Second Cedar Rapids Kwik Star under construction

Kwik Trip, a privately-owned regional convenience store chain, has begun construction of its second Kwik Star store in Cedar Rapids.

The 9,022-square-foot store at 3730 Williams Blvd. SW will have 10 fuel pump islands offering gasoline, E85, diesel fuel and compressed natural gas, according to a building permit filed with the city. The store will be on a 2-acre site across from Westdale where a former Bank of the West office was demolished.

Vehicular access to the Kwik Star will be through the driveway shared with Metro Harley-Davidson at 2415 Westdale Dr. SW. The Kwik Star site development plan calls for the installation of sidewalks along Williams Boulevard SW and Westdale Drive SW before an occupancy permit is issued.

Plans call for the store to have 6,000 square feet of retail space, and the remainder will have a kitchen and carwash. Hans Zeitlow, director of real estate operations for Kwik Trip, said the store will offer food and beverages as well as the usual convenience store amenities.

Kwik Trip opened its first Kwik Star in Cedar Rapids last fall in a travel plaza at 8835 Runway Ct. SW, near the McDonald's at Wright Brothers Boulevard and Interstate 380. The 7,350-square-foot travel plaza has 10 fuel islands offering gasoline, E85 and compressed natural gas as well as five pump islands with diesel fuel for trucks.

Kwik Star's arrival in the Cedar Rapids market put it in competition with publicly-owned Casey's General Store of Ankeny, privately-owned Kum & Go of West Des Moines and Kwik Shop, owned by Cincinnati-based Kroger, the largest full-service grocery retailer in the nation.

La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip re-branded its Iowa locations as Kwik Star stores to cut down on confusion with QuikTrip, the Tulsa, Okla., convenience store chain that operates locations in central Iowa. Kwik Trip has traditionally opened Kwik Star stores in smaller Eastern Iowa communities.