Dive Brief:
- After testing its urban walk-up convenience stores over the past couple of years, Kum & Go is “no longer pursuing” these gasoline-free locations as it plans its long-term expansion, Taylor Boland, director of communications for the Des Moines, Iowa-based retailer, said in an email.
- As a result, Kum & Go will close all but one of its urban walk-up stores. Its two locations in Denver will close on Dec. 12, while those in Omaha, Nebraska, and Ames, Iowa, will shutter on Dec. 19. The location in Des Moines will remain open.
- Kum & Go’s move to nix its gasoline-free c-stores marks its reversal from a quietly growing trend born from retailers focusing more on selling premium foods and household merchandise over fuel.
Dive Insight:
Kum & Go’s first urban walk-up store opened in Des Moines in May 2020. The 3,000-square-foot storefront featured no fuel or parking, and focused on the chain’s fresh-food program in an effort to capitalize on higher foot traffic in urban downtown areas.
As Kum & Go opened four more fuel-less stores, there were indications that the retailer was interested in expanding the concept. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case any longer.
Although Kum & Go has “learned a lot from operating these fuel-less concepts,” they don’t fit into the company’s long-term expansion plans and overall strategy of having consistency across all its stores — which includes offering a variety of fuels, Boland said.
“We will focus on our traditional stores in the area that can accommodate all of our fresh food offerings, as well as a selection of fuels,” Boland said.
Kum & Go hasn’t been the only c-store retailer to explore gasoline-free concepts. In April, Casey’s General Stores opened its first fuel-less location, which also happened to be in Des Moines. Meanwhile, Tulsa, Oklahoma-based QuikTrip has opened two fuel-less sites since 2016 and intends to roll out more moving forward, a QuikTrip spokesperson said in an interview in September.
