One of the ways Petro Dodge City #397 in Hanceville, Alabama, sets itself apart from its competition is by having an historic outhouse in its truckstop.
The idea to add the outhouse was sparked by Operations Manager Keith Wade when reminiscing with an old friend at Petro about a truckstop that had a large grizzly bear in the lobby. The friend shared that one of his customers was trying to track down that truckstop with the bear that she remembered from trips to the beach in her youth. “It got me thinking that people remember destination sites and I need to do something,” he shared.
His idea? Add an historic outhouse that was inexpensive and worked with their Dodge City Theme. They were lucky enough to have a 75-year-old artisan in the area who built it out of old barn wood.
The idea is generating the buzz he desired. “The great thing that has happened is we have had hundreds of people take photos of themselves in it. We have had to reinforce the poop deck as 250-pound drivers get inside it on occasion,” he shared. It is also generating some good old-fashioned fun. “We have seen no negatives, only laughter,” he said. “We just hope that no one ever really uses it!”
Photo Credit: Keith Wade
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