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Bowlin Travel Centers Inc. has been serving the Southwest traveling public since 1912. Its success over the years, according to Director of Operations Kit Johnson, is due to its diverse services that range from providing unique Southwest-style gifts, to food and fuel. Bowlin operates 10 full-service travel centers in New Mexico and Arizona. The company owns and operates a Dairy Queen in five of these centers. Bowlin also is a fuel distributor for Exxon, Shell and Mobil.

Johnson also credits Bowlin’s vendors for its continued success. “[Many] of our products are made in the United States,” he says. “All of our items are indicative of the Southwest influx. We have high-quality people that provide merchandise for our stores. Having a huge amount of experience is important to us. We operate in rural areas along the highway, and it is important to maintain a high level of integrity, so people will come back next time they pass through here.”

Bowlin has been family owned for 96 years. “We’ve been in business for an awfully long time,” Johnson notes. “We have proved to demonstrate endurance through the bad times and good times. There aren’t a whole lot of travel centers out there like us. We are not a truck stop facility, although we cater to a lot of truck drivers.”

A Wide Presence
Another part of Bowlin’s business is outdoor advertising, which began as an extension of service to the traveling public. By the mid-1990s, the company had more than 3,000 billboard faces in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma.

“At one point, we owned and operated over 5,000 billboard faces throughout the Southwest,” Johnson states. In 2001, we sold 4,500 of those billboards to Lamar Outdoor, a multimedia company.”
Today, Bowlin maintains approximately 550 billboard faces in New Mexico and Arizona. “It extends 40 miles in either direction,” Johnson says.

Positive Thinking
“Customers today purchase goods with discretionary income,” Johnson notes. “Things we sell are gift items – these are what customers want, but not need. The fuel prices have dictated a lot over the last couple of years, and people choose to spend money on their needs – fuel and food.”

However, Johnson says, most businesses are in the same boat. “Any business this year – regardless if it is retail or otherwise – has been challenged by the economic environment,” he says. “The media gives out a gloom-and-doom scenario. Our country has been through the good and bad [times], but the media only portray the bad times.

“Certainly, the economic environment presents a challenge right now, but we are very optimistic about the future and what the economy holds for [Bowlin’s] future.”
The economy will cycle back, he states. “We have positioned ourselves financially so we can weather the storm and in such a way that we can catch up really quickly once we see the economy start cycling back,” he says.

Another constant challenge for Bowlin is government regulations. “There are more and more regulations that are more harmful to business than helpful,” Johnson explains. “It costs us money and time and it distracts us from  just running a business.” One example, he says, is the environmental department and its constantly changing plans. “We enjoy clean air – that’s good, but in many cases we go overboard,” he says.

Looking Ahead
Bowlin’s future looks bright, Johnson notes. “We are a very progressive company,” he states. “We literally have been a leader in the Southwest and we would like to maintain that. We’re always evolving as customers evolve to meet their needs.”

That attitude is written into Bowlin’s mission statement. It reads: “Bowlin Travel Centers shall continue to grow and serve our customers in our long-standing tradition of honesty, integrity, and hospitality by providing high-quality products and services at competitive prices, while providing financial stability and a reasonable return on equity for our stockholders, and compensation in excess of market along with a satisfying work environment for our employees.”