Lattes, bowling and diesel. New Columbia truck stop redefines full-service
A new Bluff Road business will soon let customers order a Starbucks vanilla latte before heaving a few bowling balls.
All while their 18-wheeler is getting serviced.
The business is a new travel center at Bluff Road and Interstate 77 scheduled to open March 15. The Petro Stopping Center will, of course, try to entice travelers and truckers to stop in while driving to and from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and other places up north.
But unlike a lot of the multi-business travel centers built along interstates during the last few years, the Bluff Road Petro Stopping Center will also target nearby residents.
“The location in Columbia is very, very uniquely situated and the opportunity to offer amenities and fun for the community to come and join us is great,” said Tom Liutkus, spokesman for TravelCenters of America, which includes the Petro Stopping Center brand.
“We’re not far from the university, we’re not far from (Fort Jackson), there’s a large collection of rooftops in and around us, and we want to be part of that community.”
The center, which also will include a Quaker Steak and Lube restaurant, is less than three miles from Williams-Brice Stadium and several student apartment complexes that have been constructed in recent years.
The Bluff Road business is still intended to be a full-service travel center. It will feature a Minit Mart, Best Wings USA, and a six-bay TA Truck Service maintenance garage.
About half of the Minit Mart space will feature traditional convenience store items, while significant space will be dedicated to the professional truck driver and recreational vehicle travelers.
The maintenance garage will handle light-duty maintenance and repair on 18-wheelers and other heavy vehicles such as dump trucks.
The business will have eight diesel lanes, 10 professional-driver showers – which are not restricted to professional drivers – a TV lounge, gameroom, and laundry facilities.
Some of the businesses in the center such as the fueling stations, the convenience store and the garages are traditionally open 24 hours a day, Liutkus said. Other businesses will set their own hours, he said.
The property manager at one nearby apartment complex believes the travel center could appeal to residents.
Copper Beech Townhomes is a 350-apartment complex with 1,002 bedrooms a few blocks from the new travel center.
“This is student housing – it’s for college kids,” said Rose Bateman, property manager Copper Beech Townhomes. “I certainly agree that a bowling alley would be a wonderful addition to the neighborhood. It would give them something more productive to do with their time, as opposed to just sitting around, or having to go so far downtown to enjoy themselves.”
Roddie Burris: 803-771-8398
Working at Petro Stopping Center
The Petro Stopping Center at I-77 and Bluff Road anticipates hiring 268 employees, spokesman Tom Liutkus said, nearly all of them full-time positions. The company will be hiring store clerks, customer service representatives, barristers and managers, diesel and auto technicians, bookkeepers, bartenders, fast food crews, service writers, managers, assistant managers and shift leads, cooks, wait staff, restaurant managers and bowling alley attendants.
Four job fairs are planned to fill the travel center’s needs, at which time all businesses will be hiring simultaneously, Liutkus said. Interested parties are urged to attend the job fairs and can apply now at www.myPETROjob.com, or by calling (888) 673-8765.
Three job fairs will be held at South Carolina Works, the state unemployment office, located at 700 Taylor St., Columbia, on Feb. 7, 14, and 21 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. The remaining job fair will take place Feb. 8 at the Hampton Inn, 201 East Exchange Blvd., Columbia, from 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
About TravelCenters of America and Petro Express
TravelCenters currently operate 255 locations in 40 U.S. states with one location in Canada. In South Carolina, there’s a Petro Stopping Center in Florence and TA brand stores in Florence, Manning, Spartanburg and at I-20 and U.S. 21 in Columbia.
The company is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the TA symbol.
This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Lattes, bowling and diesel. New Columbia truck stop redefines full-service."