QuikTrip opens its newest location

The countdown climaxes Thursday when the newest QuikTrip opens at I-40 and U.S. 59.

While those who have been giddy with anticipation have been counting the days, QuikTrip takes the opening in stride. For the convenience store chain that was founded in 1958 and has more than 1,000 stores in 17 states, it’s just the first day of what’s expected to be thousands that follow.

For Thursday’s opening, there’ll be no fanfare. No pomp, no circumstance. No kidding.

But it’s not because QT takes the addition of another location for granted. It’s because those on the frontlines who decide where stores will be built have done their homework. They know before it even opens if the location will be a success.

And as one of “three or four sets of eyes” who makes the strategic decisions, QT real estate manager Jake Barron has been at the forefront of countless success stories for the chain.

And the bedrock of QT’s planning is an exhaustive checklist to ensure not only success for QT, but also for the community.

“We make sure there aren’t any stones that haven’t been turned to make sure we know exactly what we’re getting into,” Barron says. “It’s a huge investment to build one of these facilities. That store with our equipment and everything, it’s going to cost over $10 million when it’s all said and done. I don’t know how you make that back selling hot dogs and sodas, but it works, and it works because of our people.

“And more than anything, as stakeholders in the community, as business owners, managers, I can’t emphasize the importance it is to develop that culture, to earn the trust of those employees and to maintain that culture. It’s one thing for a boss to believe in their employees, you hear that a lot. But it’s a whole other thing for those employees to believe in that boss. And that’s something that QuikTrip has been successful in doing,” Barron says of QT’s 31,000 employees. QT has consistently been listed on Fortune magazine’s list of “100 Best Companies to Work For.”

“There’s nothing more important to our company than our employees and the culture we provide and strive to continue into the future. I’m very passionate about QuikTrip, I’m very passionate about what we’re trying to do, the way we treat our people, the way we treat our customers. Every time we open a store, it creates another management position, creates three more assistant management positions, it creates 10 to 15 clerk jobs. So it’s a very, very, very important deal, and we’re very, very, very specific about what communities we want to grow in. We really want to make sure we’re a cultural fit,” Barron says.

And it’s important that the community wants to add QuikTrip to its business landscape.

“The interactions I’ve had with the city have been nothing but first class. They mean what they say and they do what they say. Over the last couple of years, we’ve gone from town to town, and this just feels a little different — the cooperation, the willingness to step up, the willingness to accept responsibility for your community — you guys ought to be really, really, really proud,” Barron says of Sallisaw.

A contributing factor in locating a store in Sallisaw, Barron explains, is what QT refers to as a remote store network.

“It’s providing interstate locations that are more travel center in nature — so think Pilot, think Love’s, TA, some of those deals — but not quite that big. We don’t offer some of the amenities that some of the over-the-road truckers have. We don’t do the showers, we don’t have large parking lots, we don’t have laundromats,” Barron explains. “It’s more of a place for those guys to get in, fuel up, get something to eat or drink and get back on the road.”

The timeline

It was 20 months ago — July 2023 — that George Bormann, Sallisaw’s economic development director, announced QT was coming to Sallisaw. “We are excited about the project, and we feel that QuikTrip will be a great addition to Sallisaw,” Bormann said at the time. “At this point, this project will help fill a retail gap and pull traffic off of the interstate.”

Then 13 months ago — February 2024 — the planning commission and city commissioners cleared the final hurdles that gave QT the green light to proceed. “It’s not very often we show up and are welcomed with open arms, like we

have been here,” Barron told the commissioners in praising the city staff. “These guys are very responsive, very efficient, very professional.

“I’m super excited about bringing our brand to Sallisaw. I’m excited to bring our brand to the city and travelers on I-40.”

Barron told the commissioners “it takes us about 50 weeks to build,” so he targeted late February or early March for the opening of QuikTrip at 1504 W. Lenington Road. “Once they get started, it goes fast.”

And with the opening now at hand, Barron is as giddy as a child on Christmas morning.

“You’ll have it all,” Barron says of the amenities the Sallisaw QuikTrip will offer. “That store will be delivered to every day, so fresh salads, pastries, that type of stuff; we’ll have all the pizzas.”

But food and fuel are just part of the success equation.

“One of the reasons QuikTrip has been so successful is our ability to adapt. Those stores are very, very, very high end as far as technology,” Barron says.

QuikTrip is an $11 billion company that operates more than 1,000 stores in 17 states, with most of the stores in the Tulsa metro area. The Sallisaw location will be the chain’s farthest east and south Oklahoma location. But Sallisaw’s geographic claim will be shortlived. Barron says QT has property under contract in Roland for the development of another Sequoyah County location.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve gone from town to town, and this just feels a little different — the cooperation, the willingness to step up, the willingness to accept responsibility for your community — you guys ought to be really, really, really proud,” Barron says of Sallisaw.

The QuikTrip location at I-40 exit 308 will be open 24 hours.