Kwik Trip

This article is about the chain of convenience stores based in Wisconsin. For the chain of convenience stores based in Oklahoma, see QuikTrip.
Not to be confused with Kwik Fill.
Kwik Trip, Inc.
Kwik Trip
(in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan)
Kwik Star
(in Iowa, Illinois, and South Dakota) (with a few exceptions)
Company typePrivate
IndustryRetail
Founded1965 (59 years ago) (1965) in Eau Claire, Wisconsin
FounderJohn Hansen, Don Zietlow
HeadquartersLa Crosse, Wisconsin
Number of locations
878 (Jul. 2024)[1]
Area served
Key people
  • Scott Zietlow (CEO)
  • Tom Reinhart (COO)
  • Jeff Wrobel (CFO)
[3][4]
Products
  • Coffee
  • Hoagies
  • Prepared foods
  • Gasoline
  • Beverages
  • Snacks
  • Dairy products
  • Salads
Services
OwnerZietlow Family
Number of employees
36,457 (2024)[5]
Websitewww.kwiktrip.com
Map of Kwik Trip, Inc.'s brand's locations, as of December 2020

Kwik Trip is a chain of convenience stores founded in 1965[6] that has locations throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan under the name Kwik Trip, and in Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota[7] under the name Kwik Star (to avoid confusion with QuikTrip), although the Dixon, Illinois, location operates as Kwik Trip. The company also operates stores under the name Tobacco Outlet Plus, Tobacco Outlet Plus Grocery, Hearty Platter, Kwik Spirits, and Stop-N-Go. Kwik Trip, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin.[8]

Unlike many other convenience store chains, Kwik Trip is a food service leader; the company is vertically integrated across most of its product lines. Until May 2024, it carried bagged milk and orange juice in pouches under the Nature's Touch brand via its in-house dairy.[9] Kwik Trip also has an internal bakery operation that provides bread, doughnuts, and muffin products to its stores, along with a store-brand snack line called "Urge!". The company maintains branding partnerships with several Upper Midwest professional sports teams, including Minnesota's Twins, Vikings, and Wild and Wisconsin's Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Milwaukee Bucks (the last featured as part of its chocolate milk line).

All locations have small grocery sections 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. All stores also 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; the PDQ recipe and chicken was slowly rolled out to select stores before being available at most.[10] The next year, Kwik Trip began to offer home delivery of hot food in select markets through a partnership with EatStreet.

Stores off major highway exits 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. Automatic car washes are also available at many stores, with some restrictions on availability and hours due to local noise and environmental ordinances.

  1. ^ "Kwik Trip store list". Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  2. ^ Hjelmstad, Gretchen (October 27, 2023). "Kwik Trip coming to Fargo". Valley News Live. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  3. ^ "Mayo Clinic surgeon takes his father's place as Kwik Trip's new CEO". Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  4. ^ "Kwik Trip announces leadership changes; CEO, President of 22 years to retire". KAAL TV. November 21, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  5. ^ "Kwik Trip/Kwik Star". Forbes. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  6. ^ "From the start, we've focused on doing right by our customers and our community". Kwik Trip. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  7. ^ "South Dakota". Kwik Trip | Kwik Star. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  8. ^ Cahalan, Steve (4 May 2008). "Kwik Trip is still family-owned and still growing". La Crosse Tribune. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  9. ^ Johnson, Brooks (2024-03-27). "Kwik Trip discontinuing beloved bagged milk this spring". www.startribune.com. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  10. ^ Adams, Barry (15 April 2019). "A juggernaut of convenience: Kwik Trip continues its rapid expansion". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved 25 August 2019.