"It's pure economics. We want that store to survive," Mike Thornbrugh, [image-nocss] spokesperson for Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip, told the newspaper. "Quite frankly, it was a mediocre store. This gives our customers more options. Gasoline is six cents higher in Kansas, and tobacco is about 50 cents more per pack or $5 a carton."
The 15 or so employees will temporarily transfer to other area QuikTrip stores during the construction, the report said.
Thornbrugh said the company has done such a move before, relocating another QuikTrip to the Missouri side of the state line. But that store relocated blocks away, not feet away.
As for Kansas City, Kansas, it will miss the tax dollars from the location now moving from Kansas to Missouri. The location has been operating since at least the mid-1980s, the Star said.
"It's unfortunate that this particular business has decided to move across the state line at a time when our city continues to make great progress," Edwin Birch, spokesperson for the Unified Government, told the paper. "Wyandotte County has attracted new and one-of-a kind business developments to our region as many business owners continue to see opportunities for growth in Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas."
But QuikTrip's Thornbrugh said changes may need to be made to keep some border businesses in Kansas City, Kansas. "They are great to work with, but their hands are tied. It's unfortunate that the city and county has no say," he said.
Separately, Thornbrugh told CSP Daily News that QuikTrip opened its 115th store in the company's Atlanta division yesterday. The new store is in Conyers, Ga. The new store is 4,600 square feet, with eight multi-pump dispensers for 16-car service.
QuikTrip now owns and operates 529 stores in 9 states.
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