Kum & Go LC

In 1959, W.A. “Bill” Krause and T.S. Gentle formed a partnership and created the beginnings of the now large convenience-store chain Kum & Go. The two, a father-in-law and son-in-law, created Hampton Oil Co. in Hampton, Iowa, which soon became the Krause Gentle Corp., and later Kum & Go LC.

In May 2018, Tanner Krause succeeded his father, Kyle Krause, as president of Kum & Go LC. Kyle transitioned to chairman and CEO. Three months later, CSP honored Kyle as its 2018 Retail Leader of the Year during a formal dinner in Las Vegas. In January 2019, the company hired TJ Freeborn as chief marketing officer.

In terms of its daily operations, Kum & Go is a fast-growing convenience chain with plans for ongoing expansion. It recently debuted a store prototype that underscores its new brand tagline, “Where & means more,” prominently featuring the ampersand symbol. The “&” and the word “more” represent a food-forward, eco-friendly store with nods to the community, the company said.

The chain has offered biofuel to customers since 1997 to meet customer demand. Kum & Go is the largest E85 retailer in Iowa, and it sells E85 in seven other states. The chain also provides a 10% ethanol blend and B2 biodiesel, a clean-burning alternative fuel produced from domestic, renewable resources.

Source: Convenience Digital Resource Library, Technomic. For benchmarking purposes, store counts are year-end 2018.