Owensboro-based Valor Oil is expanding its HOP Shops brand of convenient stores by purchasing Jumpin’ Jack’s Travel Plaza in Lewisport. It marks the second of three planned HOP Shops — which are becoming well-known for their “disco bathrooms” — in the Owensboro area.
With the completion of this sale, Valor Oil now operates 15 HOP Shops locations throughout Kentucky and Ohio.
In July 2023, Valor purchased the HawesWay 60 Travel Plaza in Owensboro. The current truck stop and incorporated restaurant will be demolished, and Valor will build a new travel plaza featuring a HOP Shops convenience store.
Valor Oil officially took ownership of the Lewisport property on February 20. The travel plaza is located on the portion of the land at the intersection of U.S. 60 and KY 657. The main building on the property houses a gas station, convenience store, restaurant, and bank.
The third location in the area will be in Reo, Indiana, a move that is expected to be finalized in 2024.
HOP Shops have rapidly grown in popularity due in part to their “disco bathrooms” that have become a viral sensation on social media, garnering 175M+ views on TikTok and Instagram worldwide. They have gained further notoriety by being featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and the BOB & TOM Show.
Inside the bathrooms is a red button with a sign reading “DO NOT PUSH THIS RED BUTTON” above it. Pressing the button triggers the main lights to cut off during a 60-second disco session, complete with music and a spinning disco ball.
Currently, only 4 HOP Shops feature disco ball bathrooms.
This is not the first time Valor has had a hand in store operations.
“We operated convenience stores in Kentucky from the early 1990s until 2006 under the name Jumpin’ Jacks. We made a strategic decision at that time to exit the store operations division and grow our fuel distributorship,” Valor President Josh Emmick said previously.
He said he had no intentions of getting back into operating stores until 2018 when Valor purchased a multi-divisional company in Florence, Kentucky.
“We honestly didn’t know if we would spin the stores from that acquisition off or keep them. We acquired and hired the right human capital which has allowed us to grow that division immensely,” Emmick said.
Upon purchasing the Owensboro location last year, Emmick said Valor was “definitely back in the store operating business and glad to bring our services to our hometown.”
“I hope to make Hawesway an attractive entrance for people visiting Owensboro,” he said at the time. “We hope the new site sets the standard for Owensboro guests and people passing through on the new interstate corridor.”
Emmick said the purchase of the Owensboro property kicked off a strategic decision that included taking over the Lewisport and Reo travel plazas. At each location, Valor will be building a HOP Shops convenience store. The HOP Shop company was created in 1966 and is owned by the Emmick family and Valor Oil.
Anyone interested in employment opportunities with HOP Shops can go to hopshops.com/careers/ to apply for their site of preference.
