GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- A Great Falls, Mont., M&H Gas & Groceries convenience store will change owners, reported The Great Falls Tribune. The store and gas station is owned by Cenex, but operated by Kum & Go LLC, said the report.
The location was owned by Hudson, Wis.-based Miller & Holmes Inc., which operates approximately 22 stores in Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
The M&H signs have come down, and new Kum & Go and Cenex signs will go up in their place, and the c-store, [image-nocss] which never closed its doors during the transition, is now a Kum & Go.
Tuesday was the first official day the store was open as a Kum & Go, general manager Rick Crane told the newspaper.
We were very excited about it, Paul Kluding, Kum & Go corporate communications manager, told the paper. It's a very high-volume location.
Customers can expect to see some changes to the store, but the company will try to maintain some of the aspects that made M&H unique and popular, Kluding added.
Kum & Go has certain products it likes to market, he said, but if something sells well, they will leave it in the store. The company also will make some upgrades to the store, the report said.
The location currently has 10 employees and is looking to hire two more, Kluding said.
Kum & Go, which is based in West Des Moines, Iowa, has about 450 stores in 13 states. Most of its locations are in the Midwest, but the company is slowly moving west, Kluding told the Tribune. The deal to buy M&H was in the works for a few years, he said.
Inver Grove Heights, Minn.-based Cenex is a brand of CHS Inc., St. Paul, Minn., a diversified company providing grains, food and energy resources.
In other Kum & Go news, the new Kwest in the Parks program will have Des Moines-area youngsters solving puzzles and becoming explorers at the city's public parks this summer, said the Des Moines Register. Through the program, children will find word scrambles posted on signs in designated parks selected for a rotation. The puzzle project is a joint effort between the Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department and Kum & Go.
The object is for families to visit the parks and solve the puzzles. Children record their answer in a "passport" booklet, and take it to any metro Kum & Go location to receive a passport stamp and a free Koolee beverage.
New words will be displayed at parks every two weeks, and a secret phrase will be revealed by the end of the program. It started at the downtown Western Gateway Park May 4 and will wrap up September 20. Children who complete the program will earn a free tree sapling.
It was the program's attention to the environment that appealed to Kum & Go officials, Kluding told the paper. He said Kum & Go plans a focus on its own green programs, such as its biofuels initiative and the exploration of alternative fuel options, because the company realizes the importance of "keeping the environmental integrity of Iowa and beyond."
Kum & Go paid for and produced all of the materials associated with the program, and it is providing the city with $25,000 per year for each of the next three years, said the report. The financial contribution will be used to support a series of environmental education programs during the summer at several of the city's wading pool locations.
The agreement with Kum & Go came about after the parks and recreation department started working with Intermark, a Minnesota marketing company that often assists municipalities with their marketing efforts, the report said.
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.