Truck stop empire to save mega-casino complex on California border

A truck stop giant wants to ride to Primm’s rescue before the once-bustling casino outpost on the California-Nevada border goes dark.

LV Petroleum — a Las Vegas-based company that operates 84 truck stops across 34 states — is interested in taking over the hotels, casinos and other amenities in Primm, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

CEO Kris Roach told the outlet Wednesday that the company hopes to quickly strike a deal with the Primm family, which owns the land, and Affinity Gaming, the tenant that has operated the businesses there.

“We would like to operate everything at the exit, the hotels, the casinos, the truck stop, the stores, pretty much from farm to table,” Roach told the Review-Journal. “We would like to revive the whole exit.”

The possible takeover could provide a sudden glimmer of hope for Primm Valley Resorts, the quirky desert pit stop along Interstate 15 that once greeted millions of Californians on their was to Las Vegas.

Operations at Primm Valley Resort, Buffalo Bill’s, Whiskey Pete’s, the Primm Center and the Flying J Truck Stop are expected to permanently close by July 4, according to a termination notice posted on May 6.

The shutdown is expected to eliminate roughly 344 jobs, and employee housing tenants tied to the casino operations were told to vacate their apartments by July 6.

Roach told the Review-Journal that LV Petroleum is trying to eep the truck stop open before the closing date and hopes to avoid employees losing their jobs.

“We;re trying to save it from going dark, and we would really like to keep everybody gainfully employed,” Roach said.

Roach also said the company would be interested in reopening Whiskey Pete’s if a deal can be reached.

Primm family members previously said they were working to find a solution for the struggling properties.

“If the Primm properties go dark, so does the welcome they have provided over the decades,” Cory Clemetson, president of the Primm landowner group and grandson of founder Ernie Primm, said in a statement earlier this month.

For decades, Primm served as the first taste of Nevada gambling for Californians crossing the border, with cheap rooms, outlet shopping, a roller coaster and casinos clustered along the freeway.

But the crowds faded as COVID-19 battered tourism and California tribal casinos gave gamblers closer-to-home options.

Affinity CEO Scott Butera recently told Nevada gaming regulators that the company tried multiple ways to make the Primm properties viable, according to the Review-Journal.

“The long and short of it is that it’s just not viable as a casino operation,” Butera said.

Roach said LV Petroleum is still waiting on final feedback, but wants to “restore that whole exit and make Primm great again.”

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