COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Kum & Go LC CEO Kyle Krause was in Colorado Springs, Colo., this week for a reception with business and civic leaders in advance of Kum & Go's initial store opening there June 1, reported The Gazette. He told them that when Kum & Go opens the store in a little more than a month, he believes customers won't feel like they're walking into a typical convenience store.
The 5,000-square-foot convenience stores that the West Des Moines, Iowa-based company is now building on 1.5-acre sites will be generally larger than those of competitors, with high ceilings and employing green energy technologies, he said. Food selections will be broader, with some products made in onsite kitchens.
Fuel areas, each with 10 pumping stations, will be roomier to allow motorists to maneuver their vehicles. The stores also sell the E85 ethanol fuel and diesel fuel along with the gasoline.
Employees will be wearing white shirts, ties, khaki pants and nametags--and they will greet customers when they walk in the door, Krause said. And they'll all work for the chain, whose stores are corporate-owned and not franchised.
"We're not going to be like a stereotypical convenience store," Krause told the newspaper. "I don't mean stereotypical to Colorado Springs, but stereotypical nationwide."
(Earlier this year, Kum & Go was presented with a Convenience Retailing Award for store design at CSP's Convenience Retailing University event in Fort Worth, Texas.See Related Content below for details.)
Kum & Go plans to open seven more stores in the area by year's end, and 20 to 25 over five years, the report said (see Related Content below for previous CSP Daily News coverage).
Kum & Go's investment will approach $100 million in its Colorado Springs stores, which will employ a total of about 400 full-time and part-time employees--approximately 18 per store, said Krause.
As part of an expansion plan, Kum & Go looked at 85 metropolitan areas around the country and targeted two markets: Little Rock, Ark. (see Related Content), and Colorado Springs. Kum & Go liked Colorado Springs' growth, household incomes, younger population and family values, Krause said.
Kum & Go isn't new to Colorado; it's had stores in the state since 1988 and has about 40 locations, mostly in outlying areas, the report said. The Colorado Springs stores will be the first in a large metropolitan area.
By building 20 to 25 stores locally, Kum & Go expects to be one of the top three convenience store chains in the Colorado Springs market when it comes to number of locations, said the report. While Kum & Go won't cover every part of the market like 7-Eleven, Krause said he wants customers to be impressed enough with the stores' brand and identify so that they're willing to go out of their way to reach one of the locations.
While larger stores, uniformed employees and other amenities are designed to attract customers, Krause said the corporate ownership of the stores also affords the chain flexibility on how it operates. "We don't have to convince a franchisee to run our coffee promotion, yes or no," he said. "We can run things consistent in the marketplace because they're all of our own stores."
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