Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. has acquired the 11 Dion’s Quik Chik convenience stores in the Florida Keys.
“We have acquired these 11 locations and are excited to welcome Dion’s team members into the Circle K family,” Chis Barnes, a Couche-Tard spokesperson, told CSP Daily News. “These sites are popular destinations for visitors and locals alike, and they complement our existing store network in South Florida nicely. They have a strong fried chicken offering, Dion’s Quik Chik, that we’re excited about continuing.”
The company did not reveal the price that it paid or its plans for the stores.
Uphoff Ventures LLC, Chester, Virginia, expanded into the Florida Keys, Key West and Homestead, Florida, when it purchased the 11 Dion’s Quik Mart gas stations and convenience stores from Dion Oil Co. in 2016. The flagship Uppy’s store opened in 2017 in Key West; currently the Uppy’s and Dion’s brands provide petroleum products to many dealers and operate 11 stores in the Florida Keys, according to the Dion’s website.
The stores are known for their Quik Chik fried chicken program, also called the “Chicken of the Keys.”
“A Dion family recipe, created and passed down from generation to generation, our Quik Chik was first shared with the community in the 1980s by Larry & Flo Dion,” the website says. “The recipe was kept a family secret until 2016 when the Dion's felt they could finally entrust their secret to Steve & Linda Uphoff of Uppy’s Convenient Stores. Using a top-secret blend of regional spices and fresh local chicken, Dion’s Quik Chik recipe is still kept under lock and key to this day.”
- Alimentation Couche-Tard is No. 2 on CSP’s 2023 Top 40 update to the 2022 Top 202 ranking of convenience store chains by store count.
Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard’s 24-country global c-store network includes more than 7,100 in the United States, primarily under the Circle K and Holiday Stationstores banners. Couche-Tard’s total worldwide network consists of approximately 14,300 mostly Circle K-branded c-stores.