Most of the world recognizes Dolly Parton as a legitimate icon of the country music world and the pop culture arena at large. The songstress known as “The Iron Butterfly” has also become a philanthropic force of nature in recent years, and has long been recognized as an entrepreneur of the first order, leveraging her celebrity into, among other things, a massively popular theme park, as well as a winery, a line of beauty products, and even a range of pet toys and clothing, to name a few.
Turns out that The Smoky Mountain Songbird behind classics like “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” and “Coat of Many Colors” is adding another feather to her entrepreneurial cap by getting into the gas station game. According to several sources, she’s doing so by teaming up with the owners a rest stop and filling station cut from a similar cloth as Texas’s rapidly growing Buc-ee’s franchise.
Parton is not looking to build a travel stop empire from the ground up, however. Rather, she has entered into a partnership with a fledgling travel stop outfit that has already set up shop in her native Tennessee. At present, that outfit has but one travel stop up and running in Cornersville, TN’s The Tennessean Travel Stop. With Parton on board, the location is getting the full re-brand treatment, and when the site re-opens, it will henceforth be recognized as Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop. Along with the new name, it’ll also get a few Dolly-specific upgrades.
What to know about Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop
If you’re interested in supporting Dolly Parton’s venture into the increasingly competitive travel stop market, you can find the flagship Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tennessee by taking exit 22 off of I-65. That spot is located approximately one-hour south of Nashville, or one hour northwest of Huntsville. According to the brand’s website, the travel stop is meant to provide all manner of creature comforts to truckers, travelers and locals alike.
The former Tennessean Travel Stop was already set up to provide many of those comforts, including fresh food, green spaces, clean restrooms, and loads of easy-access parking. With Parton on board, the location is getting a glow-up that includes a coffee shop selling the legend’s signature Cup of Ambition coffee line, and an outlet featuring her DLY BBQ culinary offerings. The revamped Tennessean will also feature a dedicated dog park, patio spaces and lounge areas, EV charging stations, and even an event space.
Apart from that, the travel stop will feature a live music space to feature artists from the area. Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop will also feature a replica tour bus based on the one Parton herself spent much of her touring life aboard, along with a massive mural, the contents of which have yet to be revealed. The veil will, presumably, be lifted during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop, which is slated to unfold on June 24, 2026. While it has yet to be confirmed, one can assume that The Iron Butterfly may well turn up for that ceremony.