Kwik Trip

Kwik Trip/Kwik Star is a chain of convenience stores founded in 1965[1] with locations throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota under the name Kwik Trip, and in Iowa under the name Kwik Star (to avoid confusion with QuikTrip). The company also operates stores under the name Hearty Platter, Tobacco Outlet Plus, and Kwik Trip/Kwik Star Express. Kwik Trip, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin.[2]

This article is about the chain of convenience stores based in Wisconsin. For the chain of convenience stores based in Oklahoma, see QuikTrip.
Kwik Trip, Inc.
Private
IndustryRetail
Founded1965
FounderDon Zietlow
HeadquartersLa Crosse, Wisconsin
Number of locations
700+ (2020)
Number of employees
26,000+ (2020)
Websitewww.kwiktrip.com

Unlike many other convenience store chains, the company is vertically integrated across most of its product lines. It carries bag/pitcher milk and orange juice in pouches under the Nature's Touch brand via its in-house dairy. Kwik Trip also has an internal bakery operation which provides sliced and wrapped bread, doughnut and muffin products to its stores, along with a store brand snack line under the "Urge" branding. The company also maintains branding partnerships with several Upper Midwest professional sports teams, including Minnesota's Twins and Vikings, along with the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Brewers.

All locations have a small grocery store selling basic fruits, bread, canned food, frozen food, sliced cheeses, and ice cream, along with traditional convenience store food such as bottled drinks and hot dogs. Notably, the chain has sold bananas, baking potatoes, and yellow onions for 39 cents per pound as a loss leader, along with fresh beef, hot dogs, bratwurst, and chicken. They also all have heated and ready-to-eat food, and will cook food to order off a small menu. In 2018, the company acquired the south-central Wisconsin chain PDQ, which offered fresh fried chicken in their stores; the PDQ recipe and chicken is currently being slowly rolled out to select stores.[3]

Many of the stores operate as full service truck stops, with dual-pump fuel islands. Many of the truck stop locations also have overnight parking, showers, and full-service Denny's restaurants.

Kwik Trip/Kwik Star store operations
Kwik Trip store

Kwik Trip/Kwik Star stores employ a mixture of full-time and part-time employees. In addition to a store leader, each store employs an assistant store leader and about 3-5 guest service leaders. These employees are responsible for overseeing store operations while the store leader is out of the store. Additionally, each store has a food service leader and assistant food service leader responsible for overseeing the individual store's hot food program, ensuring that appropriate amounts of food are made and sold and the program continues to grow according to company expectations. District leaders supervise multiple stores in a given region, and zone leaders supervise multiple districts.

Workplace honors
Kwik Trip sign at Mauston, Wisconsin

In 2011, Kwik Trip was named by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as the number one large workplace (over 500 employees) for workers in Southeastern Wisconsin. Kwik Trip beat out Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) for the first spot.


In 2018, Kwik Trip was honored as the 2018 Convenience Store Chain of the Year by Convenience Store Decisions.[4]

Notes
  1. "From the start, we've focused on doing right by our customers and our community". Kwik Trip. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  2. Cahalan, Steve (4 May 2008). "Kwik Trip is still family-owned and still growing". La Crosse Tribune. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  3. Adams, Barry (15 April 2019). "A juggernaut of convenience: Kwik Trip continues its rapid expansion". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  4. Del Conte, Erin (October 9, 2018). "Kwik Trip Honored as 2018 Chain of the Year".
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