A company that operates 84 truck stops in 34 states, including three in Nevada, is interested in taking over the hotels, casinos and other amenities at Primm.
The top executive of LV Petroleum LLC — the fourth-largest truck-stop chain in the United States — said Wednesday the company hopes to make a deal quickly with the Primm family, which owns the land on the California-Nevada border at Primm, and Affinity Gaming, the tenant that has operated several businesses there, including three casino-hotels, a convenience store that sells the most California lottery tickets to Nevadans and a truck stop.
LV Petroleum CEO Kris Roach said he hopes he can negotiate a deal to keep the truck stop open before the planned July 4 closing date.
“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 said in a Wednesday telephone interview. “We would like to revive the whole exit.”
Roach indicated that changes would not occur overnight, but that it would be LV Petroleum’s vision “to restore that whole exit and make Primm great again.”
He said LV Petroleum has partners that are licensed to run casino operations and hotels so he doesn’t view a transition as a problem.
“Our core business is, we’re truck stop operators and C-store operators, and we also operate over 200 quick-serve and full-serve restaurants,” Roach said.
“We’re a plug and play, so it would be an easy transition for us,” he said.
Affinity officials alerted state officials in a May 5 letter of its plans to make what had been temporary closures of Buffalo Bill’s and the Primm Valley Resort permanent. The company had already closed Whiskey Pete’s in December 2024.
On May 10, Affinity CEO Scott Butera elaborated on closure plans in an appearance before the Nevada Gaming Control Board during an unrelated licensing matter.
During that hearing, Butera alluded to LV Petroleum’s interest in acquiring some of Primm assets, but gave no details on a timeline or acquisition price.
But Roach indicated he did not want the stores to go dark or to lose employees. An estimated 344 employees at the hotels and amenities would lose their jobs if the July 4 closure occurs.
Reopening Whiskey Pete’s
Roach indicated LV Petroleum would be interested in reopening Whiskey Pete’s, the 777-room hotel property on the west side of Interstate 15 about 40 miles south of Las Vegas, if a deal can be made.
LV Petroleum operates the TA Travel Center near the Railroad Pass Casino between Henderson and Boulder City and TA Travel Centers in West Wendover and Carlin. It also owns several Conoco-branded service stations valleywide.
In his elaboration on the Primm shutdown before the Control Board, Butera said the company is doing everything possible to turn the Primm entities over to another owner.
“We tried many things there, including building a new sign and adding new slot machines,” Butera said in a hearing before Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer. “The long and short of it is that it’s just not viable as a casino operation and as such, we informed the landlord that we’re no longer able to operate.”
‘Gravely concerned’
Dreitzer said regulators are gravely concerned about the Primm shutdown, since the town serves as a gateway to Southern Nevada from its largest market, Southern California.
Roach said his company hasn’t received a final word on whether the company’s plan to open one side of the I-15 exit first and then follow up with the other side would be accepted.
“We’re still waiting back on final feedback, but we’ve met with the family. We’ve had conversations with Affinity Gaming,” he said. “We’re trying to save it from going dark, and we would really like to keep everybody gainfully employed.”
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
