History
In 1964, Tom and Judy Love spent $5,000, which was borrowed from Judy's parents, to lease an abandoned service station in Watonga, 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 the Kerr-McGee fuel brand. Some of the innovations that the company introduced included extended service hours and the sale of non-fuel merchandise.[4] When the fuel 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 western Oklahoma.
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, and Texas. That year, the company began offering the Fresh Daily Deli, sandwiches made fresh daily in the 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 on Interstate 40 in Amarillo, Texas. The addition of self-serve diesel fuel brought professional drivers to Love's. The Travel Stop served both the professional driver and the motoring public, resulting in more growth for Love's with the new target audience.
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 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
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, branded as Speedco, offering tires, equipment, light mechanical work, oil changes and roadside service.
On June 30, 2010, Love's Travel Stops acquired 20 Pilot Travel Centers locations and six Flying J locations as part of a divestiture required by the Federal Trade Commission to address antitrust concerns related to the merger between Pilot and Flying J.[5] Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores entered into a partnership agreement with the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Oklahoma City Thunder on March 15, 2019. The agreement allows Love's to prominently place its logo on the front left shoulder of all Oklahoma City Thunder jerseys.[6][7] They also have had a long-standing sponsorship deal with the NASCAR Cup Series team Front Row Motorsports, and were on Michael McDowell's car when he finished in 1st place in the 2021 Daytona 500.[8] Front Row Motorsports opened a NASCAR Truck Series team in 2021, and Love's is a primary sponsor. Love's was on the Zane Smith's truck when he won the NextEra Energy 250
In February 2023, Love's announced that it had purchased Lawton, Oklahoma-based EZ GO Stores,[9] a chain of 22 convenience stores operating in three states (15 stores as well as a CNG fueling station in Oklahoma, five stores in Kansas and two stores in Nebraska).[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]
