Kum & Go To Enter Detroit

[Alpha8472]

The chain is planning on 50 plus stores in the Detroit area and other parts of Michigan. They already announced Utah last year and they will enter Idaho as well.

https://www.csnews.com/kum-go-plans-enter-detroit-2024

[storewanderer]

This is an odd decision. They seem to be throwing darts around.

Maverik is ready to welcome them to Utah and Idaho.

I can't tell if they are trying to build up and be a more attractive acquisition target or what.

[arizonaguy]

This is an odd decision. They seem to be throwing darts around.

Maverik is ready to welcome them to Utah and Idaho.

I can't tell if they are trying to build up and be a more attractive acquisition target or what.

Speedway is the dominant convenience store in Metro Detroit. Their stores are okay but nothing special and many of their stores are becoming quite dated.

To me this is like when QT entered Phoenix about 20 years ago to go against the dominant (Circle K) presence.

[storewanderer]

This is an odd decision. They seem to be throwing darts around.

Maverik is ready to welcome them to Utah and Idaho.

I can't tell if they are trying to build up and be a more attractive acquisition target or what.

Speedway is the dominant convenience store in Metro Detroit. Their stores are okay but nothing special and many of their stores are becoming quite dated.

To me this is like when QT entered Phoenix about 20 years ago to go against the dominant (Circle K) presence.

Kum & Go doesn't execute at anything close to the level of QT. They basically execute in a similar manner to a newer/modern Circle K, with drastically higher prices on everything they sell. They have extensive prepared food programs (which are not even consistently staffed out in Denver) and their newest store prototype is very nice, but it does not make up for their rather significant flaws with execution and pricing.

But they will be an improvement over aged Speedway units that are running the 7-Eleven programs, yes. So perhaps this is a good move for them.

[Romr123]

Not really seeing it--tbh. Detroit's got the gritty thing going on, and the Chaldean families who dominate grocery retailing also dominate the c-stores; Atlas Oil is the big distributor here. Speedway has a long history here.

[storewanderer]

Not really seeing it--tbh. Detroit's got the gritty thing going on, and the Chaldean families who dominate grocery retailing also dominate the c-stores; Atlas Oil is the big distributor here.

If Speedway rebrand to 7 Eleven it may create an opening.

Kum & Go will impress sometimes, then often let down. But their newest prototype- is really really nice. They'll win the appearance, traffic flow, layout award hands down. Also a very smartly designed interior from a safety perspective. No blind corners, high shelves, dark areas. Latest QT interior has some real space squeezing going on and traffic flow is a problem around cold drink equipment.

[Brian Lutz]

This is an odd decision. They seem to be throwing darts around.

Maverik is ready to welcome them to Utah and Idaho.

I can't tell if they are trying to build up and be a more attractive acquisition target or what.

I know Maverik has been expanding quite a bit lately, but you don't realize how dominant they are on their home turf of the Salt Lake Valley until you drive a few miles and see Maveriks pretty much everywhere you look, including two Maveriks at the same intersection next to I-15 in Sandy. And even with all the Maveriks 7-Eleven and Holiday also have a pretty strong presence in the area as well.

[Bagels]

This is an odd decision. They seem to be throwing darts around.

Maverik is ready to welcome them to Utah and Idaho.

I can't tell if they are trying to build up and be a more attractive acquisition target or what.

Speedway is the dominant convenience store in Metro Detroit. Their stores are okay but nothing special and many of their stores are becoming quite dated.

To me this is like when QT entered Phoenix about 20 years ago to go against the dominant (Circle K) presence.

Speedway has rebuilt a fairly large number of stores in recent years. There were a few scheduled to go Speedy Cafe but the plan was abandoned for whatever reason.

Circle K announced its intentions to build up Metro Detroit several years ago but never made much headway into the market.

[Admin note: Sentence removed due to policy violation]

[storewanderer]

Speedway has rebuilt a fairly large number of stores in recent years. There were a few scheduled to go Speedy Cafe but the plan was abandoned for whatever reason.

Circle K announced its intentions to build up Metro Detroit several years ago but never made much headway into the market. IMO, people will mistake Kum & Go for a gay bar and it'll be out of the market quickly.

Kum & Go despite its name and the slogan of "we go all out" is a legitimate convenience store chain with a strong prepared food program, strong private label program, and nice site design. My main complaint with them, most of my experience with them is in Colorado, is that they seem to leave sites that don't perform particularly well for dead. They staff those not busy sites with one employee, don't run prepared food long after lunch, and don't clean up the pump area well. Their higher volume sites are well staffed and do a good presentation. Their pricing in the store is on the high side but their fuel is competitive. I think they'd be a good acquisition target for Circle K.

[storewanderer]

This is an odd decision. They seem to be throwing darts around.

Maverik is ready to welcome them to Utah and Idaho.

I can't tell if they are trying to build up and be a more attractive acquisition target or what.

I know Maverik has been expanding quite a bit lately, but you don't realize how dominant they are on their home turf of the Salt Lake Valley until you drive a few miles and see Maveriks pretty much everywhere you look, including two Maveriks at the same intersection next to I-15 in Sandy. And even with all the Maveriks 7-Eleven and Holiday also have a pretty strong presence in the area as well.

Boise seems to have a similar Maverik dominance, and Maverik has done an impressive job building up the Reno market as well. Reno has been historically a very dominant 7-Eleven market. I think Reno has been one of Maverik's best expansion markets. 7-Eleven is finally building new stores again but it doesn't matter because they are franchised from day one, equipment doesn't work from day one, and to add insult they do the cash price credit price on fuel (none of the existing 7-Elevens in Reno do that).