Kwik Trip's 2014 Plan Calls for Nearly Three Dozen New Stores

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- The footprint of Kwik Trip Inc. is expected to grow across the Midwest this year, with 34 new stores on the horizon.

Of its nearly three dozen new convenience stores set to open in 2014, the La Crosse-based retailer is planning eight locations in the Twin Ports market of Minnesota. Kwik Trip will open three convenience store/gas station combos in Superior, two in Duluth, two in Hermantown and one in Scanlon, according to the Duluth News Tribune.

In addition, six to eight more stores in this region will follow in 2015, bringing the total to 14 to 16 stores in just two years, said Scott Teigen, Kwik Trip's chief financial officer, adding that the company is "never done."

Kwik Trip plans to start building the first of the eight stores in the Twin Ports area this spring, starting with a store at Tower Avenue and North 28th Street in Superior, the newspaper reported.

"As these deals close, we'll demo the old buildings and probably see construction start in May," Teigen said. "We plan to start a store every two weeks. By July or August, they'll all be under some phase of construction."

Kwik Trip stores are typically about 4,000 square feet with outside gas islands. The new stores will start opening in September, starting with the Tower Avenue store, Teigen said.

"Every few weeks, another one will open through the end of December," he added. "A year from now, all eight will be operating."

As for its plans in 2015, Kwik Trip is eyeing six to eight more stores in the market, including three more in Duluth, another one in Superior, and one on Minnesota Highway 33 in Cloquet, Teigen told the newspaper.

Minnesota is not the only growth market for the retailer, either. According to a report in the Wausau Daily Herald, Kwik Trip opened its latest Wausau-area store in Rib Mountain, Wis., at the end of December.

The Rib Mountain location marks the retailer’s third new Wausau-area location within the last five months, and is one of the company's bigger stores with 10 regular gas pumps and four diesel pumps. The store also has compressed natural gas for fleet vehicles and an on-site car wash.

Kwik Trip has more than 400 locations across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.

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