MILWAUKEE _ Kwik Trip Inc. has agreed to buy 34 PDQ convenience stores, a move that will push Kwik Trip's overall store count above 600.
La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip said Wednesday that it has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of employee-owned PDQ Food Stores, of Middleton, Wis., for an undisclosed price.
The purchase will give Kwik Trip nine more stores in southeastern Wisconsin and 23 more in the Madison area, along with single stores elsewhere in the state.
Kwik Trip expects to close the deal in October. It is subject to approval by PDQ employees.
Kwik Trip will operate the new locations under the PDQ name until it remodels them, a process expected to be finished in mid-2018.
The La Crosse company probably will spend $30 million to $40 million on the effort, spokesman John McHugh said. Among changes will be the installation of Kwik Trip's proprietary food program, with hot foods counters and fresh produce areas, as well as exterior remodeling to fit the Kwik Trip model, he said.
Known as a leader in its industry, Kwik Trip has grown steadily in the last three decades but has stepped up its expansion in recent years. With the PDQ acquisition, Kwik Trip will have added more than 200 stores since 2013.
The company employs more than 19,000 people and expects to add another 1,000 with the PDQ purchase. Six years ago, Kwik Trip had about 10,000 employees.
PDQ dates to 1949 but wasn't branded with its current name _ it stands for "pretty darn quick" _ until 1962. The Jacobsen family owned the chain until 2009, when it was sold to employees.
Besides the Wisconsin locations, PDQ has one store in Tahoma, Calif. _ in a rustic, lodge-style building along Lake Tahoe. Kwik Trip is not buying that store.
