Dive Brief:
- Sharee Johnson, chief financial officer for the Minnesota-based KornerStore c-store chain, has been named president and CEO of Great Plains Oil Company, a new company being partially funded by KornerStore and doing business as Little Store convenience stores, Johnson and KornerStore CEO Derek Medved confirmed to C-Store Dive.
- Johnson will spearhead Little Store, which has six locations under contract and is expected to open its first two stores during the first week of 2025. Those sites will be located in Northern Minnesota, while other locations are planned for Wisconsin, Montana and the Dakotas.
- Little Store will be headquartered in KornerStore’s office in Duluth, Minnesota, and will share some corporate employees, although the chains will function as separate entities, both executives said.
Dive Insight:
Medved founded KornerStore, which operates nine c-stores across Minnesota and Wisconsin, in 2014. Although he’ll continue to serve as KornerStore’s CEO, Medved said he intends to shift his attention more to his partner’s cattle business in the Dakotas and getting back into local politics. He at one point was a city councilor for Duluth.
This refocus is why Medved helped finance Little Store, which also received investments from Johnson and external sources, he said. Medved added that when he decided to step back from expanding KornerStore, he wanted to create a separate company that was designed to ensure stability and long-term success for its team and communities.
Johnson said that Medved acquired the Little Store name several years ago but had yet to bring it to a retail location. Johnson — who has been CFO of KornerStore since 2014 — will now be leasing the Little Store name from Medved as she takes over the new chain.
Although Little Store will operate in the same states as KornerStore, there are no plans for the chains to compete with one another. Their closest locations will be nearly three hours apart, Johnson said.
Johnson added that she’s spent the past decade observing how Medved has operated KornerStores and is prepared and excited for the opportunity.
“I’m ready to go,” Johnson said.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the business relationship between KornerStore and Little Store.
