Dive Brief:
- Kwik Trip held a grand opening for its first North Dakota store on Nov. 20, a company spokesperson confirmed.
- The 9,200-square-foot store in Fargo operates under the Kwik Star banner, which is also used in nearby states like South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. This store is the first of at least five planned for the state through the end of 2026.
- Super regional convenience retailers like Kwik Trip, Wawa and QuikTrip have been spreading their wings into new markets this year.
Dive Insight:
Kwik Trip told C-Store Dive in April that it was working on a North Dakota expansion. At the time, city records showed that the retailer had secured at least four locations in the Fargo area. Months later, the first Fargo location opened and a second Kwik Star is expected to open in the city on Dec. 11, the spokesperson said. Three more sites are slated for 2026, according to Valley News Live.
This continues a busy year for Kwik Trip. Its ongoing c-store remodeling project will make extensive updates to 17 stores in Wisconsin and Minnesota through mid-2026. Kwik Trip also opened a new 280,000-square-foot distribution center earlier in November.
With the debut in North Dakota, Kwik Trip joins the ranks of major c-store players entering new states. Wawa has made multiple moves in its multi-state expansion plan, including arriving in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, while QuikTrip debuted in Indiana and Kentucky. MAPCO, owned by Majors Management, pushed into Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania through an acquisition of 35 stores from Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include information from Kwik Trip.
