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| 7/28/2010 10:29:00 AM | Joplin Petro begins $5M expansion, Super Truck showroom
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by Chris Roberts - Editor
Joplin Petro, which sits off exit 4 of Interstate 44, has started construction on a $5 million, 15,000 square foot Super Truck show room.
According to Heather DeBaillie, Marketing manager for Petro's nationwide corporate brand, the project is expected to be complete by the end of 2010. DeBaillie said this is the second Petro within the nation's chains to be expanded to include a Super Truck show room - the first was in Kenly, N.C., earlier this year. She said choosing to expand the Joplin location was a no-brainer for the company.
"Joplin is a great location for us," she said. "It's a location that we felt very comfortable putting money into to improve and expand and give our customers a new experience."
DeBaillie said the expanded show room will include a food court with Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants, a custom vinyl shop a light wall and a new elevator. The show room will feature two semi trucks on a turntable, and the new entrance will be made to look like an old classic semi. DeBaillie said Joplin Petro has already started hiring new employees to meet the demand that will come from the expansion, and that more jobs - including management positions - will be filled in the coming months.
The general contractor for the project is Russell Construction Co., Davenport, Iowa. The architect for the project is Scholtz Gowey Gere Marolf Architects and Interior Design, Rock Island, Ill.
Joplin Petro was built from the ground up in 1987 by Bill Moon. Moon and his wife, Carolyn Moon, started purchasing sections of land in Joplin in the late 1960s with the intent to site and build truck stops on the new interstate system for Standard Oil. His dream was to put a truck stop on Interstate 44, exit 4, and by the mid-1980s had purchased about 30 acres at that location. Moon decided to brand his truck stop as a Petro Stopping Center, which at the time was just starting to franchise - Joplin Petro became one of the first Petro franchised locations.
Joel Hamilton, Joplin Petro general manager, has been an employee at the truck stop since it first opened its doors in 1987.
"It was very exciting to finally complete construction and open the doors to our first customers," Hamilton said on the company's Web site. "I had a lot of anticipation for the day and was even losing sleep. Once the day came, it was over before we knew it."
Since opening in 1987, Joplin Petro has expanded or remodeled eight times - the biggest being the construction of a Sleep Inn hotel in 1944.
"Joplin Petro gets a lot of traffic," DeBaillie said. "Some of that is because of the Petro franchise affiliation - people look for Petro because they recognize it as being top-of-the-line. Some of it is also the great location. It's very convenient, and we hope to serve those who stop there even more with this expansion."
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