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Kum & Go Closing Last Urban Walk-Up Convenience Store

Nonfuel concept ‘no longer fit into our long-term plans in Des Moines,’ retailer says
Kum & Go nonfuel convenience store
Photograph courtesy of Kum & Go

Kum & Go is shuttering its last urban walk-up convenience store March 24.

“While no longer open to the public after March 24, we will continue to fulfill our lease in the space, taking advantage of its proximity to our new headquarters location,” Taylor Boland, senior communications manager at the Des Moines, Iowa-based chain, told CSP. “The space will be repurposed and used for internal purposes such as training.”

The 3,000-square-foot location is in the Edna Griffin Building, a landmark site in Iowa’s civil rights history, at 319 7th St.

“We’ve learned a lot from operating our fuel-less concepts, however, they no longer fit into our long-term plans in Des Moines,” Boland said. “We’ll continue to focus our efforts on locations that best serve our customers with fuel, delicious food, great service and a clean and welcoming environment.”

  • Kum & Go is No. 22 on CSP’s 2023 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by size.

Kum & Go opened the doors of its first nonfuel, no-parking retail walk-up store in downtown Des Moines in May 2020.

Kum & Go said in December 2022 that it was closing all but one of its five nonfuel convenience stores because they no longer fit the retailer’s growth strategy, leaving just the downtown Des Moines location open. There were two Denver locations, one in Omaha, Nebraska, and one in Ames, Iowa, that closed that December.

The company opened its first ‘Bistro’-style location in October 2023 in Aurora, Missouri.

Salt Lake City-based convenience-store retailer Maverik Inc., which last year bought Kum & Go, is retiring the brand’s name by 2025.

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