Convenience retailers large and small continue to face a difficult operating environment. Expenses are rising for both retailers and consumers, leaving c-store earnings in flux, and total c-store visits are dropping. Even retail gas prices are expected to decline this year.
Shane Wharton, president of Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores since 2019, is well aware of the economic challenges plaguing the industry. However, he said that since no one really knows what will happen with the economy, all he and his team can do is handle what’s in front of them.
“We have to play offense,” Wharton told reporters on Wednesday when asked how Love’s will address economic headwinds. “That looks like making sure that we're offering the right products and services that our customers want, and that we're giving the product to them at a good value.”
That starts with Love’s growing its c-store and travel center network, which at year’s end stood at 668 locations across 42 states. This year, Love’s intends to invest $700 million in building new locations and remodeling existing sites as part of a new program it’s calling the Road Ahead Plan. This includes reaching the milestone of having more than half of its locations newly constructed or remodeled by 2035. It’s an extension of the $1 billion Love’s allotted in 2023 to remodel certain sites by 2028, which is still “on track,” Wharton said.
“We're just realizing that we won't be done by [2028],” Wharton said of the construction and remodel project. “We're going to need to continue to reinvest and refresh our facilities and keep them up to date for our customers. We’re just extending that.”

Wharton has previously said that every new location and remodel is different depending on what that site and community needs. However, common features of its refreshed stores include a more open floor plan, open kitchen and restaurant concepts, dog parks and updated restrooms and showers.
Love’s plans to enhance its foodservice capabilities this year, given the importance of its proprietary Fresh Kitchen program at its new locations, noted Wharton. He said Love’s will launch “new flavor profiles” every couple months this year, including items such as chipotle chicken tacos and potato bowls.
Those efforts include expanding the QSRs on site. Love’s intends to open at least eight more Buffalo Wild Wings Go restaurants as well as its first Whataburger this year. Wharton added that Love’s will continue adding order-ahead capabilities and ordering kiosks to its QSRs, both of which it began incorporating last year.
Those tech updates will also include a new loyalty program, which is expected to launch later this month. The platform will allow non-rewards members to start earning points for each dollar spent inside the store and on gas and auto-diesel, and allow all customers to earn extra points per dollar for buying Love’s branded products and Fresh Kitchen items. The program will support the company’s retail media network, Love’s Media Group, which plans to increase its digital advertising efforts this year.
In the forecourt, Love’s intends to add 1,500 truck parking spaces and 100 more electric vehicle charging stalls this year. Wharton emphasized that Love’s intends to deploy fast chargers at approximately 150 locations over the next several years. It’s currently at 41, he said.
Every initiative this year underscores Wharton’s remark about addressing only what Love’s can control as it aims to continue growing several areas of operations to keep its customers returning.
“We want to keep the Love’s brand to the standards of what our customers expect,” he said.