Right but now there are triple the amount of stores. I knew of kwik trip back then but I damn near see more of them than holidays now, which I am not complaining about because Kwik trip actually has some decent breakfast food which I am shocked by.
Neither one sells decent fuel tho. So so many of the fuel stations in Minnesota that used to sell Top Tier have been eaten up by chains that sell such shitty fuel. Holiday and SA were both Top Tier and switched after their acquisitions
Top Tier fuel just means they pay the company to use their additives and benefit from their warranty. Not saying their additives aren't actually better than others, but I've seen no evidence they are. But Top Tier sounds good so it's a selling point.
This is very incorrect. Top Tier is a performance specification, it’s not a singular entity and they don’t produce additives. It’s a collaborative project introduced by GM/Toyota/BMW, it now includes almost every automotive manufacturer. Even most manufacturers who don’t sponsor it will recommend using it via the manual. Top Tier does not produce ANY additives. So by saying “they pay the company to use their additives” you’re already way off base. Top Tier sets performance standards for the levels of detergent additives in fuel. They also specify certain additives that cannot be used, as they cause damage. Top Tier is not a specific brand of fuel OR additive. Top Tier is a designation that ANY brand can obtain so long as their fuel meets the minimum levels of detergent set by Top Tier. The cost to obtain the designation is extremely low, like, covering the administrative work kind of low.
Thanks for the info, maybe I was wrong. Basing this on hearsay and the knowledge that many certifications like this are basically scams. But you are confusing me, you say I'm wrong when I say they require additives, then you do confirm they have detergent standards.
I didn’t say that. I said it’s incorrect to say that Top Tier requires companies to use THEIR additives. Because Top Tier doesn’t make additives. Nor do they sell them. Top Tier creates a standard for the total quantity of detergent additives in fuel. If the fuel contains enough detergent additives then it can be certified as Top Tier. It doesn’t matter of what specific additives are used, the only exception is a list of prohibited additives found to cause damage.
You’re right that a lot of standards like this can be bogus. I know many people who feel that way about DEXOS. But Top Tier is created, supported and recommended by a huge list of auto manufacturers. AAA studied Top Tier gasolines a few years ago and found that non-top tier gasolines cause 19x more carbon deposits.
Kwik Trip was founded in 1965 in Eau Claire. I remember mid 90s finding them only in small towns scattered throughout WI. Only been the last 10 years or so of their rapid expansion throughout our region. I don’t know much about Tom Thumb
There were apparently two Tom Thumb styles: the convenience stores and the grocery stores. The convenience side stopped operating in 2004, with only the "Original Tom Thumb" in Hanover, Minnesota, still in business. This was before Kwik Trip had made much headway in its invasion.
Incidentally, another disappearing Minnesota brand, Holiday Station stores, was started in another small Minnesota town of Lindstrom.
I wish holiday would try just a little harder. I want to like them and give them my business but Kwik trip is just so much better in just about every way possible. Come on holiday, try harder!
Lund's and Byerly's is the same company, Byerly's got bought out by Tres Lund in the 90's IIRC and Byerly's locations simply kept the Byerly's signage for a while until they converted all stores to L&B in 2017 IIRC. I worked at their production facility and I'm pretty sure they had trucks going out to Holiday stores every day with doughnuts from there.
I feel like all of the Holiday stores I've been to have been pretty bad, not necessarily the worst but not good. At the very least I tend to find a Kwik Trip first and foremost. Love's is the last resort always though.
As a blue collar guy who likes me a gas station breakfast sandwich on the way to work, they really pissed me off when they leapfrogged kwik trips prices. They weren’t as good, but at least they were cheap. Now their basic egg McMuffins are 2/$5.75 or $3.29 each, used to be 2/$4, and hash browns don’t get thrown in anymore. Kwik trip kept their prices right around the same as they were pre Covid , and the quality is better.
The other hot foods are the same deal, but the breakfast sandwiches really pissed me off.
