Oklahoma City-based Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. says it has bought 10 acres of land in the Expo at Post Falls multiuse development north of Interstate 90 in west Post Falls, where it plans to build a 24-hour truck stop, with a fueling station, restaurant, and convenience store.

Rick Shuffield, Love's director of real estate, says the Post Falls project is in the early planning stages, and it might be six months to a number of years before construction begins on it.

The site is located on the west side of Pleasant View Road, on the north side of Pleasant View's westbound I-90 on-ramp and on the south side of Expo Parkway, nearly two miles east of the big Cabela's Inc. sporting goods outlet.

Shuffield says the location should be handy for highway travelers. "It has easy access and good visibility," from I-90, he says.

Love's bought the property from real estate developer Watson & Associates, of Seal Beach, Calif., which has been marketing the 300-acre Expo at Post Falls site for about 15 years.

Jim Watson, president of Watson & Associates, says his company has sold off about 100 acres of the site to developers so far, including an 18-acre commerce park and a 77-acre, 432-lot residential subdivision called Woodbridge, both just south of Seltice Way.

Watson says the Love's Travel Stops project would be a good fit with other commercial and retail users he hopes to attract to Expo at Post Falls. "It's a superb location, and we're delighted to have them," he says.

Love's operates more than 200 outlets in more than 30 states. Its closest outlets are in Heyburn, Idaho, and Ontario, Ore. Among its competitors is Brigham City, Utah-based Flying J Inc., which operates a truck stop and fueling station in Post Falls, about two blocks east of the proposed Love's location.

Loves is owned by the family of its CEO, Tom Love, who founded Love's Country Stores in 1978, and renamed it Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores in 2001.

Most of Love's Travel Stops have an attached national-brand fast-foot restaurant, such as a Taco Bell, Subway, or Pizza Hut outlet, although an eatery hasn't been selected for the proposed Post Falls site yet, Shuffield says.

Other amenities at Love's locations usually include RV dump stations, showers, and parking for overnight stays, he says. Love's locations typically have spaces for up to 150 trucks.

The Post Falls facilities would be designed by an Oklahoma City architect that has yet to be selected, and construction would be put out to bid locally, Shuffield says.

In November, Forbes Magazine ranked Love's Travel Stops the 25th largest private company in the U.S., with 2007 sales of $11.46 billion.