West Point Celebrates Opening of Love’s Truck Stop – LaGrange Daily News

West Point welcomes the nation’s largest Love’s Truck Stop to date at Exit 2 off the interstate. The LaGrange-Trop County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new location on Wednesday.

“They really showed us love by coming here,” West Point City Councilwoman Sandra Thornton said.

Love’s general manager, Jonathan Craig, thanked the community for its support as they worked to open the new location. West Point Mayor Steve Trammell said during the ribbon cutting that the city and citizens have been waiting for the station for a year.

“We very much appreciate you being here,” Trammell told Craig.

Since they opened their doors, the crowd they’ve seen has exceeded their expectations, Craig said.

“It took five minutes for the parking lot to fill up,” Craig said during the ribbon cutting.

The new facility introduced four new companies to West Point and Troup County. Within the new Love’s Station are fast food restaurants Hardee’s and Godfather’s. The Speedco Center at the back of the station is opening 30 days after Love’s opened its doors.

When it opened, Love’s hired 140 local employees to manage the facility. The station has had more than 1,500 rental applications from the community, Craig said.

Trammell and Councilman Jerry Ledbetter said they expect Love’s to be the number one revenue-generating retail establishment in the county.

Up front, Love’s Truck Stop has 18 gasoline fueling stations, two of which have diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) pumps, and 17-23 diesel stations equipped with DEF pumps.

“This will open the doors for truckers to pass through and see the area,” Thornton said. “Hopefully they’ll see how good West Point is and decide, ‘Well, maybe I’ll stay.’”

Once business stabilizes, they expect to pump about 1 million gallons of diesel per month and 60,000 to 70,000 gallons of gasoline per week, Craig said.

“In terms of revenue within sales, it’s hard to know at this point,” Craig said. “Right now, we’re starting at a really good point – better than we expected.”

Thornton said the station also offers recreational vehicle connections for travelers, which she said will be great for those heading to West Point Lake.

West Point passengers celebrated ribbon-cutting day as gasoline prices reached $2.69 per gallon.

“This is the biggest Valentine’s Day in the country, and for it to be right here in little old West Point in Georgia, we’re really lucky,” Thornton said.