kwik trip jobs deforest wi

Kwik Trip bought 151 acres in Dane County for a new distribution center, near future Buc-ee's

Wisconsin's fan-favorite gas station and convenience store chain Kwik Trip is expanding again.

Earlier this week, Kwik Trip completed a transaction to purchase 151 acres of empty farmland in the village of DeForest in northern Dane County, DeForest village administrator Bill Chang said. The land, in the southwest quadrant of the intersection between Highways 51 and 19, was purchased for $14.1 million, the Wisconsin State Journal reported .

Sixty acres will be developed into a satellite distribution center and fleet services center for Kwik Trip, Chang said. These facilities will serve about 350 Kwik Trip stores in southern Wisconsin. The distribution center and the fleet services center are each expected to bring 200 jobs to DeForest, Chang said, for a total of 400.

"We're excited to see such a strong company come to DeForest," he continued.

The remaining 91 acres will be set aside for future development, Chang added. The DeForest distribution center will be Kwik Trip's first outside of La Crosse , where the company is headquartered. Currently, more than 80% of the products sold in Kwik Trip stores are supplied by the company's La Crosse-based food production and distribution operations.

Chang said groundbreaking on the DeForest site will likely occur this spring or summer, but the project won't be complete for at least a year and a half. The village will have a lot to do to prepare for the distribution center's arrival.

"There will be improvements that will be necessary along the highways to ensure that (Kwik Trip's) traffic is addressed ... including intersection improvements and widening of the local road leading to the site," Chang said. "In the site itself, there will need to be an internal road network."

When reached for comment, Kwik Trip said it's "still doing (its) due diligence on the property," and does not have any specific details to share at this time.

DeForest's future Kwik Trip distribution center will be less than 10 minutes from Buc-ee's

Kwik Trip isn't the only hugely popular gas station and convenience store chain making a mark on DeForest in the coming years. The Texas-based chain Buc-ee's plans to build one of Wisconsin's largest gas stations in the village, northwest of the Interstate 39/90/94 and Highway V interchange.

Though the Kwik Trip distribution center site is less than 10 minutes from the proposed Buc-ee's site, Chang said neither business's expansion plans will be affected by the other.

Kwik Trip continues to expand throughout Wisconsin

The DeForest project is part of a $151 million business expansion Kwik Trip announced late last year that is expected to create more than 500 jobs by 2027.

In La Crosse, this has included a completed expansion of Kwik Trip's burrito production line, a new 40-foot production line for Dunkers and cake doughnuts, a cooler expansion in the dairy and additional packaging automation in the sweets bakery.

Kwik Trip is also renovating an office building in Onalaska, which will house training, accounting and operations support, including a 24/7 helpline for the stores.

Kwik Trip operates over 800 stores in the Midwest, including more than 500 in Wisconsin. It plans to continue adding about 50 new stores every year.

Journal Sentinel reporter Karl Ebert contributed to this report.

More: How a DIY business strategy led to Kwik Trip's explosive growth. 11.5 million people visit the stores every week.

More: Self-checkout stations are coming to Kwik Trips across Wisconsin