Gifts from the Road Merchandise at Travel Centers and Truck Stops

By Sara Karnish

Truck stops and travel centers are usually viewed as service providers, in a way, offering necessities to motorists and truck drivers —namely gas, food, and restrooms. These staples remain at the core of these facilities, although many have expanded into multi-faceted enterprises, with everything from restaurants to car museums, casinos to chapels. And many carry a wide selection of gifts and souvenirs. These venues do not just cater to long-haul truckers. Instead, travel centers and truck stops welcome a broad customer demographic—many of whom are regular shoppers. First-time visitors are often pleasantly surprised by the broad selection of gifts, if not a full-fledged gift shop, at many of these locations.

“My grandfather’s famous quote is ‘the only thing that doesn’t sell is merchandise left in storage.’ We sell all sorts of knickknacks that are cute and elegant all the way to downright weird,” said Raina Shoemaker , owner of Shoemaker’s Travel Center in Lincoln, Neb. “Some of our best-sellers are our big blankets with a variety of animal and pop culture prints on them. Last year I found a sour candy on Facebook called Sour Strips and they’ve been a big favorite to customers and staff. Lastly, our Husker section is a favorite for all types of customers. The Huskers are our pride and joy here in Nebraska and it gets wiped out [for] almost every home game.”

Travel centers and truck stops carve out their own niche in gifts and souvenirs by stocking merchandise unique to their physical location and surrounding geographic area. Lincoln Tarantino , general manager of Clines Corners in Clines Corners, N.M., and Glenda Garcia , gift shop manager at Russell’s Travel Center in Glenrio, N.M., are located along historic Route 66, and they say this alone helps to drive merchandise sales. “Anything we brand with the Route 66 logo—shot glasses, T-shirts [sells well], and anything that’s unique,” Tarantino said. “We offer our own proprietary Clines Corners merchandise, and anything with a New Mexico theme—we tie it in as much as possible. We do a fair amount of business with our T-shirts. Our authentic Mexican bajas sell well. We sell fireworks because so many other stores

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