QuikTrip Is CSNews’ Retailer Innovator of the Year

TULSA, Okla. — “We believe there is always a better way to do things and we believe to remain successful that we simply have to get better every day. Sometimes we stay ahead and sometimes we fall behind … but we’re always working at it,” Chet Cadieux, president of Tulsa-based convenience store chain QuikTrip Corp., said in a recent interview with Convenience Store News.

That drive for continuous improvement is one of the characteristics that sets QuikTrip apart from many other retailers in the convenience store industry. And it’s one of the reasons CSNews’ editors selected QuikTrip as the 2015 Retailer Innovator of the Year.

Previous winners of this award have included Pennsylvania-based Sheetz Inc. in 2014 and Wawa Inc. in 2013, and Georgia-based RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. in 2012.

QT, as it’s known to many of its customers, is the nation’s eighth-largest convenience store chain in company-operated units, with 700-plus stores generating more than $11 billion in revenue across 11 states.

Over its 57-year history, QT was one of the first to operate all its stores 24 hours a day, became a leading seller of motor fuels in all the markets in which it operates, and is now becoming a major factor in improving the perception of fresh foodservice in the c-store industry.

At the beginning of this year, the chain rolled out its new, highly praised, fresh, made-to-order food and beverage concept — QT Kitchens — to more than 90 percent of its stores.

Also this year, QuikTrip earned a spot on CSNews’ Top 20 Growth Chains list for the fourth year in a row; was named for the 12th straight year to Fortune magazine’s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For; and achieved a nod on Fortune’s inaugural list of the 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials.

Don’t miss CSNews’ exclusive interview with Cadieux as he discusses QT’s achievements and how the company empowers its employees to be the best, coming in the October issue.