Kum & Go

Kum & Go is a convenience store chain primarily located in the Midwestern United States. The company, based in Des Moines, Iowa, operates 400 stores in 11 states—primarily in its home state of Iowa.[2] Other states include: Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Kum & Go was ranked as the 24th-largest convenience store chain in the United States by Convenience Store News in 2019.[3]

Kum & Go, L.C.
TypePrivate
IndustryRetail (Convenience stores)
FoundedHampton, Iowa (1959)
HeadquartersDes Moines, Iowa
Area served
Midwest, Mountain West, and West South Central regions
Key people
William Krause and Tony Gentle, Co-founders
Kyle Krause, CEO
Tanner Krause, President
Revenue$2.6 billion (2019)[1]
Number of employees
5,000 [1]
ParentKrause Group
Websitewww.kumandgo.com
Map of Kum & Go locations as of July 2020

Background

The chain was founded by William A. Krause and Tony S. Gentle, who founded the Hampton Oil Company in Hampton, Iowa, in 1959. Hampton Oil eventually became the Krause Gentle Corporation, and is today a part of parent company, Krause Group. In 1963, Krause Gentle introduced the company's first convenience stores, selling both fuel and merchandise items, in which they changed their gas station into a "station store".[4]

The Kum & Go name was adopted in 1975[5] to unify the company's array of stores under a single brand. It was a play on the phrase "come and go" using the initials of founders Krause and Gentle. Sales of Kum & Go-branded merchandise increased after Johnny Knoxville was seen wearing a Kum & Go T-shirt during a scene in the 2006 movie Jackass Number Two.[6]

Company expansion
A Kum & Go in Colorado

In 1988, Krause Gentle moved the company's corporate headquarters to West Des Moines, Iowa. Kum & Go went through a period of rapid expansion in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In addition to building new stores, Krause Gentle acquired unwanted stores from chains such as 7-Eleven, QuikTrip, and Git 'n' Go and converted them to Kum & Go stores. In 2007 and 2008 Kum & Go auctioned off more than 40 of its smaller stores in order to focus on building larger stores ranging in size from 3,600 to 5,000 square feet (460 m2).[7] In 2010 the company announced a major expansion of 100 stores throughout the Midwest and included Kansas for the first time. [8] It was announced in June, 2011, that Kum & Go had reached agreement to sell twenty-two stores, again mostly in smaller rural communities, to rival Casey's General Stores. According to Kum & Go CEO Kyle J. Krause the sale allowed for reinvestment other stores and helped drive long-term growth.[9]

On June 1, 2018, Kum & Go named fourth-generation family member Tanner Krause as president, with his father, CEO and President Kyle Krause, becoming chairman and CEO.[10]

In 2018, Kum & Go moved its headquarters to the Krause Gateway Center in downtown Des Moines. [11]

In 2019, Kum & Go ranked 178th on Forbes magazine's list of the largest private companies in the United States, ranking second to Hy-Vee among companies based in Iowa.[12]

In addition to Kum & Go, Krause Group owns and operates the Des Moines Menace soccer team as well as Italian Serie A side Parma, Solar Transport, Teamwork Ranch, Dalla Terra Ranch, and two Italian wineries: Vietti and Enrico Serafino. [13]

Controversy
Kum & Go storefront in Colorado

Kum & Go was sued in 2004 by an Omaha man claiming racial discrimination after being denied access to the public restroom.[14] The lawsuit was rejected by a lower court, and the decision was upheld by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled that the plaintiff had no standing to file the action, among other things.[15]

Cultural references

There is a Kum & Go in Durant, Wyoming, the seat of Absaroka County, in the Longmire mysteries by Craig Johnson. Kum & Go was mentioned in the Desaparecidos song Greater Omaha and in the They Might Be Giants Venue Song Sokol Auditorium. Johnny Knoxville is seen wearing a shirt with the Kum & Go logo in the movie Jackass: Number Two and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. Kum & Go was shown in the South Park episode "A Nightmare on Facetime" and "Mexican Joker".

References
  1. "#208 Kum & Go". Forbes. 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  2. "About Kum & Go". Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  3. Kress, Melissa (2019-07-30). "Top 100 Convenience Stores". Convenience Store News. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  4. "Kum & Go History". Archived from the original on 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
  5. "Kum & Go - Trademark by Kum & Go, L.C." Trademarkia. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  6. Elbert, David (2006-12-19). "How convenient! Film comes out, T-shirt sales go up". The Des Moines Register. p. 1D.
  7. "Kum & Go To Sell 21 Locations". Convenience Store News. 2 May 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  8. "Kum & Go, QuikTrip Add TransFund ATMs". CSP. 2006-10-10. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  9. "Casey's to purchase 22 Kum & Go stores in Iowa". The Daily Iowegan. 2011-06-03. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
  10. "Tanner Krause named Kum & Go president; Kyle Krause now chairman". Business Record. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  11. "Multi-Million Dollar Kum & Go Headquarters Opens; Here's How You Can Get a Tour". WHOTV. 2018-11-12. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  12. "The Largest Private Companies". Forbes. 2019-10-28. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  13. Johnson, Patt. "Kum & Go chief buys winery". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  14. "BILELLO v. KUM GO LLC". FindLaw.
  15. "Court: White man can't sue Iowa company over restroom access". Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
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