The QuikTrip to Success

It’s common knowledge that road warriors, on their daily commutes to and from work, to business meetings, transporting kids and running errands, need refueling—and so do their vehicles. Life operates at a hectic pace these days. Thank goodness for QuikTrip.

 

Since 1958, Tulsans have relied on QuikTrip to speed them on their way. Chester Cadieux opened his first convenience store in a strip mall in Tulsa, OK. Cadieux sold items he knew his customers would want to pick up in a hurry, such as milk, candy, soft drinks, coffee and cigarettes. Cadieux also introduced a special QuikTrip brand QT Beer, Quittin’ Time. By identifying his consumer market and paying close attention to his customers’ needs, Cadieux was able to expand his stores and his product lines.

 

In 1978, QuikTrip stores began selling gasoline. QT’s own brand, Redline, comes with an “unconditional gasoline guarantee.” In response to other oil companies’ competition, QuikTrip offered complimentary motor oil and auto accessories and expanded the number of gasoline pumps. Selling its own line of gasoline enabled QuikTrip to keep its gas prices lower than its competitors.

 

Today QuikTrip has more than 475 gas-convenience stores in nine states, including Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Georgia, Texas and Arizona. QuikTrip is the 28th largest privately held corporation, according to Forbes magazine. QuikTrip employs over 7,800 people and ranked 20th in Fortune magazine’s Top 100 Best Companies to Work For.

 

Chester Cadieux serves as Chairman of the Board of QuikTrip Corporation while his son Chet Cadieux is CEO. Chet carries on his father’s legacy by continuing to maintain the company’s high standards for customer service, employee satisfaction and dedication to the community.

 

Chet Cadieux believes that one of the most important factors in QuikTrip’s success is the care, foresight and response the company and its employees give to customers’ needs.

 

“Responding to the needs of your customer is absolutely critical to success in business, Cadieux said. “Of course, this is true in retail but I believe that it is essential in all businesses.”

 

Cadieux goes on to say that it is also important for companies to consider “internal customers,” who “do not deal with the customer directly. They work with others in the organization who deal with the customer. It is just as important for these employees to provide great customer service. We have a saying that hangs on a 16-foot banner in our lobby: ‘If you’re not taking care of the customer, you’d better be taking care of the people who are.’”

 

Marketing research helps companies such as QuikTrip stay in touch with their customers’ needs. Marketing research serves as a “direct line” to customers and provides the company with feedback.

 

“We do a lot of customer research through surveys, focus groups, the Internet, etc.,” said Cadieux. “We use that research to continuously improve our offering to our customers.”

 

One example of how customer response has shaped QuikTrip is the look of the stores. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not but we tend to remodel our stores an awful lot…every couple of years,” said Cadieux. “Those remodels are a direct result of what our customers tell us they need. Of course, they cost us a lot of money but we can never be satisfied when it comes to fulfilling the needs of our customers.”

 

QuikTrip employees are another key to the company’s success. Providing the proper training and team building, selecting individuals who are dedicated to serving the customers and offering considerable salaries and benefits to employees help ensure that QuikTrip employs the very best.

“Our key to meeting the needs of our customers can be found in the incredible people who work for us in the stores. I would put our store teams up against any company’s employees. They are smart, friendly, and have an incredible work ethic,” said Cadieux.

 

QuikTrip has made it a practice to pay their employees more than their competitors. “We pay a lot of money to make sure that the people who work for us are the very best and then we make sure that they are taken care of once they start working for us,” Cadieux added.

He went on to say that employees have a direct effect on the company’s success. “Great, happy employees are the key to our ability to meet the needs of our customers. We do just over 1.4 million transactions per day. That equates to 1.4 million chances, every day, to get it right or to get it wrong. Hopefully, we get it right every time.”

 

The QuikTrip family of products has also helped establish QuikTrip as a top competitor in today’s convenience store market. In addition to Redline gasoline, QuikTrip carries Rooster Booster and Donkey Kick energy drinks, Quikn’Tasty sandwiches and wraps, hot dogs, taquitos, HOTZI baked breakfast sandwiches, and Select Blend coffee. Each QuikTrip has a soft drink beverage fountain that offers 24 different flavors, frozen drinks and shakes, all with the added convenience that customers can serve themselves and invent their own creation.

 

Cadieux said that QuikTrip products also fulfill customers’ needs. “We develop [QuikTrip products] because we feel that we can deliver the same quality as existing products but at a lower price,” he said. “Sometimes, we’re not happy with the quality of products available, so we develop our own; such is the case with our coffees, sandwiches, wraps, donuts, and other baked goods. The moral of the story is that, if we develop a product ourselves, we do it to deliver more value to our customer.”

 

QuikTrip is dedicated to helping charities and giving back to the community. “At QuikTrip, we believe that businesses owe it to the communities that make them successful to give back,” Cadieux said. “Our view is that every dollar that we give is critical. If we don’t give, we can’t depend on others to take up the slack.”

 

Cadieux is sincere in his dedication to communities. QuikTrip donates 5 percent of net profits to charity each year. “Last year, QT and its employees donated over $4 million to charities in the markets that we do business in,” he said.

 

Cadieux believes that one of the best ways to strengthen communities is to help at-risk youth. “I believe that if we can make a difference in the lives of children today, they’ll have a better chance at success and that success will pass on to the next generation,” he said. “It is an approach that I would liken to treating the cause rather than the symptom. I keep a plaque on my desk just to the right of my computer. It has one of my favorite sayings on it. and it guides me in many of the decisions that we make in this area as well as in my private life. It reads…’Priorities: A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove…But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.’”

 

QuikTrip’s commitment to excellence shows in the priorities the company places on serving its customers, appreciation for its employees, its offering of fine products and its partnership with improving communities. From one small convenience store to a major corporation in just fifty years—success for the Cadieux family has been a QuikTrip.

Gretchen Gregg