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| Dad's Travel Center General Manager Kevin Bird outside the new store scheduled to open a week from Monday. |
The center has 16 gasoline/diesel pumps and two extra high-speed diesel pump, said Kevin Bird, general manager for Dad's. Located on 47 acres, there is a 3,250-square-foot convenience store.
Bird said the plan has been all along to build a travel center on Hitt Road. Dad's moved in to a smaller store in 2003 to get a feel for the location, and was ready to move five years ago when the economy went in the tank. With their 10-year lease due to expire and the economy improving, they finally decided last year to develop the land.
It has been a big project. Making room for the store, the pumps and the parking lot they moved 871 dump trucks of topsoil. Landscaping is due to take place next week before they open. When finished, there will be areas for picnicking.
In the store, they are offering Champ's chicken, a brand that started in Auxvasse, Mo., in 1999 and now has more than 500 locations in the United States. They will also have pizza by the slice, baked onsite, from a well-known take-and-bake operator. They will have Reed's Dairy ice cream by the scoop and also be an outlet for Reed's Dairy products.
The store and the pumps are all lit by LED lighting, which is more expensive but brighter and more cost-efficient over the long haul, Bird said.
