Love’s Truck Stop is open in Normal. General Manager John Kincaid told Cities 92.9 what they are bringing to town. “(At) the facility here we have gas pumps, diesel pumps, a whole instore deli (open concept deli) along with a Bojangle’s Restaurant. Bojangle’s is a southern chicken chain. On top of that we have a 63 spot RV park that should be opening by the end of January.”
“The pet wash that we have out here in front of the building is one of two in the company,” Kincaid continued. “The facility also offers four dog parks. Inside of the RV park there is going to be playgrounds and a community fire pit. Each stall has its own fire pit as well as amenity hookups.
The site is built on 34 acres and is the largest facility the company operates across the country. Kincaid spent the last eight months running the Love’s store in LeRoy along with a couple of his managers.
The McLean County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony for Love’s on Tuesday with Brooke Fenske, Membership Development Manager presiding.
Fenske said, “I have been a fan of Love’s for years. I think they have the cleanest place to stop when you are traveling.” And this is the most northern Bojangle’s so I am excited to try Bojangle’s,” she added. “Everybody’s been raving about it so I am definitely going to try that.”
Fenske believes Love’s brings opportunities for people on the north edge of Normal. “I am excited about the RV park that he (Kincaid) was talking about too. As he said there are going to be parents visiting their students at ISU, Wesleyan and Heartland. And they will have a place that they can park and visit the area and not have to stay at a hotel.”
While waiting on our Bojangle’s order for country ham, biscuits and sausage gravy we happened to meet Robert Hensman, Division Director of Operations for Love’s who lives in Indianapolis IN and is responsible for the Upper Midwest area which has 68 stores in six states. Hensman had been in a meeting and wasn’t able to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony. He graciously granted us an interview.
Hensman said he was, “extremely excited. Number one we brought Bojangle’s back. This will be our fourth or fifth Bojangle’s location that we have operated, really the first in the upper midwest.” Hensman mentioned that the facility will also have pickleball courts. He also mentioned the large Speedco location on the property, “for the professional driver who either needs regular maintenance or needs to have repairs.”
Hensman told us that Love’s “started rolling out dog parks about four years ago.” He said “About 85% of our locations have dog parks. The dog wash is something new for us. … There is a vending machine that you can give your dog a treat after the wash (and) several different types of shampoo. There is a hair dryer. There is a vacuum to pick up all the excess hair. It’s just a pretty cool deal. So we are excited to see how that does.”
“A lot of drivers do carry their furry companions with them just for something to do,” Hensman said. “The American truck driver has a tough job. They are by themselves a lot. That companionship is important. We want to make sure they are taking care of that companion also.”
