Five years after opening its first RV stop, Love’s Travel Stops sees smooth roads ahead when it comes to further expansion of its RV network, according to an exclusive report by Convenience Store News.
“We’re definitely going to cross the 200 mark,” Jim Wheeler, senior director of hospitality and RV operations at Love’s, told Convenience Store News, noting that the company has already opened 137 RV stops in 37 of the 42 states that make up its operating footprint, and expects to reach 150 by the end of this year. “We have pretty good coverage, so that’s just filling in the gaps.”
Love’s opened its first RV stop in Guthrie, Okla., in 2021. Since then, the company has significantly expanded both its RV network and the amenities it offers RV travelers. The retailer plans to continue doing so as part of its $700 million Road Ahead Plan that calls for more than half of Love’s sites to be newly constructed or remodeled by 2035.
According to Wheeler, RV became “a growth industry” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Love’s had long offered communal dump stations for RV wastewater, but as RV sales increased and more consumers hit the road, the company began to explore ways it could better serve this customer segment.
Click here to read the full report by Convenience Store News.
