FLORENCE, Ky. — What looks like an ordinary gas station has become a TikTok sensation across Kentucky.
Bathrooms are usually one of the few places one can experience privacy, but Hop Shops bathrooms are not ordinary. In fact, they're drawing attention across the U.S.
Kya Walton, Northern Kentucky native and employee, spends the majority of her day welcoming people to the gas station and working the cash register. While the gas station looks like a typical convenience store where people stop in to fill up their cars, get a snack and use the bathroom, it features something special.
“The disco bathrooms? They are crazy,” Walton said.
In March 2022, Damon Bail, vice president of retail marketing and operations with Valor Oil, pitched the disco bathroom idea. He said every stop on a trip should be exciting. Walton added since the remodel, people from all over the state have come.
When a guest pushes the button reading "DO NOT PUSH THIS RED BUTTON," suddenly for 60 seconds, lights go down, music starts, colorful spotlights come on and a disco ball spins. Since their implementation, people from all over have traveled to the state and recorded clips of their experiences on TikTok and YouTube. Walton said she recalls someone breakdancing one time.
"I like seeing people really excited and happy," Walton said.
Four out of 14 HOP Shops currently feature disco ball bathrooms. In 2024, Valor Oil plans to open up an additional one.