The new store will be about 20% larger than existing outlets and will feature a wider selection of prepared foods, Mike Thornbrugh, spokesperson for the chain, told the newspaper. "It's [image-nocss] no secret that we're changing stripes and moving into the fresh food business," Thornbrugh said.
The growing emphasis on food, such as sandwiches, taquitos and pastries is a method for the company to grow same-store business while facing uncertainty in the gasoline industry from new technologies that could someday decrease demand for the fuel, said the report.
QuikTrip has 500 stores nationwide. It has fresh food bakeries in Tulsa, Kansas City, Atlanta, Phoenix and a recently completed location in Dallas. Annual sales for the company are about $8 billion.
QuikTrip officials plan to use the location as a test model for future stores, the report added, and if the design is a success, eventually all new stores will resemble the new layout.
While still selling fuel, the new store hearkens back to QuikTrip's origins, when it sold only food and grocery items. The company did not put gasoline pumps in until 25 years after its founding. It also expands on QuikTrip's venture four years ago into hot foods when it introduced QT Kitchens.
"Most stores want to be seen in the future as a restaurant that wants to sell gas, as opposed to a gas station that sells food," Jeff Lenard, spokesperson for the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), told the paper.
The chain's plan to test a larger store design is just the latest example of a company that not only won't stand still, it refuses to even slow down, said the World. The biggest fear for CEO Chet Cadieux is not that competitors could begin gaining on QuikTrip, but that they might move in across the street with a bigger, better idea. "We want to be the best at everything we do. Otherwise, we don't want to play," he said in a recent speech to the Oklahoma Business Ethics Consortium. "I'm not saying we are the best at everything, but we want to be. We are never satisfied."
He added, "We always are worried about something coming along and knocking our block off. Look at what the digital photo revolution did to Polaroid. For us, it could be electric cars."
The CEO believes that, even in the fastest scenario, it could take 30 years for the bulk of gasoline-burning autos to leave the roads. But that does not mean QuikTrip is not planning for that possibility right now. That's why the new store design is larger and puts even more emphasis on fresh food: "We've gotten pretty good at gasoline," Cadieux said. "With food, we're off to a strong start, but it's going to take a long time to get really good at it. If we can do it in 15 to 20 years, we'd be thrilled. If not, we'll look for something else."
The biggest reason for the change, though, is to allow the company to expand its fresh food offerings, the report said. Thornbrugh said there will be more varieties of sandwiches, hot dogs and egg rolls and even potential in the future for items like fried chicken.
Thornbrugh said the new store design will be a noticeable change for QuikTrip customers. The Gilcrease Hills location will have 12 fuel pumps with 24 car slots, like other larger QuikTrip locations; however, the prototype will also have parking and entrance doors on three sides for customers, as opposed to one or two at existing locations.
"A big reason for the new design is that the stores are so congested," Thornbrugh said. "We want to give people better access."
The stores will be about 4,600 square feet, 700 feet to 800 feet larger than the current model, said the report. The new layout also puts a lane behind the store and doors for deliveries, so customers will not have to compete with trucks and drivers bringing supplies to the store.
"The building will actually look more like a restaurant," Thornbrugh added.
Store officials are still working on a new layout for inside the store, but Thornbrugh said regular QuikTrip customers will be able to see a difference.
QuikTrip hopes to open the store by spring, said the report.
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