QuikTrip responds to St. Louis riot damage

[NaturalHigh]

The riot that enveloped a suburban St. Louis neighborhood and destroyed a QuikTrip store has forced the Tulsa-based company to focus on two priorities, spokesman Michael Thornbrugh said Thursday.


No. 1, make sure all the store’s employees are safe and have access to counseling.

And No. 2, offer them transfers to the dozens of QuikTrips nearby but outside of that danger zone.

“Honestly, the only focus we have is we’re taking care of employees and customers at other locations,” Thornbrugh said. “We’ve been unable to even go in and do anything else at the location.”

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/quiktrip-responds-to-st-louis-riot-damage/article_0484cda0-7e6d-5a67-91b6-ba6471420fb4.html

Apparently they also closed a store a few miles away as a precaution.

[Glassunion]

1. Wow.

[SheilaT]

2. Nice.

That's how a company takes care of its employees.

[NaturalHigh]

5. QuikTrip is known for being pretty good to employees.

About eight or nine years ago, I remember reading an article that said store managers made around 65K. It's not enough to get rich, but it pays a lot better than the average convenience store. Of course, those managers work hard and put in lots of hours.

[pstokely]

15. QuikTrip spends more on their stores than 7-11, but QTs are company owned, 7-11s are franchised

7-11 is more robbery bait than QT around here, too many cops getting refills at the QTs

[NaturalHigh]

16. I didn't know that 7-11s were franchises.

I did know that when I was looking for a part-time job fifteen years or so ago, the QTs paid a lot better than 7-11.

[pstokely]

17. Most 7-11s are franchised, some are company owned

some 7-11s have gas pumps, other don't, QT doesn't have pumpless stores, maybe some 7-11s franchises pay higher wages than others

[Lochloosa]

3. Good on them

[MrScorpio]

4. They already have one of the best corporate reputations in the nation

By rebuilding that location as soon as possible, they can bolster that reputation.

Hopefully, they will come back to the community.

[NaturalHigh]

6. Yeah - I don't think that's going to happen.

Risk - reward analysis, that sort of thing. They are saying it's too early to decide, but they don't seem very enthusiastic about it.

[MrScorpio]

7. Well, I think that they would be open to consider an appeal from the community to return

From the actual tone of their public statement, they should be expected to reasonably consider it.

[NaturalHigh]

8. Maybe they will - I don't know.

I don't know if you've been in one of their newer stores. They are a big step up from the old QuikTrips, but they are only being put in at more upscale locations. Whether this store has been profitable enough to justify one of those, I couldn't say.

[MrScorpio]

11. They're not up here in Michigan

I checked a while back.

[Travis_0004]

13. I doubt it

They know who much profit they were making and perhaps could design a new store to increase profit. If it is profitable to rebuild they will. If its not then they wont. Sometimes its not worth closing an underperforming store but if its been burned down it might be easier to take the insurance money and build in a better location. I work in accounting, we had a building destroyed by tornado and decided not to rebuild by lunch the next day. Or if it was a very good location they might already have started on a plan.

[Glassunion]

10. They are honestly concerned about their employees.

I feel that will be the determining factor in their decision.

I've had the opportunity to work with the folks at QT a while back. They are actually employee driven, it's not just some corporate line.

[yeoman6987]

9. They will find another location

Why would you want to rebuild in a community that destroyed their business. Forget it. There are plenty of communities that really need this company and employment.

[Jenoch]

12. I understand how the mob mentality

works. I don't understand why it is justified.

[NaturalHigh]

14. Same here.

It seems like most of the people in the community liked this store, and a few idiots screwed things up for everyone.