][7]
They also have had a long-standing sponsorship deal with theNASCAR Cup Series teamFront Row Motorsports, and were onMichael McDowell's car when he finished in 1st place in the2021 Daytona 500.[8] Front Row Motorsports opened aNASCAR Truck Series team in 2021, and Love's is a primary sponsor. Love's was on theZane Smith's truck when he won theNextEra Energy 250, in which he won back-to-back years. Love's was onLayne Riggs's truck when he won theUNOH 200. In 2025,Todd Gilliland will drive the No. 34Ford Mustang Dark Horse
In February 2023, Love's announced that it had purchasedLawton, Oklahoma-based EZ GO Stores,[9] a chain of 22 convenience stores operating in three states (15 stores as well as aCNG fueling station inOklahoma, five stores inKansas and two stores inNebraska).[10]
Company founder and executive chairman Tom Love died at home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on March 7, 2023, at age 85.[11][12] His wife, Judy, died on November 5, 2024, at the age of 87.[13]
1964: Tom and Judy Love launch the Musket chain with a gas station inWatonga, Oklahoma.
1972: The first Country Store opens inGuymon, Oklahoma.
1978: Love's Country Stores, Inc. is established.
1981: The first Travel Stop opens inAmarillo, Texas.
1986: The company is renamed Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc.
1990: Love's adds major branded fast-food franchises to travel stops.
1999: Love's opens its 50th travel stop.
2000: Gemini Motor Transport becomes the primary carrier for Love's.
2013: Love's opens 300th location.
2015: Love's opens 300th travel stop.
2016: Love's purchases Trillium CNG. Love's opens 400th location.
2017: Love's purchases Speedco.
2019: Love's opens 500th location.
2022: Love's starts adding RV hookups and RV Stops.
2023: Love's purchases EZ GO Stores.
2024: Love's celebrates 60 years.[9]
Loves purchased Trillium Energy Solutions and rebranded the company as Love's Alternative Energy.[14]
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