|
Tom
Love
Inducted 1994
Tom
Love was born in Oklahoma City in October, 1937. He married his wife
Judy on December 26, 1961. He graduated from St. Gregory’s High
School in Shawnee, OK and attended St. John’s University in St.
Cloud, MN and the University of Oklahoma.
In 1964 with no assets, Tom and Judy Love incorporated Musket
Corporation, the predecessor to Love’s Country Stores, and leased an
abandoned filling station in Watonga, OK. This was repeated in about
40 stations until 1972 when the First Love’s Country Store opened in
Guymon, OK. With this first store came another first, a convenience
store with self service gasoline which was unknown in most of the
country at that time.
By 1981 Love’s was successfully operating 100 combination
convenience and filling station stores. In 1982 Love’s moved on to
the interstate highway for the first time in Amarillo, TX, with the
new, bigger Love’s Travel Stops.
Today Love’s has 130 stores and employs 1700 people in Oklahoma,
Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and Arkansas. GO! Systems, the
commercial fleet fuel program offered through Love’s, now has more
than 300 locations accepting the GO! Card in seven states.
Free-standing gift stores, the Oklahoma Trading Posts, were opened
in 1993.
Tom Love has been active in both state and national oil marketer’s
activities. In October, 1971, he was elected Vice-President of the
National Oil Jobbers Council (NOJC) from the South Central Region
and went on to be Senior Vice-President of NOJC in October 1973 and
President in 1975.
In 1991, Tom was presented with the “Corporation of the Year” award
by the Oklahoma City chapter of Sales and Marketing Executives
International.
|
back to honoree
list |