Bowlin Travel Centers

Dotting the desert with gas pumps and gifts, Bowlin Travel Centers (BTC) operates about 10 full-service, southwestern-themed travel centers along desolate stretches of interstates I-10 and I-40 in arid Arizona and New Mexico. Its travel centers offer snacks, souvenirs provided by Native American tribes or imported from Mexico, gas (Shell and ExxonMobil brands), and restaurants (Dairy Queen at five locations). It also sells gasoline wholesale. BTC traces its roots to 1912 when founder, Claude Bowlin, started trading goods and services with Native Americans in New Mexico. Today, BTC is controlled by its chairman, president, and CEO Michael Bowlin and his family.