QuikTrip Just Getting Started in the Carolinas

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- QuikTrip Corp. already has 37 convenience stores open in North and South Carolina, with 10 more under construction, but the chain isn't even halfway to its overall goal.

Instead of setting the total number of stores it plans to build when it moves into a new area, the company applies its site-search criteria and builds on sites that meet requirements, QuikTrip spokesman Mike Thornbrugh told the Charlotte Business Journal

The Tulsa, Okla.-based c-store chain's operations in the Carolinas are centered around the Charlotte, N.C., and Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., regions. QuikTrip built its first Charlotte-area store 17 months ago in Boiling Springs.

The company is pleased with its expansion in the region so far. "We really were amazed how many A-plus sites are available," Thornbrugh told the news outlet. He noted that it will take less time to find future sites in the Carolinas now that QuikTrip is known there. "It really makes our development go much easier."

QuikTrip is also expanding in Atlanta, where it has 129 stores; Dallas-Fort Worth, where it has 109 stores; and Arizona, where it has 104 stores. Each new store typically occupies 5,000 square feet and has 15 to 18 employees, but once business picks up, that number usually climbs to more than 20 employees, Thornbrugh said.

Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip Corp. operates more than 650 convenience stores in total.

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