After just over eight years of development, Wilkinson Companies has opened its largest truck and travel center just north of I-80 and south of the Platte River at exit 312 in Grand Island.

The newest Fat Dogs came with a multitude of challenges, company officials said. After purchasing the land, Fat Dog’s worked with civil engineers in cooperation with the Nebraska Department of Transportation to determine the best ingress and egress, mindful of state safety standards for the busy I-80 and U.S. Highway 281 corridors.

Also, the Fat Dogs’ brand has evolved since the purchase of the property, which demanded additional requirements for public improvements at the intersection, the company said.

“Safety and accessibility for traffic was the No. 1 priority for this development,” said Mark Wilkinson, who is also known as Fat Dog. “It came with a hefty price tag for us.”

Wilkinson, along with his father Gil Wilkinson, have developed the Fat Dogs brand for nearly 30 years and have developed commercial sites across Nebraska even longer. The brand and its edginess have coined the taglines, “Girth Matters” and “You are Nowhere” and most recently, priding itself with the label, “WE ARE NEBRASKA.”

The company, a Nebraska owned and operated corporation, has travel centers across the state from Sidney to Lincoln. The Grand Island opening came exactly one month after a new Fat Dogs Truck and Travel Center opened at the airport I-80 exit in Lincoln, said Chief Operating Officer Clarine Eickhoff.

Colorful, unique murals on the upper high walls of each store spotlight the community and individuality of each area; portraying sports mascots and local attractions with a mix of mouthy female profiles and characters.

Lincoln has a large graffiti mural including images of Abraham Lincoln and Tom Osborne.

The new sites are open 24/7, 365, offering hot food, deli and convenience items for business, professional, family, and truck traffic. The Grand Island site has a unique, extensive upper floor with a trucker’s lounge with elevator, exercise room and showers. Laundry facilities, skill machines and televisions invite drivers to relax during required break times.

And, additional tenant space is available for lease inside and outside the building and on both floors.

Wilkinson Companies currently have just over 300 employees and operate nine gas stations and four hotels. A new Fat Dogs is also taking shape in North Platte at exit 179 on I-80, with an opening planned in the first quarter of 2025, Eickhoff said.

© 2024 The North Platte Bulletin. All rights reserved.