Kwik Star named top convenience store chain nationwide

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Gas stations aren’t just about filling up your tank anymore.

According to John McHugh, director of public relations, leadership development and culture for the Kwik Trip/Kwik Star chain, selling gas has a very low profit margin. Convenience stores today make most of their profits from selling food and other other items.

So McHugh said he wasn’t surprised to learn that the chain he works for was recently ranked by customers as the the top gas station brand nationwide. He said that Kwik Trip/Kwik Star is regularly rated among the best convenience stores in industry trade publications.

“We’re frequently ranked at or near the very top,” he said. “The good news is they evaluated us on the things that are the most important to us — customer service, food and cleanliness.”

LaCrosse, Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip/Kwik Star has more than 560 U.S. locations in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. The chain was founded in 1965 in Eau Claire under the name Kwik Trip, and in northeast Iowa under the name Kwik Star, to avoid confusion with the QuikTrip convenience store chain.

There are two Kwik Star locations in Charles City.

All Kwik Star stores built since 1990 are owned by Convenience Store Investments, a separate firm, which leases the land and stores to Kwik Star.

GasBuddy, a company that tracks gas prices throughout the country, issued its 2018 Top Gas Station Brands in the U.S. report this month, revealing which gas station convenience store brands had the best customer experience, based on nearly seven million customer reviews on their app.

Kwik Star swept the rankings by capturing the highest ratings and reviews in four of the six GasBuddy categories: cleanliness, outdoor lighting, restrooms and overall experience.

The top four-rated chains and five of the top 10 are based in the upper midwest. Two of the top five — Kum & Go and Casey’s — are based in Iowa. There is one Casey’s in Charles City, after a second store closed last year.

McHugh said that it didn’t seem unusual to him that so many of the top-ranked chains are based in the Upper Midwest.

“That’s a result of midwestern work ethic,” he said. “Good work ethic translates into good customer service.”

Cenex, based in Minnesota, made a strong showing in 2018 by placing second in the overall category and in three individual categories including cleanliness, outdoor lighting and restrooms. Cenex received top marks in customer service.

Headquartered in Des Moines, third-place Kum & Go placed in five of the six categories, including cleanliness (3), customer service (5), outdoor lighting (4), restrooms (4) and overall experience (3). Kum & Go has more than 430 locations in the U.S. There are no Kum & Go stations located in Charles City. The chain has one location in Saint Ansgar, six in Mason City and four in Clear Lake.

Ankeny-based Casey’s General Store, ranked fourth, operates more than 2,000 locations in the Midwestern United States, with a fan following for their pizza offerings. Casey’s placed in the following categories: overall (4), cleanliness (5), outdoor lighting (5) and restrooms (3).

“Gas may be the primary reason consumers stop at the gas station, but it’s everything else that keeps them coming back,” says Frank Beard, convenience store and retail trends analyst at GasBuddy.

“GasBuddy ratings and reviews data show that customer service, food, and amenities are the top factors in generating positive reviews. All the brands that made our list this year demonstrate how the industry continues to move towards being a destination for fresh food, clean facilities, and excellent customer service.”

McHugh said that Kwik Star is most proud of its customer service.

“You can offer a great variety, but if you don’t have good co-workers, none of that matters,” he said. He added that Kwik Star also stresses clean restrooms — in fact, the company’s owner, president and CEO Don Zietlow puts his name and phone number in all of Kwik Star’s bathrooms, asking customers to call him directly if they have a complaint pertaining to the cleanliness of the bathroom.

“He calls each one back personally,” McHugh said. “We know from studies that if someone stops in and the bathroom is not clean, the chances of the person buying food are nil.”

McHugh said that cleanliness is important all around, including the gas pumps, which are usually the first thing a customer sees.

According to McHugh, all Kwik Star locations have a small grocery store selling basic fruits, bread, canned food, frozen food, and ice cream, along with traditional convenience store food such as bottled drinks and hot dogs. Kwik Star is vertically integrated across most of its product lines. It has an in-house dairy, and 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.

“Not only is our food fresh, but we offer a variety of products that are very healthy,” McHugh said.

The chain has sold bananas, baking potatoes, onions and other produce. Kwik Star also has heated and ready-to-eat food, and will cook food to order off a small menu. McHugh said 80 percent of the food products are made in La Crosse, and every store gets fresh delivery every day.

“Even the bananas are ripened in La Crosse,” McHugh said. “We even make the milk jugs ourselves, and the milk you buy at Kwik Star today was very likely inside a cow two days ago.”

McHugh noted that 40 percent of Kwik Star’s pre-tax profits go back to the co-workers, and much of that money is spent in the communities where the individual stores are located.

Gasbuddy 2018 Top U.S. Gas Station Brands:

1. Kwik Trip (Wisconsin-based).

2. Cenex (Minnesota-based).

3. Kum & Go (Iowa-based).

4. Casey’s General Store (Iowa-based).

5. Cumberland Farms (Massachusetts-based).

6. Irving (Canadian-based).

7. Kwik Fill (Pennsylvania-based).

8. Holiday StationStores (Minnesota-based).

9. Sinclair (Wyoming-based).

10. Maverik (Utah-based).

— Based on more than 7 million customer reviews