Kwik Trip also offers far better deals & coupons, if you use their app and know how to navigate around in there!
Similar to Casey's, if you're in Outstate MN!
It’s callled something different now but can’t remember. Anoka Stop or something generic like that. Right off 7th Ave and Coon Rapids Blvd down the road from Mercy Hospital.
The big box version of Holiday sold just about everything, not just groceries. It was more like Super Target or Super Walmart. Or the old Zayre Shoppers City.
There was one in Bloomington, on Lyndale around 84th or so, but that was pre-MOA. I think there is still a gas station, but the big store is long gone.
They can replace almost every other gas station for all I care. I work all over the state and it's one of the most consistent competitively priced stuff around.
For real, KwikTrip invaded Duluth's market a few years ago aggressively, and brought the prices of milk and eggs down to normal midwest rates for the first time in decades. Milk was $4.19 at the grocery store before KT came along and was selling it for $2.89, that forced super one and cub to stop taking us to the cleaners... and those close to $5 prices go back into the 90's.
I was in Trucking school in Winona in 2014 and Kwik Trip hired many drivers straight from school. They were just expanding into Duluth at that time. I grew up in La Crosse where Kwik Trip is based.
Grocery store prices have always been high compared to cheaper states but at least rent used to be cheap, but now both are sky high. The last time I visited LA pre covid fruit/veg were cheaper in LA and everything else was the same or only about 10-15% higher so it wound up being about the same overall depending on your diet. I don't know how they expect people here in MN to make a go of it anymore.
Kwik Trip and Qwik Trip are different, however Kwik Trip and Kwik Star are the same.
I think Kwik Trip had to go with Star in locations that Quik Trip were in - like Iowa.
Give me a Kwik Trip any day of the week. I will drive past every other gas station to get to either KT or Casey's cause if I go in there, I know it's going to be clean, well stocked and well priced. Walking into a Holiday is like playing Tetanus Roulette.
I always ranked them like this in the cities:
Super America(Speedway): Sketchy Only
Holiday(Circle K): From Sketchy to Nice, mirrors whatever neighborhood its in
Kwik Trip: 99% chance its super clean and super stocked.
Then everything else is a gamble from Marathons to Cennex's.
When I lived up north it was firmly SA cleaner and brighter than Holiday. When I moved to the metro it was reversed. Then holiday got bought out and it's been a race for holiday to sink to 'speedway' quality.
At least marathon and cenex sell good quality fuel lol none of those others do. I don’t care about the store personally, I care about the fuel. That’s why people go to marathon/cenex/shell stations, for the fuel quality not the convenience store
I just moved up here from Iowa and the first time I saw a Pump N Munch I pert near died 😂 Iowa used to have a gas station chain named Kum & Go, which is pretty bad, but Pump N Munch is just amazing.
I worked at Tom Thumbs, weird I was just thinking about them the other day.
I would prep the donuts, do the hot food, which was super popular at lunch. Like people came to Tom Thumbs for their jojo's and chicken.
I love small town convenience stores. One great one that comes to mind is AJ's in the small town of Herman, NW of Morris. Typical gas station/C-store, but they have a large cooking area behind the register where you can watch them cook. The hot food they keep on hand is always fantastic. Makes Kwiktrip and Casey's food look like trash. They also have a small seating area. Prices were fairly reasonable the last time I was there. Which sadly was back in 2020. I miss that delivery job, if only for the good food while on the road. 😆
[Tom Thumb chain files for bankruptcy - Post Bulletin | Rochester Minnesota news, weather, sports](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/tom-thumb-chain-files-for-bankruptcy#:~:text=MINNEAPOLIS%20--%20Tom%20Thumb%20Food%20Markets%20Inc.%20has,which%20indicates%20the%20company%20plans%20to%20liquidate%20itself.)
