Kentucky convenience store bathrooms transform into disco clubs

Jan. 26 (UPI) -- A chain of Kentucky convenience stores are attracting visitors and going viral online for an unusual feature: a button that turns the bathroom into a disco dance party.

Six HOP Shops locations in Northern Kentucky have big red buttons installed in their bathrooms with a sign reading: "Do Not Push This Button."

Mary Moss, the manager at the HOP Shops in Walton, said a winking photo of mascot Hopper the Frog on the sign is meant to indicate to customers that they should actually push the button, and its an experience she recommends.

Pushing the button activates colored lights, a disco ball and music in the bathroom, turning it into a miniature dance club.

The bathrooms have proven to be a big draw, with workers at the HOP Shops reporting that many people come into the stores just to experience the disco bathrooms. Videos documenting what happens when someone pushes the button have gone viral on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

"I had a 60-year-old woman who came out of the restroom and told me it was the best day of her life," Moss told WDKY-TV.

Ann Gilbert, manager of human resources at parent company Valor Oil, said the disco bathrooms were the brainchild of the company's vice president of retail marketing, Damon Bail.

The first bathroom was installed at the HOP Shop in Verona in February 2023, and proved to be such a big hit that the company started expanding them to other locations, with the sixth disco bathroom opening earlier this month in Florence.