KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.
—
If all goes according to plan, the Great American Road Trip will start near Interstate 70 and Noland Road by the end of next summer.
Wally’s, a Midwestern chain of massive travel plazas that dubs itself the “Home of the Great American Road Trip,” celebrated a groundbreaking Thursday for its Independence location.
Wally’s received final approval in October 2025 for a 50,000-square-foot travel center, which will have 80 fuel pumps and 20 high-speed electric vehicle chargers, at the site of a demolished Kmart — north of I-70 and east of Noland.
“We are looking to be part of the group of companies that are going to come in and reinvest and make this a vibrant corridor once again,” Wally’s CEO Michael Rubenstein said. “We think it has all of the ingredients to make that happen.”
RELATED | ‘Right spot for us’: Wally’s CEO reacts to initial approval
The groundbreaking marks the end of a four-and-a-half-year journey for Rubenstein.
“The way we find sites is we drive the roads and we look for what we think would be best for our business,” he said. “I saw this site — obviously, it's been sitting vacant for a long time... It's an amazing site, it fits exactly our brand and home of the Great American Road Trip."
It took 18 months to reach the property owner and get a contract on the site, and the Wally’s team spent another year working on a traffic plan.
“We will be funding a lot of roadwork improvements — public, off-site improvements. And so, getting alignment and coordinating with MoDOT (the Missouri Department of Transportation), the city took a long time,” Rubenstein said.
Wally’s — think an Americana version of Buc-ee's — will extend the entrance and exit ramps to and from Noland Road to I-70, add lanes to the Noland Road overpass over I-70, and realign the East Lynn Court Drive intersection to remove the offset.
“Sometimes, the best things are the hardest things,” Rubenstein said. “This was certainly challenging, but you know, now it's all rear-view mirror, and we're moving forward and excited to get started.”
After completing that study, Wally's navigated the approval process with the Independence City Council to reach Thursday’s milestone.
But after years of blight, Wally’s will breathe new life into an intersection dubbed by some as Independence’s “front porch.”
“To see life brought back to this section, and right off the highway, the businesses are happy that they're going to be here. So, it's just nice to see that we're going to have a vibrant business here,” Independence Councilmember Jennie Vaught said.
Residents also were glad to see progress at the site.
“Get rid of this eyesore and get rid of the problems that have been developing here,” longtime Independence resident Becky Hake said.
Three years ago, Independence took the drastic step of razing the former Venture-turned-Kmart building when it became a magnet for crime and vagrancy.
“I'm really glad to see something that is going to bring in tourism, that is going to bring in outside people that might adventure out and spend more time in Independence,” Hake said.
Rubenstein said Wally’s will invest roughly $40 million into the project, including its commitments to the traffic plan, and he expects it will create 175 to 200 jobs.
Wally’s opened its first store in Pontiac, Illinois, before adding a location in Fenton, Missouri. A third location is set to open in the coming months in Indianapolis, while Independence will be the fourth — and largest — Wally’s.
—
