COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Kum & Go is looking to come to the Pikes Peak region in a big way.
Though the company isn’t talking, the popular Midwest-based convenience store chain is considering five locations--and maybe more--in the area, based on proposals Kum & Go and its representatives have submitted to Colorado Springs and Monument officials, according to a report in the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Already, Kum & Go has received the go-ahead from Colorado Springs for one store that will be part of the Village Marketplace retail center, Steve Tuck, a Springs senior planner, told the newspaper.
Other proposals under review by city officials show Kum & Go stores planned in four parts of the city. All of the proposed stores are about 5,000 square feet.
A fifth location is planned for Monument north of the Springs, at Colorado 105 and Knollwood Drive and east of I-25; the town’s planning commission is expected to consider the proposal next month, and Monument’s board of trustees likely will vote on the matter in December, said town manager Cathy Green.
Kum & Go also has had preliminary discussions with Springs officials on at least two other sites, Tuck said.
“They’re looking at a lot of different sites and which ones will make it through their vetting--whether or not the terms are right and if it meets all their analysis,” he said.
Kum & Go officials declined to comment about any plans for the Colorado Springs area.
“For competitive reasons, we do not discuss our future growth plans,” spokeswoman Catherine Huggins told the newspaper. “However, Kum & Go is a growing company. We have a lot of parcels under consideration in a number of markets.”
Kum & Go, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, is the nation’s fifth-largest, company-operated convenience store chain, with more than 430 stores in 11 states.
It has a presence in Colorado, but most stores are in smaller areas; Kum & Go has nearly 40 Colorado locations in Boulder, Brighton, Greeley, Longmont and several mountain towns and Western Slope communities, according to the company’s website.
Assuming it follows through on its plans, Kum & Go will compete with 7-Eleven, whose roughly 50 stores dominate the Pikes Peak region, and Loaf ‘N Jug, among others.
But there’s room for Kum & Go in the Springs area, broker Jay Carlson of Front Range Commercial told the newspaper.
Carlson said he expects Kum & Go to position itself in newer parts of the metro area that might be underserved when it comes to convenience stores and gasoline.
While 7-Eleven dominates the market, many of its locations are older, with gas pumps that pose a tight squeeze for motorists trying to get in and out of the stores, Carlson said. Kum & Go offers a fresh look in the convenience store competition, he said.
“I think people are looking for something more attractive and easier to get around in,” Carlson said.
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