A regional gas station that has attained cult-like status in the Midwest will expand in Minnesota this year.
Kwik Trip, the Wisconsin-based gas station known for its friendly customer service and Glazers doughnuts, announced it will open five more locations in Minnesota before the end of the year. The new stores include:
Another Kwik Trip location opened in Moorhead on Oct. 9.
Many Midwesterners have grown fond of Kwik Trip, crediting its low prices, selection of fresh groceries and hot food as well as its personable staff. One unofficial fan page on social media boasts more than 158,000 members.
The chain has expanded in the Midwest, with the company spreading most of its approximately 900 stores across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.
Minnesota has 200 stores, with a high concentration of locations (15) in Rochester. Kwik Trip’s signature brick exteriors are modeled after a Rochester prototype.
Though the company continues to grow, store officials say they have not opened in major metro areas like the Twin Cities or Milwaukee because land in urban areas is too expensive.
The Wisconsin chain also announced this month that it will phase out pennies, becoming one of the first major convenience stores to do so after President Donald Trump ordered the Treasury Department to stop minting the coins earlier this year due to the cost.