Steve and Linda Uphoff first ventured into their own convenience store business, Uppy’s Convenience Stores, in 1996. The family’s first convenience store was built in Emporia, Virginia. Opening on March 18, 1996, it was designed to mirror an old 1950’s dinner, with an Amoco branded gasoline canopy, six MPD’s, a full-service Taco Bell, Subway, Dairy Queen and an Uppy’s branded convenience store. In August 1998, the Uphoffs also started their own wholesale fuels business, Southside Oil with three fuel transport trucks and trailers, and four fuel oil delivery trucks in Boydton, Virginia.