Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores company is celebrating its 10th consecutive year on Forbes magazine’s annual list of the nation’s largest privately held companies. 
The Oklahoma City-based operator of convenience stores and travel centers, which debuted in the 2000 Forbes list at No. 446, now ranks as No. 18 among private U.S. companies and is the highest ranking Oklahoma firm on the list. Love’s has a locally operated store on Hwy. 144 near the I-95 interchange in Richmond Hill.
Forbes compiled the 2010 list based on estimates of each company’s fiscal-year 2009 revenue, which was $12.6 billion, according to company estimates. The company employs about 6,700 people nationwide.
“Our expansion from a single gas station in Watonga, Okla., to more than 260 locations on highways and interstates across the country has been fueled by continued innovation and an unwavering dedication to exceeding customer expectations,” said Tom Love, Love’s chairman and CEO.
Together, the 223 private companies that made Forbes’ list employ 4.4 billion people and boast revenues of $1.3 trillion.