Dive Brief:
- QuikTrip is expected to open its first location in Ohio on June 6, a company spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.
- The convenience retailer is developing a travel center about two miles south of downtown Dayton, right off I-75, the spokesperson said. Like QuikTrip’s other travel centers, this 8,200-square-foot c-store features an expanded QT Kitchens food program as well as room for 16 vehicles to fill up, along with six diesel fueling spots.
- QuikTrip is in the process of entering several new markets. Earlier this year, the company also revealed plans to open its first convenience stores in Nevada and Florida.
Dive Insight:
QuikTrip applied in early February 2022 to build its first Ohio location on a 6.2-acre vacant piece of land that formerly held a since-demolished factory. According to QuikTrip’s application, the site features 96 parking spaces, 76 of which are for passenger vehicles and 23 for trucks.
Dayton’s City Plan Board approved QuikTrip’s application as long as the company made certain modifications, such as adding bicycle parking spaces and making landscaping adjustments.
Over two years later, QuikTrip will debut its first location of any kind in Ohio — its 18th state of operation. The travel center is located next door to a Love’s Travel Stop and directly across the street from a BP gas station.
“QuikTrip continues to focus on expanding the footprint of our travel center network to geographies in the U.S. that leverage our distribution network,” QuikTrip’s spokesperson said in a statement to C-Store Dive. “We’re excited to open the doors of the first QuikTrip in Dayton, OH next month.”
QuikTrip may also have plans to open a second store in Dayton down the line. A report from the Dayton Business Journal in March indicated that the convenience retailer was waiting approval for a second “regional and statewide location.”
QuikTrip’s spokesperson did not respond by press time when asked to comment on this second location.
Ohio has become a hotspot for c-store expansions over the past year. Besides QuikTrip, retailers such as RaceTrac, Wawa and Buc-ee’s have also revealed plans for their first locations in the state.
Founded in 1958, Tulsa, Oklahoma-based QuikTrip operates around 1,000 convenience stores across 17 states and employs more than 28,000 people.