Kum & Go Brings Marketplace Store Prototype to Missouri

JOPLIN, Mo. — Kum & Go LC opened the doors to its second location featuring its new Marketplace prototype design, at 3434 South Range Line Road in Joplin.

Boasting more than 6,000 square feet, the Marketplace design showcases the brand’s elevated food experience with Kum & Go’s “Go Fresh Market” foodservice offering.

Developed over the course of two years, the design is an entirely new concept, the convenience store chain stated. The expanded and open food preparation area is the store’s focal point, sitting front and center so customers can see it from the moment they walk into the store.

Other unique features of the Marketplace prototype store include:

• Clear, easy-to-navigate aisles;
• Indoor seating and heated patio seating outside;
• An expansive beer cave; and
• Complimentary Wi-Fi and charging stations.

The Joplin store has also been designed for LEED certification, using energy-efficient and sustainable design practices, according to the retailer.

The most unique feature of the Joplin site is a custom-designed, 8-foot tall by 7-foot wide ampersand that sits on the north side of the store and pays homage to Kum & Go’s slogan, “Where & Means More.” Designed and produced by Des Moines art studio Sticks, the artwork honors the community of Joplin with key words and images that reflect the area’s attractions and slogans on one side, and showcases Kum & Go’s core values and culture on the other.

“This new footprint represents everything that Kum & Go strives to be for our associates and for our customers,” said Kum & Go President and CEO Kyle Krause. “This is the evolution of our brand promise and business approach. Now, customers can truly experience the ‘more’ that we provide.”

To celebrate the latest store opening, Kum & Go made a $1,000 contribution to Art Feeds Joplin, an organization that provides art programming and therapy for more than 5,000 young artists every week in 16 schools and three children’s organizations.

The chain now operates eight stores in the Joplin community and more than 70 in the state of Missouri.

Kum & Go took the wraps off its first Marketplace prototype store in Johnston, Iowa, in February. That location — and most Iowa Kum & Go stores to come — feature a growler station, but the Joplin location does not because of Missouri state law. Iowa in 2015 passed a law permitting c-stores to have a growler station; however, it is not yet legal in Missouri.  

"The [Joplin] store can easily be retrofitted to add one if the law were to change," Kum & Go Communications Director Kristie Bell told Convenience Store News. "Instead of a full growler station, that space is now occupied by a storage divider that separates the indoor seating area from the rest of the store, and has storage consoles that could be used as sampling stations in other spots in the store." 

The other difference between the Joplin store and the Johnston store is the material used for the exterior. The Johnston store’s exterior is brick, while the Joplin store's exterior is Nichiha, a fiber cement material.

Throughout this year, Kum & Go plans to open more locations sporting the Marketplace design in Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Missouri and Arkansas.

The next Missouri store is projected to open in the city of Republic in the coming weeks.

Des Moines, Iowa-based Kum & Go operates 430 convenience stores in 11 states including Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming.