Maverick Junction becomes Coffee Cup Fuel Stop
By Curt Nettinga

HOT SPRINGS n A well-known name to truckers will be going up on the property which has been known as Maverick Junction Truck Stop for many years.

Coffee Cup Fuel Stop, based in Aberdeen, purchased the 16-plus acre property including the convenience store, café and casino located at the junction five miles southeast of Hot Springs.

“It has kind of been in the back of one of our owner’s minds for a while now,” said Troy Winger, operations manager for the company, who has been working here and at another new property in Moorcroft, Wyo.

“The thought has been there and things just kind of fell into place this time around,” Winger said. “The continuation of the Heartland Express makes this a very desirable intersection with substantial truck traffic north and south.”

The property had been offered at auction earlier this summer, but failed to sell. Coffee Cup closed the sale on Nov. 30 and started to make some changes to the area landmark.

“We have increased the hours of operation in the café,” Winger said. “So we have added seven or eight employees to cover the increased hours.” Winger said that there were some new employees, but that some of the staff was returning to the facility after being employed there previously.

Another immediate change, which has been noticed throughout Hot Springs, is that fuel prices have come down. Prices are expected to mirror those in Rapid City. Winger said that the first order of business after the purchase was to change to the Sinclair brand of gasoline, which can be found at all of the other stations.

In the very near future new signage should be installed, including a digital gas price sign and reader board. There will be new, updated gas pump islands coming soon as well.

Coffee Cup Fuel Stop will now have eight facilities in the area, including the one in Moorcroft, one in North Dakota and five others in South Dakota. Coffee Cup is closely associated with Harms Oil Company. “Yeah, pretty closely,” Winger agreed. “The president of Coffee Cup is Duane Harms of Harms Oil. My office is actually part of the Harms offices in Brookings.”

Plans for the future include a complete re-build or remodel of the facilities, although Winger said it has not yet been determined the direction that the construction will take.

“There is a lot of room there,” he said. “We may begin building to the north and east and have a completely new structure or we may incorporate some of the existing building. Kind of depends on what the architect comes up with.”

Winger said he expects work to begin as soon as there is a plan at the facility and says that the company has a timeline of nine to 18 months for the project.

“We’re excited to be coming to a new area for us,” he said. “We look forward to doing business in the area.”