National Petroleum News (NPN) has been the independent voice of the petroleum industry since 1909 as the opposition to Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. So, motor fuels marketing and retail is not just a sideline for us, it’s our core competency.
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RETAIL OPERATIONS By KeithReid While a lot of questions remain, this Wisconsin retailer is busy working out the details Kwik Trip Drives Ahead with Natural Gas W ith the buzz concern- ing natural gas as a motor fuel, most of the emphasis seems to be on the traditional petroleum marketer side of the industry facilitating slow-fill applications for their customers (or their own fleets) or linking the fueling process to a more conventional commercial card lock operation or mobile fueling application. Bucking that trend with a more retail approach is Eau Claire, Wis.-based Kwik Trip™. That is not to say the company is focused on consumer fueling—at least not yet— but serving its fleet customers with a fast-fill solution and a more traditional retail environment. Kwik Trip has been in business since 1965 and currently operates over 400 Kwik Trip, Kwik Star, Hearty Platter® and Tobacco Outlet Plus stores through- out Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. Each location offers bakery goods, milk, snacks, hot sandwiches, fresh coffee—not just traditional convenience store fair, but an upmarket approach that includes its own dairy and bakery. On the fueling front, the company states an interest in supporting sustainability and offers a range of alternative fueling solutions from electric to biodiesel to natural gas. NPN interviewed Joel Hirschboeck, Kwik Trip's alternative fuels superintendent, to get a handle on the company's perspective on alternative fuels, particularly natural gas. NPN: Kwik Trip at first glance might be considered more the traditional convenience retailer, but your company seems to be willing to experiment in fueling areas that would be considered less than traditional. Hirschboeck: Our alternative fuel island located here across from our distribution center really tells that story. At that location, we have your typical fuel offerings in addition to CNG, LNG, two different grades of biodiesel, propane— we have a lot of different things going on at that site. We are primarily looking to be prepared as alternative fuels continue to evolve and transition so that when something really does start to make sense in a commercial or retail marketplace, we can be ready to react to it in a short amount of time. NPN: So, to some extent this operates as a technology demonstrator? Hirschboeck: It really is, and we are moving forward in a lot of different things—compressed natural gas, for example. We see that as by far the front runner in alternative fuels, and we have CNG at 17 of our locations with another seven going in this fall/winter, and we will continue to develop that infrastructure moving forward. NPN: What type of traffic are you seeing for your CNG right now? Hirschboeck: The model that we are going after involves looking at what makes sense. Functional infrastructure, major markets, major corridors–what is your most bang for the buck when it comes to access with different opportunities? We are really focused on generating the infrastructure and making 10 OCTOBER 2013 NPN Magazine n www.npnweb.com