Kwik Trip(Photo: Maureen Wallenfang/Post-Crescent Media)
Kwik Trip will purchase two Express Convenience Centers in Appleton on Dec. 18, changing both into Kwik Trip branches. The locations are on Richmond Street at the corner of Franklin Street, and on Wisconsin Avenue at the corner of Meade Street.
Kwik Trip also signed a purchase agreement for the vacant northeast corner of Casaloma and Greenville drives in Grand Chute where it will build another store from scratch.
U.S. Venture, which owns the Express brand, sent a separate statement detailing its plans to step away from owning and operating retail convenience stores as it focuses on growing its fuel distribution side.
"In the coming months, U.S. Venture's 10 remaining company-owned Express locations in the Fox Valley and Green Bay areas will change over to new ownership. Most stores will continue to operate under the Express Convenience Center brand," it said in the statement.
About 34 Express locations will continue to operate while Express switches from a franchise to license operating model.
When Kwik Trip's deal for the two Appleton Express stations is finalized, however, those stations will close for renovation and expansion, a process that will take several months, and later reopen as Kwik Trips.
As previously announced, Kwik Trip also purchased the southeast corner of Appleton and Midway roads in Menasha to build a convenience store and gas station. It has two new stations opening in Kaukauna.
With about a dozen new or acquired Fox Cities sites over the last few years, Kwik Trip has invested millions of dollars in local development. The average cost of building or renovating each branch is between $4 million and $6 million, with $2 million to $2.5 million of that in equipment costs, said Hans Zietlow, director of real estate for the La Crosse-based company.
"We're investing money in a market we see going in the right direction," he said of the company's expansion in the Fox Cities. "We're investing where we see continued growth. When I compare this market to the rest of the state, I see it as a good place to invest for the future. The whole Fox Valley is in a much better economic position than much of the rest of the state or neighboring states."
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Maureen Wallenfang: 920-993-1000, ext. 287, or mwallenfang@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @wallenfang
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Source: http://www.postcrescent.com/story/money/companies/buzz/2014/11/28/buzz-kwik-trip-adds-express-sells/19625079/
