Kwik Star to hold grand opening on Hwy 52, Nov. 17

By Molly Moser

Guttenberg residents have watched with excitement as the former site of Guttenberg Industries has been transformed into a new gas station and convenience store over the past several months. Kwik Star will hold its grand opening in Guttenberg on Thursday, Nov. 17, after officially opening on Nov. 10. An open house on Nov. 17 will begin at 9 a.m., with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. and the presentation of donations to at least two local organizations. The store will offer three weeks of grand opening specials, including free coffee, discounts on hot food and other commodities. 

“Guttenberg has good traffic counts with Highway 52 running through town. More importantly, you have enough people in town to support a store,” said Carl Rick, Kwik Trip Public Relations. The nearest Kwik Star stores are in McGregor, Monona, and Dubuque, leaving an opening for a store in Guttenberg. 

Thirty new jobs have been created by the addition of the store. Half of those are full time and half are part time, and another five part-time positions will soon be added. “The store will be open 24 hours a day, including holidays, as a service to our communities,” Rick told The Press. The Guttenberg Kwik Star is the 61st in Iowa, joining 442 Kwik Trips in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Kwik Star stores are part of Kwik Trip, Inc. “All of our stores in Iowa have been called Kwik Star since 1993 to avoid confusion with Quik Trip, a Tulsa, Okla., based company that operates stores in Iowa as well,” Rick explained. 

Kwik Trip, Inc. is a privately held company owned by the Zietlow family. “They believe that if they take care of their co-workers (employees), the co-workers will in turn take care of their guests (customers),” said Rick. CEO Don Zietlow will attend Thursday’s ribbon cutting ceremony.

The company gives 40% of its pretax profits to its co-workers in the form of holiday bonuses and 401K contributions on top of other benefits. Since 2011, Kwik Trip has donated over 4.3 million pounds of food to Feeding America Food Pantries. 

“Every one of our stores receives a delivery every day of the year with product from our own bakery, dairy, kitchens and distribution center to ensure our guests have the freshest product available. This is especially important since some of our products only have a one-day shelf life,” Rick said. “Vertical integration also allows us to keep our prices lower, since many of our products won’t have the middle man’s markup.”

Hot sandwiches will be available 24 hours a day in the Guttenberg Kwik Star. Other hot foods including soup, take-and-bake pizza (both of which are made at Kwik Trip kitchens in La Crosse) and a selection from the roller grill will be hot and ready to eat during daytime hours. Guests can call ahead to 563-252-2113 and order a pizza for pick-up. The bakery produces a wide variety of breads, buns, and donuts, which are offered alongside every day essentials such as eggs, butter and other groceries. 

“We were the 1st convenience store in the country to sign up with the Partnership for a Healthier America. By doing this we pledge to have a wide variety of nutritious options as well,” said Rick. Kwik Star sells salads made in their LaCrosse kitchens, 50 million pounds of bananas annually, as well as other fruits, vegetables, parfaits, and various protein selections. Kwik Trip also has its own dairy in LaCrosse, which takes in about one million pounds of milk each day to keep shelves stocked with ice cream, milk and even organic milk.

Guttenberg’s Kwik Star will also feature a walk-in beer cave and coffee drinks. “Our newest offering is our Karuba Gold Expresso Drinks. Guests can come in and customize an espresso, mocha, latte or iced coffee to their liking at our Karuba Gold machine in the coffee bar.”

“Several things make Kwik Star ‘better than the best,’ which is our company’s vision statement,” said Rick. “I believe the biggest differentiator is the final part of our mission statement, ‘to make a difference in someone’s life.’ If our co-workers forget everything else, they know that they are at Kwik Star to make a difference.”