DES MOINES, Iowa — Kum & Go LC is shuttering all but one of its five nonfuel convenience stores because they no longer fit the retailer’s growth strategy. The company is closing its two Denver locations on Dec. 12 and its Omaha, Neb., and Ames, Iowa, locations on Dec. 19, it told CSP Daily News. The chain’s downtown Des Moines location will remain open.
Kum & Go opened the doors of its first nonfuel, no-parking retail walk-up store in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, in May 2020. The 3,000-square-foot store is located in the recently renovated Edna Griffin Building, a landmark site in Iowa’s civil rights history.
“We are no longer pursuing our urban walkup locations that were rolled out as a test for our organization and started a few years back,” Taylor Boland, director of communications, told CSP. “Kum & Go’s strategy is to offer consistency among all stores, including onsite kitchens, fresh food and a variety of fuels. We've learned a lot from operating these fuel-less concepts; however, they no longer fit into our long-term plans for expansion. We will focus on our traditional stores in the area that can accommodate all of our fresh food offerings, as well as a selection of fuels.”
The chain recently launched a wide-reaching growth initiative, announcing impending expansion into several new markets, including Utah, Michigan and Boise over the next year.
- Kum & Go is No. 18 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
Des Moines, Iowa-based Kum & Go is a family-owned chain with 409 stores in 11 states: Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming.