Love's Travel Stops Eyes Private Label Growth
As Love’s Travel Stops continues expanding, an element of the convenience store’s success in recent years is its growing assortment of private label products.
While most C-stores have been focused on adding own brands to their consumables mix, Love’s has taken a different approach as it works to meet the needs of its customers, both everyday consumers and those in the trucking community.
An example of this is Love’s September launch of its Traverse Travel Gear own brand, which includes a mix of road trip essentials that offer comfort while on the go.
The initial product offering included a neck pillow, a traditional-sized blanket, and a smaller, lightweight throw blanket. Mobile comfort prices start at $14.99 and throw blankets range from $14.99 to $19.99.
With this private brand foundation in place, Love’s is working to expand its assortment on the consumable and non-consumable sides of the house. Casey Creegan, manager of Private Brands at Love’s Travel Stops, spoke with Store Brands and provided insight on what’s next for the convenience store chain’s own brand assortment.
STORE BRANDS: As Love’s continues expanding its private label product assortment, what types of products are you seeking for your customers?
CASEY CREEGAN: Consumables are always a focus, but we’re also looking at expanding our selection of personal care products. We have a relatively small HBA section and we’re looking to infuse that with some innovation. We have a large number of truckers who shop in our stores and we want to offer them products such as vitamins and perhaps some infusion products that can be easily added to beverages. Additionally, we’re also considering personal care products such as beard oils and soaps. On the consumable side, we’re looking to expand our assortment with innovative snacks. Bagged chocolate is big now and we would like to get into a line of premium chocolate.
SB: It’s interesting to see the focus at Love’s on expanding its assortment of non-consumables. What’s driving this?
CC: We are looking to find the products that we don’t have, see what innovation we can bring to this mix, and carry products that our trucker customers want. In 2025 and 2026 I think we will have a lot of innovation in non-consumables along with consumables.
SB: Private label is still a relatively new development for Love’s, but the company has had a quick evolution to catch up with other retailers. Where does Love’s own brand assortment sit today?
CC: We’ve added two new brands to our assortment. Traverse Travel Gear is positioned as mobile comfort and includes products such as neck pillows, fleece blankets, and throw blankets. We added items to the line including seat cushions and lumbar support. We also launched the Traverse Pro Series, which is a premium brand of products for truckers and includes products such as higher-grade flashlights that offer more lumens.
SB: What factors are driving the growth in non-consumable private brand products at Love’s?
CC: Most of it comes from a willingness we have to test products to see what works. And when things work well, we look to build on those successes. Customer feedback also plays an important role. We recently did a customer survey on all our consumable products and that gave us some good feedback. We’re going to replicate that for our non-consumables.
SB: As you expand Love’s assortment of non-consumables, does it present a challenge to merchandise the items in-store?
CC: We’re always fighting for shelf space. When developing new private label products, it’s important to hit the right prices and bring to market products that are something more than dupes. For example, with our Traverse travel gear, the canvas backpacks were really nice and were designed to double as luggage. We also needed to be strategic and develop a good/better/best assortment. In some instances, we can test new products with national brands, see what’s working, and then swap out those products for similar items sold under our private brands.
SB: As Love’s has expanded its private brands in recent years, have you seen the trust of shoppers in these products grow?
CC: One hundred percent. Products sold under our Amarillo Supply Co. brand include trucker merchandise such as truck parts and other items they would use on their trucks. We launched the line in 2022 and the line really picked up in 2024. We get a lot of repeat purchases, which shows our shoppers know it’s a good brand.
SB: Looking at the year ahead, what are the growth opportunities for Love’s within private label?
CC: We are looking at bringing in some seasonal SKUs, which we have not done before, we have a rapid hydration line launching soon, we’ll also be adding a kids’ water line. In non-consumables, our 12-volt line will include items such as saucepans, heaters, coolers, and even a vacuum to allow our trucker shoppers to clean out their trucks. In consumables, we want more innovation and are looking to bring in some unique flavors. We will also be expanding our water selection to include a 1.5-liter bottle, which appeals to the truckers.
