Rockford getting 2 QuikTrip stations. Here's what we know
An Oklahoma-based gas station chain will soon have two Rockford locations, including one that’s slated to open this year on the city’s east side.
QuikTrip broke ground last spring on a more than 8,000-square-foot station at the corner of East State Street and Lyford Road, kitty-corner from the new Hard Rock Casino.
According to plans submitted to the city of Rockford, the development will include a travel center on the four-lot piece of vacant land at 8070 E. State St.
The travel center will occupy Lot 1 while Lots 2 and 3 will be targeted for hotel/motel development. Lot 4 will be used for stormwater retention for the entire development, the plans say.
QuikTrip is also planning to build a store at the corner of 11th Street and Sandy Hollow Road, in the former Kmart parking lot, land owned by First Midwest Group.
While the East State QuikTrip is expected to open sometime this year, the south Rockford project is still in the early stages and has not broken ground.
According to Scott Capovilla, the city of Rockford’s planning and zoning manager, the Sandy Hollow site still needs plat and permit approval.
Rockford aldermen approved the Sandy Hollow special-use permit last October.
The developments are part of QuikTrip’s expansion into the Chicago and greater Illinois markets. The first Chicagoland store opened last May in Bellwood.
“Chicago is the third-largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S., and with a population of 9.6 million, is easily the biggest market QT has encountered to date,” the company said in a release. “And QT isn’t stepping lightly into Chicagoland. We already have two more stores scheduled in Chicago suburbs of Lansing and Addison, and at least five more throughout the state of Illinois.”
QuikTrip, not Kwik Trip
Founded in 1958 in a Tulsa, Oklahoma strip mall as a convenience store without fuel, QuikTrip added gasoline in 1971 and five years later became the first convenience store chain to operate 24 hours a day.
QuikTrip today operates in 17 states and opened its 1,000th store last April in San Antonio. The company's Remote Travel Centers are known for their QT Kitchens that offer made-to-order food, pretzels, pizza, sandwiches, breakfast tacos and drinks.
The company is not affiliated with Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip, which operates in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin under the name Kwik Trip, and in Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota under the name Kwik Star.
Jim Hagerty covers business, growth and development and other general news topics for the Rockford Register Star. Email him at jhagerty@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: QuikTrip to open first Rockford store in 2024; second to follow
