Well that was ‘Kwik’

Thursday, Kwik Star makes its debut in Newton.

Less than 24 hours before the convenience store opened its doors, staff members were swiftly stocking shelves and coolers with fresh food and beverages in preparation for the big day. Already, local residents were entering the place of business, located on the 1900 block of First Avenue East, and were surprised to discover they were just a bit too early to start shopping or fill up their cars with gasoline.

Shane Kenney, the store leader and a resident of Newton for about 12 years, said the team got the keys to the store on Oct. 26. The next steps were to clean the shop, secure vendors, set up shelves and stock products before a family event — in which the 32 Kwik Star employees are encouraged to invite loved ones to an early opening — the night before the store officially opens its doors at 5 a.m. Thursday.

“It all comes together,” Kenney said just before noon Wednesday. “They’ve got a good plan for us … There’s a lot of excitement in town. I think people are really waiting for us. I go around town in my uniform and, whether I’m at Walmart or the post office or just walking downtown to get something to eat, people are asking when we’re going to be open.”

Kwik Star announced it was opening a Newton location in August 2017 and was to be built at the former Lauterbach Buick GMC dealership, which had moved down the street to 2900 First Ave. E. The Newton Daily News reported a year ago the property sold for $415,000.

Once the former dealership building was demolished, construction of the Kwik Star began in spring in 2018.

City of Newton Development Specialist Craig Armstrong said staff had been in training for several weeks. Now it’s time to put their training to the test. Positioned just off First Avenue/U.S. Highway 6, Armstrong said Kwik Star has an “excellent” location thanks in part to the 12,000 to 15,000 vehicles traveling up and down the route on a daily basis.

In addition to being a new business in Newton, Armstrong said Kwik Star — also known as Kwik Trip outside of Iowa — fills a niche market in town.

“It’s somewhat a of miniature grocery store,” he said. “It’s not just a convenience store. It’s much larger than typical convenience stores and offers a wide variety of product, as well as prepared foods. We’re looking forward to welcoming them into the community.”

Before Kwik Star even opened its doors — or even built doors for that matter — there was talk of convenience store reps constructing a second location in Newton. Armstrong said, interestingly enough, building another store somewhere else in Newton was Kwik Star’s concept “from the get go,” following a cold-call to Kwik Trip/Kwik Star headquarters approximately three years prior.

“When they started expressing interest in the marketplace, they thought they wanted to build two stores and not just one, so that’s been going on almost from day one,” Armstrong said.

However, no set location has been confirmed.

Based out of La Crosse, Wisc., Kwik Trip/Kwik Star has opened roughly 650 total stores throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa since 1965; about 90 of which are stationed in Iowa. Kwik Trip/Kwik Star spokesperson Steve Wrobel said the first Hawkeye State-based store was opened in 1993.

Kwik Trip/Kwik Star stores have changed significantly since the company’s inception 53 years ago. Some of the very first shops, Wrobel said, did not come equipped with fuel pumps. These days, Kwik Trips and Kwik Stars have three facets to their identities.

“We’re a gas station, we’re a corner grocery store and a quick-serve restaurant, all in one,” Wrobel said.

Although he acknowledged Newton’s Kwik Star is probably not going to take over or replace other neighborhood grocery stores in town, Wrobel said the store will fulfill those in-between trips for more eggs, another loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, extra produce or fresh meat — delivered daily — when local families’ supplies are low.

Drawing comparisons to old fashioned, small-town corner stores, Wrobel said Kwik Trips and Kwik Stars value their customers and their relationships with the community above all else.

“We call our customers ‘guests,’ because we want to treat our customers as you would a guest in your home,” Wrobel said.

Kwik Star will hold its grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Nov. 13. During that time, Wrobel said Kwik Trip/Kwik Star will likely present a check to a local organization as a gesture of thanks to the community in advance for welcoming the new business to Newton.

When Chelle Powers, district leader of the Newton-based Kwik Star, took a break from her prep work Wednesday, she said her and the staff are excited for what is to come and anticipate a lot of customers showing up the first day of business.

“We’re hoping that we open and people are welcoming here in Newton,” Powers said. “So far, they’ve been really great. In the community we’ve had a lot of people give us a lot of support, which is outstanding. So we’re hoping for a good, clean start.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com