Market experience coming with new Kwik Trip in Prairie du Chien

By Correne Martin

The new Kwik Trip along Selch Drive on the south side of Prairie du Chien is expected to be finished by the end of January 2022. A ribbon cutting will follow in early February after a soft opening of a few weeks.

Then, the existing Kwik Trip South at 1000 S. Marquette Rd. (Wells Street intersection) will be closed. The building will most likely go up for sale, said Dax Connely, Kwik Trip real estate manager. The employees there will relocate to the new store or, if they wish, transfer to a different location.

Construction is happening rapidly at the new spot, just five months after the company closed on the property purchase from Crossing Rivers Health Aug. 19.

“We had boots on the ground and excavators parked there the next day,” Connely said.

With Kwik Trip as the contractor hiring all the subcontractors for the project, ground was officially broken Aug. 23.

They’ve moved quickly as of late, but this was a long time coming, Connely said. Usually, it takes the company about a year to buy land and erect a store. This project, however, is taking a little longer because of the municipal airport located nearby.

“It seems so surreal this is actually happening,” he stated. “We have to put a plug in for Garth Frable (city planner) at the city for having gone through this aviation ‘experiment’ before, when the new hospital was built. He was a huge help for us, in terms of relationships with government officials.”

Connely shared that one important local goal, aside from putting in the new convenience store, is to improve stormwater capacity in the vicinity. Kwik Trip is working with Crossing Rivers Health to move some of their stormwater pipes while simultaneously implementing Kwik Trip’s own stormwater design. 

“We’ll be set up [to withstand] a 500-year flood,” he noted.

The newest Kwik Trip will be what the corporation calls a Generation 3 store, standing on approximately 9,000 square feet and offering an attached car wash, 10 double-sided gasoline pumps and two lanes with four diesel pumps behind the store. The building will sit across Selch Avenue from Nathan Plaza. It will face Selch Drive, with side entrances facing Highway 18.

Inside, shoppers will be treated to a small grocery market experience with food varieties delivered fresh daily. The look will incorporate softer colors.

“This will be the first Gen 3 in southwestern Wisconsin,” Connely said. “We’ll also be getting started in a couple weeks (on a Gen 3) in Lancaster.”

He added that Monona, Iowa, will see its Kwik Trip rebuilt into a Gen 3 store in 2022. Fennimore opened a new store last week, though it’s the Gen 2 model, he said.

“We’ll have 40 new ground-up stores in 2022. With additions and Stop ‘N’ Go conversions, we have about 73 projects going this year in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa,” Connely noted.

Though there has been talk that the new one in Prairie du Chien will include truck stop amenities like showers and lounges, Connely confirmed that will not be the case. 

Still, Prairie du Chien will be pleased with the new offering, he believes.

“I think customers will be excited to see the new look and more products,” he stated.

This store will employ about 30-35 people, Connely added. That’s including those employees from the existing south store.