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Don Zietlow is Born
Kwik Trip co-founder and CEO Don Zietlow was born in Chaseburg, Wisconsin, on a farm about ten miles southeast of La Crosse. He had a difficult childhood, dealing with a stuttering problem and the grief of losing his father at the age of 7. His struggles during childhood and early adulthood shaped him into the caring and down-to-earth business owner he's known for being today (Discover Wisconsin, 2022). -
The First Kwik Trip Opens
The first Kwik Trip was opened in 1965 at 1402 S. Hastings Way in Eau Claire, Wisconsin (Bosk, 2023). The company was co-founded by Don Zietlow and his business partner John Hansen. -
The First La Crosse Location
After opening a few more locations around Eau Claire, Kwik Trip opened its first location in La Crosse, the city the company is based in to this day (Kwik Trip, Inc., 2023). -
Kwik Trip Headquarters Built
Just a couple years after the first Kwik Trip opened in the city, La Crosse became the home of Kwik Trip's corporate offices. Kwik Trip's distribution center and campus are also located nearby (Kress, 2015). -
100 Stores Reached
Just 3 years after hitting the 50 store benchmark, Kwik Trip doubled their number of storefronts and continued to expand across Wisconsin and other Midwest states (Kwik Trip, Inc., 2023). -
A Kwik Star is Born
The Tulsa based convenience store chain "QuikTrip" had already existed in Iowa when Kwik Trip began expansion into the state. In an attempt to avoid confusion and potential legal ramifications, Kwik Trip changed the name of its Iowa based stores to "Kwik Star" (Maas, 2018). -
Zietlow Family Become Sole Owners
The Zietlow family bought the Hansen family's share of the company, making them the sole owners of Kwik Trip. In a press release, the company stated that the transaction "permitted each family to achieve its estate-planning goals among its three generations, and allowed both families to pursue their own interests" (Convenience Store News, 2003) -
The Glazer Makes Its Debut
Kwik Trip's top selling item to this day are their "Glazers". These glazed donuts are made fresh daily at the Kwik Trip distribution center, where they bake up to 24,000 of them every hour. A Kwik Trip coworker submitted the clever nickname to the company marketing team, and the rest is history (Kwik Trip, Inc., 2023). -
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New Food Programs
In an effort to offer even more food varieties, Kwik Trip began the rollout of their hot food program in 2003 and their fresh food program in 2005. The new "hot spots" made it possible for classic convenience store foods like the Tornadoes, Rollerbites, and Chicken Sandwiches to be served. The fresh food program brought more produce, salads, and sandwiches to each store (Kwik Trip Inc., 2023) -
Alternative Fuel Initiative
In April of 2012, Kwik Trip opened the first ever compressed natural gas (CNG) and alternative fuels station in America. They also added natural gas vehicles (NGV) to their own fleet of distribution vehicles (CSP, 2014). -
PDQ Acquisition
Kwik Trip bought PDQ, another Wisconsin-based convenience chain that had 34 company-operated convenience stores at the time of the acquisition. In a press release, Kwik Trip explained that the acquisition was important for the company to "expand its presence in a market that is important to its overall retail growth strategy" (Convenience Store News, 2017) -
Kwik Rewards Introduced
Kwik Trip introduced its loyalty program to give back to the customers that love shopping at their stores. In the same year that it launched, the rewards program reached 1 million members (Kwik Trip Inc., 2023). -
800 Stores Reached
Kwik Trip hit its most recent store milestone in 2021 with the opening its 800th store in Holmen, Wisconsin (Kwik Trip, Inc., 2021). -
Stop-N-Go Acquisition
Kwik Trip acquired the Madison based retailer Stop-N-Go in 2021, which included 36 retail locations in Wisconsin and northern Illinois. 21 of the locations kept the Stop-N-Go name while the others adopted Kwik Trip branding (Lindenberg, 2020) -
Don Zietlow Retires
After 52 years at the company and 22 years as president and CEO, Don Zietlow stepped away from his role at the end of 2022. His son, Scott Zietlow, retired from his job as a professor of surgery at the Mayo Clinic to assume his fathers role. Don guided the growth of Kwik Trip since it was just a single shop in Eau Claire. Now, with 847 stores across 6 states, he's left it all to the next generation of Zietlows (Convenience Store News, 2022).