How do I get my product into Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Co?
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores originally opened in 1964 as a chain of some forty gas stations across the mid western area. Not long afterwards the fuel crunch hit in the seventies and in order to save the company then owner Tom Love diversified into the convenience store trade. Nowadays you can find two types of Love’s store – the travel stop can usually be found on highways and sports restaurant chain food as well as other amenities; while the convenience stores are smaller and sport their own self service fuel pumps.
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Co. has more than 450 locations across 41 different states, so if you need a company that has a lot of selling power this might be the one for you. They are purveyors of private label fresh foods, snack foods and the usual accouterments you might find at a gas station; although their Travel Stops are a lot larger and make suitable stops for truckers. Products that appeal to them will be useful for your average traveler and if they already supply a version of your product, yours needs to be better if you are going to win them over.
Gifts and novelties can also be found in Love’s stores, so if that is your product area then you might be in luck. With self-service fueling stations and the usual convenient goods; they offer a better range than most other convenience stores. They also implement co-branding, which means that you can pull up at their travel stops and order a Subway Sandwich or a Dunkin’ Donut. This innovative approach also means that if you can get your produce noticed by them, your product will be noticed by a whole load of other big names, too.
Importantly, Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Co receive the bulk of their supplies from a second distribution and produce holding company named McLane Company Inc. This company has an easy to access online system wherein you may submit your product application form without fuss. We have put together a few guidelines for you before we send you over there:
- Make sure you own the rights to produce your product, and that you have met all legal requirements.
- Ensure that you have all of the relevant paperwork to hand before applying.
- Compare your product to their existing range to see where you can improve or market.
- Find a Unique Selling Point that makes your product better than what they already stock.
- Make sure you have the appropriate insurance!
- McLane Company will only consider your proposal if it is made from another company, so make sure you are a registered trader before you send anything away to them.
If you think that Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores might be a good fit for your product, then you can fill in the new product application form with McLane Company Inc. here.