Kum & Go opening new stores in North Liberty, Riverside

A fast-growing Iowa-based convenience store chain will add another location in the Corridor later this month.

West Des Moines-based Kum & Go will open a store Dec. 18 on Lininger Lane in North Liberty, just off Penn Street near Interstate 380.

The 3,400-square-foot store, which will employ about 16, will have a masonry facade and offer 16 fuel pumps dispensing unleaded, unleaded plus, premium, E85 and diesel.

Kum & Go, which employs about 3,600, also will open a similar store on Dec. 18 in Riverside.

“Between Nov. 20 and the end of the year, we will open 10 new stores,” said Meggan Kring, Kum & Go director of communications. “It's pretty crazy right now.”

Kum & Go, with more than 430 convenience stores in Iowa and 10 other Midwestern states, has been growing at the rate of 20 to 25 new or “raise and rebuild” stores each year, according to Kring.

“Our ‘raise and rebuild' stores involve demolishing an existing Kum & Go and building a new store on the same site,” she said. “We're the third-largest owner/operator of a privately-held convenience store chain in the country.”

Kring said Kum & Go plans to construct a new store in Tiffin next year. She was not able to provide a location or projected date when the store will open.

Kum & Go operated a convenience store for many years at 2029 C St. SW in the Czech Village area of Cedar Rapids that was heavily damaged by the June 2008 flood. Kring said the building was deemed unsafe by local officials and was demolished. She didn't know whether the company would return.

While the North Liberty store was built in 90 days, according to Kring, a typical Kum & Go store requires about 95 days for construction.

Convenience store chains like Ankeny-based Casey's General Store and Kum & Go package all the fixtures and non-perishable merchandise for a new store in their warehouse, enabling a new location to be stocked quickly. Likewise, construction crews often build similar stores, enabling them to be very efficient.

In addition to offering gasoline, E85 and diesel fuel, Kum & Go stores have a selection of food and beverage products, including Java Ridge Premium Coffee, Go Fresh Market Sandwiches and Nuclear energy drinks.

Kum & Go also offers potato chips, bottled water, cookies and candy under the well-known Hiland brand name in its stores.

As part of Kum & Go's commitment to developing environmentally-friendly building and operating practices, the North Liberty and Riverside stores integrate heavily insulated glass, LED cooler door lights and energy-efficient coolers into their energy-efficient design.

Kring said North Liberty officials were very instrumental in the development of the new Kum & Go. She also credited Russell Gerdin, chairman of Heartland Express, who owned the land where the store was constructed.

Kring said the North Liberty, Riverside and Tiffin stores will not be the last in the eastern half of Iowa.

“We are actively looking for locations in Cedar Rapids and the Iowa City area to continue to grow,” she said.