EXTON, PA. -- Convenience retailers Kwik Trip Inc. and RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. claimed spots on WorkplaceDynamics' 2013 America's Top Workplaces national list among nearly 900 companies.
La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip took the No. 21 position.
With $4.2 billion in annual sales, La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip is a privately owned company that operates more than 400 convenience stores in the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. It employs more than 10,000 workers company-wide. It operates its own commissary, bakery, dairy, beverage plant and ice plant. Kwik Trip also maintains its own distribution center and fleet under the Convenience Transportation name.
Kwik Trip CEO Don Zietlow was CSP's 2012 Retail Leader of the Year. In 1989, Zietlow established he company’s 40% profit sharing among employees, an unprecedented amount for any business in any channel, CSP magazine reported in its profile of Zietlow. It has led to one of the industry's lowest turnover rates, 24%--nearly a third of rates for top-quartile companies among nonmanagers (66.9%) according to NACS.
Employees with at least five years of service own Kwik Trip's property, including any store built since 1989. On an employee's fifth anniversary, he or she receives a unit share per year.
Appreciation for the company's benefit packages is certainly a part of why the chain has kept turnover low and ranked high among local media for best places to work, said CSP. But Kwik Trip also has a reputation for growth, stability and strategic vision. Brad Clarkin, warehouse superintendent for almost three years, told the magazine that the chain is known for "hiring the right people and putting them in the right places."
Based in Atlanta, RaceTrac has been serving customers since 1934. It operates more than 330 convenience store locations in five southeastern states including Georgia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. RaceTrac is the third-largest privately owned company in Georgia.
"We could not be more thrilled to learn that RaceTrac has been recognized as one of the top workplaces in our country," said Allison Moran, RaceTrac's CEO. We strive to make people's lives simpler and more enjoyable, and we're honored that our team members feel like we are living our mission and that our people enjoy what they do. Our team members are our competitive advantage and it is humbling to know that they value our efforts in investing in their growth and are happy to be a part of the RaceTrac family."
Working with our 30 publishing partners, Exton, Pa.-based WorkplaceDynamicspolled more than one million employees from 872 large companies across the United States to create its list of 150 Top Workplaces with 1,000 employees or more. The Top Workplaces program reflects the opinions of employees through measurement of engagement, organizational health and employee satisfaction. Based on its "on-demand" employee survey, last year it surveyed more than 5,000 organizations, polled 1.7 million people and handled more than a million employee responses.
Click here to view the Top 150 list.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.