TULSA, Okla. – In 2002, QuikTrip began making plans to alter its role as a convenience retailer by transforming its locations into consumer destinations for fresh, grab-and-go foods, reports Tulsa World.

Today, about two-thirds of the retailer’s 44 Tulsa-area locations are “sporting redesigned interiors and display fixtures” showcasing shelves of sandwiches, wraps and fruit cups made fresh each day from the retailer’s QT Kitchens – a 40,000 square-foot production facility where 95 employees prepare thousands of foodservice items “that rival any number of local fast food and quick-casual eateries,” notes the newspaper.

“It's been a long-term initiative,” commented QuikTrip spokesman Mike Thornbrugh, adding, “It's been in the works for four years, and now we're rolling it out.”

Forward thinking into the future, many convenience retailers are reevaluating their current store models and assessing their in-store offer to keep up with changing consumer patterns, tighter gasoline margins and cross-channel competitors. The newspaper notes that last year the National Restaurant Association dubbed convenience stores as “one of the fastest-growing segments” of the foodservice industry – a concept Thornbrugh says QuikTrip recognized early on.

“We think we were ahead of it,” Thornbrugh told the newspaper, adding, “We're in the fresh food business. We are going to compete.”

QuikTrip customers can now find foodservice options such as spicy Southwestern chicken wraps and lettuce- and tomato-filled turkey sandwiches, along with beverage stations featuring new frozen and energy drinks, a proprietary brand of Colombian coffee, hot chocolate and milk shake machines.

Inside the QT Kitchens, employees work “assembly-line style” inside a 40-degree stainless steel production room. At the end of the line, each product is wrapped and packaged for delivery.

The newspaper writes that QuikTrip’s “next step in enticing customers to linger” will come in the form of bakery items, such as doughnuts, cookies and other fresh-baked items. In 2005, the retailer opened a QT Kitchens bakery and began selling bakery fare in September.

The retailer is also testing a technology that allows customers to order foodservice items from the dispenser while fueling, which is then ready for pickup inside the store. 

“We're looking to see if people have any interest in it," said Thornbrugh, adding, “In the next six months, in the next nine months, we're going to be doing all kinds of things….Our customer two years from now won't recognize us.”