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Kwik Star Express offers shopping options

Wrobel: Store offers ‘a good portion for a value price’

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter Store Leader David Munoz knows his cigars, and can help customers of any level of smoking experience pick out a cigar to their taste pick one out of the walk-in Humidor at the Kwik Star Express, now open at Second Avenue North and 15th Street.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter David Munoz is store leader at the Fort Dodge Kwik Star Express, which opened this month and had its grand opening on Wednesday. The store offers specialty coffee, its own line of meat, milk and other grocery products, and a walk-in humador of premium cigars. -Messenger photo by Joe Sutter Store Leader David Munoz shows Mary Ellen McGough how to work the Karub Gold machine, which grinds its own espresso beans and mixes drinks with real milk and optional flavors added in.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter Store Leader David Munoz knows his cigars, and can help customers of any level of smoking experience pick out a cigar to their taste pick one out of the walk-in Humidor at the Kwik Star Express, now open at Second Avenue North and 15th Street.The newest gas station and convenience store in town has something unusual to offer–a walk-in humidor stocked with a wide variety of cigars.

The Kwik Star Express at the corner of Second Avenue North and 15th Street celebrated its official grand opening this week, after a soft opening previously.

Cigars are one thing, but customers will appreciate a wide range of grocery options at the store, said Steve Wrobel, spokesman for Kwik Trip and Kwik Star.

“The convenience store industry has changed so much,” Wrobel said. “Years ago it meant simply fuel and tobacco. We have moved so much more into foods as a company.”

Fresh foods are trucked in daily from the company’s headquarters in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Wrobel said.

The store’s meat, potatoes, eggs, bread, milk, bananas and other groceries should be a good value for customers, he said — and people shouldn’t have to pay more for convenience.

“We have opposite philosophy. Provide a value, a good portion for a value price, and people appreciate that and support that,” Wrobel said. “Rather than overcharging for the convenience side of things we really want to offer the values.”

The cigar selection is of special interest to Fort Dodge Store Leader David Munoz. He previously worked in Dubuque for the Tobacco Outlet, a partner of Kwik Trip/Kwik Star.

“I have smoked a lot of these. Not every one,” Munoz said. “I think I can definitely steer someone toward something they will like.

“We have something in here pretty much for any kind of budget and taste,” he said.

Cigars range from the more expensive to discount “factory throwouts” — sold at reduced prices because of a minor defect, such as a blemish in the wrapper.

“It’s still a good smoke,” Munoz said.

At a higher price range, the store stocks the No. 1 rated cigar in the world for 2015, as ranked by Cigar Aficionado, he said.

One of Munoz’s favorites is a Rocky Patel vintage cigar, he said.

“It’s got a great nutty flavor and aroma,” he said.

There are also flavored cigars — vanilla flavor, honey flavor, and even a variety in which the leaves are infused with Maker’s Mark bourbon.

“If you love Makers Mark, you’ll love this,” he said. “It really enhances the flavor if you drink Maker’s Mark while you’re smoking the cigar.”

And cigar-drink pairings don’t have to include alcohol.

“The Padron 4000 Maduro, I found out by accident … it goes great with Coca-Cola,” he said.

Most of the store’s cigars come from Nicaragua or the Dominican Republic.

The wood-walled humidor is kept at a consistent 65 to 75 percent humidity, and no more than 75 degrees, Munoz said.

The Kwik Star’s F’Real milkshake/smoothie making machine has been popular so far, Munoz said.

“Everybody is going crazy over this,” he said.

In addition to coffee and powdered cappuicino, the store also sells freshly made espresso drinks from an automated Franke machine.

“(It) makes real espresso drinks like you would get at a coffee bar,” said Munoz. “It grinds the beans, it mixes flavors, it uses real milk.”

Work has been going on there since September or October to ready the site, he said.

Kwik Star has about 80 store locations in Iowa, Wrobel said. The Kwik Star Express in Fort Dodge has a smaller footprint than the company’s standard.

“That’s actually nice in a lot of ways, because we’re able to put those in some properties we may not otherwise be able to fit a full-size convenience store,” Wrobel said.

The Wisconsin-based company operates Kwik Trip stores in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Its locations are called Kwik Star in Iowa to avoid confusion with the Oklahoma-based QuikTrip.

The company is one of the fastest-growing convenience stores in the nation, and plans to open 50 new stores this year alone, Wrobel said.

Munoz said he’s happy to see the way Fort Dodge is growing, as well.

“My wife and I have been to Fort Dodge a number of times, because we have a home in Storm Lake,” he said. “When we would bring our kids to Fort Dodge for cross country meets or softball tournaments, things like that–it’s kind of neat to see the way the town has grown.”

The store in Fort Dodge won’t have a full range of hot foods like you’d find at a full-size convenience store, he said, but it has ready to eat, “grab-n-go” items, Wrobel said.

And true to its name, it should be a good place to go shopping on quick trips.

“Whether you’re a large or small family, you’re probably going to do your big shopping once a week, once every two weeks, once a month, whatever the case may be,” Wrobel said. “We’re kind of that corner grocery store where you might fill in with some of your different, in-between things.”

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