Love's acquires EZ GO stations, rebuilds to include Turner Turnpike Stroud Plaza
Love’s Travel Stops, a national brand based in Oklahoma City, is taking over the EZ GO chain, including its locations along Oklahoma and Kansas turnpikes.
Love’s operates 610 locations in 42 states and picks up 22 EZ GO stores from Oklahoma-based Carey Johnson Oil Company. The deal is the first to place Love’s Travel Centers along turnpikes with six on Oklahoma toll roads and five on Kansas toll roads.
The deal also includes eight convenience stores in Lawton and one in Altus.
“We are excited to add locations in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska and welcome nearly 400 new team members to the Love’s family of companies,” said Shane Wharton, president of Love’s. “The opportunity to expand into serving commercial and casual customers on the two state turnpikes supports our strategic priority of pursuing adjacent acquisition opportunities.”
The EZ GO turnpike locations are expected to be branded Love’s in the next 12 months. The recently completed transaction includes the Turner Turnpike Stroud Plaza, where traffic counts on the Interstate 44 corridor top 26,000 vehicles a day.
The plaza is scheduled to be rebuilt as part of a realignment by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and will include a rebuilding of the service station and McDonald’s. The EZ GO is more than 30 years old, and its amenities for truck drivers are limited to diesel pumps.
Aisles at the station are crammed with shelving, and numerous online reviews complain of dirty restrooms. Joe Echelle, deputy director of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, said discussions underway include rebuilding the stop as a combined Love’s/McDonald's stop with a larger footprint to allow for amenities included at the chain’s newest stops.
The chain’s newest location in Piedmont, South Carolina, includes 91 truck parking spaces and 81 car parking spaces, shower and laundry facilities, a Mobile to Go Zone with GPS, headsets and smartphone accessories, an RV dump, CAT scale and dog park.
“We are working to bring our professional drivers the products and amenities they have come to expect from Love’s,” Wharton said. “We also expect our driver loyalty program will be available soon.”
Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell applauded the transaction, noting turnpike stops make an impression with cross-country travelers.
“These new locations, coupled with our renovated Oklahoma Welcome Centers, will help set a great first impression for visitors,” Pinnell said. “Love’s is an Oklahoma staple, and we’re proud they are a big part of our state brand.”
Echelle said a pipeline relocation is delaying reconstruction of the Stroud stop; he expects work will begin later this year. Once complete, the midway plaza between the eastbound and westbound lanes will be eliminated, and the existing services will be restricted to westbound traffic.
More: Oklahoma promised to make toll roads free. After 75 years, here's where that promise stands.
The Stroud stop was originally built as a Howard Johnson’s and gas station on one side of the turnpike connected via a pedestrian bridge over the toll road to a gas station for travelers in opposite lanes. That design, Echelle said, has proven dangerous with numerous accidents happening at the eastbound ramps.
The Stroud stop was one of 14 when the turnpike opened in 1957. The McDonald’s and EZ GO were built in between the eastbound and westbound lanes when the bridge was removed and the turnpike was rebuilt.
Once rebuilt, the change will result in just one westbound stop in Stroud and one eastbound stop in Chandler that includes a recently rebuilt EZ GO station. When the turnpike was first built, access to restaurants and gas stations was limited to towns with toll gates. Implementation of PikePasses and expected elimination of toll booths with the addition of Plate Pass will expand easy access to such services.
More: New turnpike connections expected to bring new life to small town Oklahoma
Food options also might change as part of the EZ GO transitions to Love’s Travel Stops.
“These locations are unique in that the franchise food concepts are operated by third-party partners under brands such as McDonald's, Hardee’s, Taco Bell and Dunkin’,” Wharton said. “We are especially excited about EZ GO’s Back Forty Barbecue that we acquired, which currently has two locations. In addition to restaurants, we look forward to bringing our Love’s-branded snacks, proprietary deli and fresh food items, trail mixes, beef jerky, cold-pressed juices and more.”
The acquisition coincides with the Love's Stategic Remodel Initiative that will invest more than $1 billion in upgrading 200 locations over the next five years. A stop in Ardmore recently was renovated, while the Love’s at NW 122 and Interstate 35 recently closed and is set to razed for construction of a new travel center.
The chain is expected to spend between $2 million and $7 million per location.
“Investing in existing locations is another way Love’s prioritizes creating a first-class experience for customers,” said Randy Swain, director of construction and remodels for Love’s. “Being strategic with how we update existing locations — and keeping them open during the process — strengthens Love’s commitment to getting customers back on the road quickly.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: EZ GO stations sold to Love's; rebuilds and upgrades to follow
