History

Crafting a Legacy

Tom Love was an entrepreneur who began with a simple idea: offer value-priced fuel in the heartland. In 1964, he and his wife Judy opened their first service station in Watonga, Oklahoma. Through tremendous hard work and determination, one station soon became a network of 40 filling stations. Tom was innovative, offering competitive differentiation through extended hours and the creation of Country Stores that included groceries and self-serve gasoline.

In 1981, Tom and his leadership team opened the first Love’s Travel Stop on the interstate highway system, forever changing the landscape of transportation in the United States. Forward-thinking and relentless in his pursuit of growth, Tom was emphatic in his belief that the company remains a family-owned enterprise. His legacy lives on through the second and third generations of the Love family, who embody these traits in their active management of the core business.

What started as one service station has now expanded coast to coast with nearly 650 Travel Stops and Country Stores and a vertically integrated suite of complementary companies that comprise the Love’s Family of Companies. Tom Love named every company that was started, and Cortes was the last one he named before his passing in 2023. He told us that “Cortes” is appropriate because we are “conquering the world of private investment opportunities.” We promise to maintain his entrepreneurial tenacity, discipline, and growth mindset.