Love's Travel Stops

The evolution of the gas station in America is unbelievable.

Now listen, I know there's Love's, I know there's truck stops, but you got your Royal Farms, you got your Wawa, you got your AM PM.

Buc-ee's.

Buc-ee's.

You know, America in and of itself has a great ability to evolve all things food.

Uh, I don't know if it's for the better or for the worse, but, uh, it's great.

I mean, have you ever stopped at a Love's truck stop?

I do stop at Love's.

The write up says the depth of On Cue's kitchen operations supplemented by roller grill, daily bakery deliveries and an extensive coffee bar is the reason On Cue is notable in its market.

Other chains on the list include Buc-ee's, Casey's General Stores, Wawa, Quick Trip with a Q, Sheetz, Love's Travel Stops, Allsup's Slash Yes Way, Rudder's, and Parker's Kitchen.

And a happy anniversary shout out to The Wills Group.

The retailer, fuel marketer, and commercial real estate company is celebrating by awarding half a million dollars in grants to six non-profit organizations in its home state of Maryland.

Tom Cole, U.S. representative from Oklahoma.

Tom Love, founder of Love's Travel Stops.

Linda Hogan, the author.

Jared Tate, the composer.

This is fun.

A Kansas woman vaults her car 250 feet over a turnpike overpass, sticks the landing at a Love's Travel Stop.

There's a video.

I'll post it to my ex-account.

Truck stops can provide another option on long drives.

I have used places such as Love's Travel Stops when I needed a safe break from the highway, and some travelers also use certain Cracker Barrel locations for overnight vehicle parking.

However, I never assumed that overnight parking is permitted simply because other vehicles are doing it.

Policies can vary by individual property and local regulations.

I think the fact we've been relatively quiet about it illustrates how mature the RMN market has gotten in convenience retailing and beyond.

But a recent release by Love's Travel Stops illustrates just how viable RMNs are for retailers.

So we'll make this the topic of the list, Retail Media Networks.

Love's launched Love's Media Group just nine months ago in October.

It's now reporting it has already partnered with 20 CPG brands, connecting brands and products with customers and helping the advertisers maximize their reach through relevant and engaging content, And as a travel center and truck stop retailer, Loves finds a variety of brands to partner with, some intended for your common car motorists, but also brands targeted at professional drivers, to recreational vehicle enthusiasts, as well as, of course, its own house products and promotions.

Among the places you can find Love's Media partner content, pump screen advertising, in-store digital screens, on-store signage, and in email marketing.

It also engages through push notifications, mobile app placements, and off-site display advertising.

Says Chief Marketing Officer Patrick McClain, Love's Media Group is creating new opportunities for brands, strengthening customer engagement, and contributing to the long-term growth of the company.

But, uh, but yeah, like seeing some of the rotations already that were coming out on Thursday and a lot of teams playing nothing of nobody, and some teams are doing the opposite, which is kind of interesting, and we see that.

But if Jeremiah Love is not a, an example of a, a falling, you know, domino and probably wanna prevent that because, you know, Mike Washington, is he really gonna learn a lot, uh, versus the, uh, injury risk? Uh, especially when you already have Ashton Jeanty dinged up as Warren Sharp alludes to.

Uh, and this one is from Jared Bailey.

Uh, I believe he's been on the show as well.

What's the ideal pairing for you if you were to take a Malik Willis, let's say, with that last pick because he's gonna go undrafted in some single-quarterback leagues, who is the guy that you want to have on that roster along with him, just out of curiosity? That you say, "Okay, I've got this really, you know, cheap floor." I- is it a Jared Goff kind of guy? Is it, uh, I'm trying to think.

Like, is Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield, is it one of those kind of guys?

Yeah, look, like, I genuinely think...

Like, I mean, I play fantasy football in a risk-taking way.

I wasn't at the turn, but, you know, folks at the turn, as I would understand, those skill position players get sent down.

You wanna hammer those early on 'cause it's very hard to pass on the ones that are there when you're at 10, 11, 12 'cause all the quarterbacks, you know, the five or six quarterbacks that go early usually in the first round typically in those.

Would you be willing to risk that all and go with the skill position players and really hammer those guys and then fall to a Love or Shuck or, or one of those guys with Willis? Do you think that's enough in Superflex to get it done?

Yeah, and then I'd add a third and get, like, an Aaron Rodgers or something, right? Some- someone who, someone who, like, I think is gonna likely keep his job all season and maybe not be an elite asset but can at least fill in for you.