County by Couty: Taking a deeper look at a Wisconsin gem based in La Crosse County

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – Our final story of the week is all about a Wisconsin staple. I’m sure the majority of you watching have been to Kwik Trip, and for 50 years, the company has continued to grow all while being based in La Crosse County and, although there are hundreds of stores across the Midwest, Kwik Trip has no plans on slowing down.

“To serve our customers and community more effectively than anyone else by treating our customers, coworkers and suppliers as we, personally, would like to be treated, and to make a difference in someone’s life.”

That’s the mission statement that has helped Kwik Trip evolve from a single store in Eau Claire nearly 60 years ago into a chain of more than 870 stores with over 38 thousand coworkers employed.

For Public Relations Specialist Ben Leibl, that growth all starts with the company’s culture, “When our guests go into our stores, we want to treat them with a smile on our face, and by the end of it we want to say, ‘see you next time’, so we want everyone to know that they’re always welcome in our stores.”

That culture is what helps Social Media Specialists Mckenna Schmidtke and Hayden Knoll connect with guests even after they leave a store. Schmidtke explains, “We kind of encompass the midwestern personality… Wisconsinites… Minnesotans… and they really like that they can relate to a company on a first-name basis.”

Knoll adds, “If it wasn’t for our amazing company, I don’t people would engage quite like they do, so it’s kind of cool to see the Midwest just going hand in hand with Kwik Trip.”

Making quality products is also a significant focus for Kwik Trip. So much so that Chief Scientific Officer Jay Ellingson says there are thousands of tests done in-house every week to ensure that quality, “We’re the only retailer that I know in the United States that has an on-site state-of-the-art laboratory that does the testing technology every day, and so it’s very unique in the way that we handle our, if you will, the safety and quality of that product.”

Another unique aspect of Kwik Trip’s operation is how the company builds up its stable of delivery drivers. Director Of Transportation, Jared Rask, says there’s always a need, so Kwik Trip provides CDL classes to give prospective drivers the training they need, “We take in, you know, 50 to 60 applicants a year, and we basically train them to be drivers, and you know we really pride ourselves on having the best drivers, and we have a phenomenal training program that takes them from a non-commercial motor vehicle driver to one of the best drivers on the road.”

More and more drivers are needed to keep up with the ever-increasing volume of delivery, which is only expected to go up as Kwik Trip continues to grow. Leibl explains, “So, we’re going to expand our footprint in South Dakota, we’re adding six new stores out in that market on top of the six that we already have, we’ll be entering the North Dakota market as well, and then we will be building about 40 to 50 new stores moving forward.”

For Senior Director OF Distribution Centers, Joe Vike, continued expansion means finding new ways to distribute Kwik Trip’s products, “You know, we’re looking at taking a pivot and actually building a different distribution center in De Forest, Wisconsin, so that’s going to be something that is strategy moving forward to ensure that we can support our stores into the future.”

Although Kwik Trip is looking at an addition in Dane County, that doesn’t mean the company is abandoning La Crosse County… which has been its home since 1973. Leibl says, “So, we’re actually investing 150 million dollars here at our facilities in La Crosse for our production facilities, it’s going to create 500 new jobs as well.”

And as the company continues to expand, the goal remains the same; to serve customers and community more effectively than anyone else and to make a difference in someone’s life.

For County by County, Alex Loroff, First News at Nine

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