Kum & Go to Close Last Urban Walk-Up Store
DES MOINES, Iowa — Kum & Go's venture into urban walk-up stores will come to an end this month.
The convenience store chain confirmed that it will close its final walk-up store on March 24. The final day of the store, located at 319 Seventh St. in downtown Des Moines, will come a month after Walgreens closed a location in the area and Hy-Vee slashed the operating hours of its nearby Court Avenue store, citing falling sales and rising crime, as reported the Des Moines Register.
"We've learned a lot from operating our fuel-less concepts, however, they no longer fit into our long-term plans in Des Moines," said Kum & Go spokesperson Taylor Boland. "We'll continue to focus our efforts on locations that best serve our customers with fuel, delicious food, great service, and a clean and welcoming environment."
[Read more: Maverik Debuts First Rebranded Kum & Go Location]
Kum & Go opened the location in May 2020 as its first convenience store without fuel. The sustainability-focused site offered pizza, sandwiches, salads, high-end wine and liquor, and traditional c-store fare with the exception of roller grill hot dogs, nacho cheese bar or craft beer growlers available at its Marketplace concept stores.
The c-store chain later added four other urban walk-up stores in Denver; Omaha, Neb.; and Ames, Iowa. However, it closed them in late 2022, leaving the Des Moines location the only Kum & Go store of that format in operation, as Convenience Store News previously reported.
At the time, the company stated that the sites no longer fit into the company's long-term expansion plans.
The latest closing comes as the Kum & Go brand faces a partial rebranding as Maverik — Adventure's First Stop following its acquisition by the Salt Lake City-based company.
Maverik operates convenience stores across Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming — making it the largest independent fuel marketer in the Intermountain West.