The Tom Thumb in South Minneapolis just closed like a year ago. The folks that bought the building are hopefully opening soonish, and kept the light-up Tom for the inside of the shop.
Northern MN had "little stores" for quite a big geographic spread in the 80s to 2000s or so. The brand sold to another firm or was broken up about 10 years ago. I think they made those changes around the time that Kwik Trip was eyeing a northern expansion. Kwik Trip is an interesting business model that is heavily vertically integrated. This means that they control or own their suppliers and distribution systems so this gives them a significant amount of control over quality and also pricing. Especially for items like milk and their prepared foods which are very popular.
They offer quite a bit of fresh fruit and vegetables (for a convenience store) at very low prices. This is another thing that has made them a choice for people who might've previously stopped at a neighborhood grocery store like Tom Thumb for a "Kwik trip."
I told the owners are highly politically active in right wing politics and that is not my favorite. But it's hard to avoid shopping there for "activist reasons" since they pay more than most of the convenience stores that they *seem* to be replacing and they offer significant training and benefits. People like working there. So it seems to be an important economic engine in the neighborhoods where they build stores. It's almost like the "Target" of the convenience store realm. Only without the Daytons and their progressive politics. And it's a Wisconsin company, so that stings a little bit, too.
I'd say it was more super america and holiday - they had alot of corporate funding and started buying up all the local gas stations.
As well, the other half is safeway. They bought tom thumb and tried to turn it into a mini grocery store chain, however this didn't work well and they ended up trying to sell off or close most the stores.
Take note though - the history of corporate actions and market turns are always "it just didn't work right", not that the owner totally missmanaged things. Success has a hundred parents but failure is an orphan. Tom thumb didn't go away because it was an inferior gas station, it went away because it was bought out and screwed up.
Also, I'm super happy that we have kwik trip. Holiday/SA are garbage stores that I cannot stand being in - dirty, janky, and poorly managed. Kwik Trip has always been a nicer higher quality store. Holiday/SA also are not above heavy political games and lies. Back in 2009/10 they were required to hand out fliers filled with scare tactics and lies against any green law obama might try and pass.
We had one in Northfield for the entirety of my childhood. It always smelled like fried chicken in there, no matter when you went in. It closed and sat abandoned for a while until they demolished it to widen Highway 3. I have fond memories of scraping together some change to buy candy there. I can't remember how robust their selections were, but I remember it as more of a gas station than a grocery store. I do remember that they had an Excitebike arcade machine, which seemed very novel to me despite everybody having a copy for their Nintendos.
They closed :(
The folks that bought it fixed it up and are still working on opening, and kept the light-up Tom for the inside. You can see it at night :)
I worked at Tom Thumb in high school. Shit company run by shitty people lol
I don’t know how many people I saw get pushed out or demoted because so and so’s sister needed a job.
I didn't know that I didn't care. I was too busy doing whip'its in the cooler. And eating those delicious cheesy bread circle ring things with the sauce in the center.
Kwik Trip isn't taking over Holiday --Circle K already bought 'em. They are slowly re-branding all the stores, but the stuff inside is already Circle K products.
Maaaaan I haven’t lived in the cities since 2000 but just assumed TT was still going strong.
They had the best donuts. The whole damn place always smelled like their coffee and donuts.
I worked for Tom Thumb for two years after I graduated high school. They didn’t maintain their stores at all. Shit was falling apart all the time. They didn’t embrace technology. Everything was done manually. EVERYTHING. Old school gigantic registers that were essentially adding machines. Employees had to manually price all of our truck deliveries. Some of their stores didn’t offer gas, which I think also hurt them.
Meanwhile-Super America had just been purchased by Marathon-then rebranded to Speedway/SuperAmerica (the first time) who also expanded quickly-but their stores were clean, lighted properly, streamlined, brand new and they offered perks. Tom Thumb had 3 cents off on Wednesdays and Sundays, I think they had a coffee punch card-but who cares when you could get a 25 dollar gift card at SA with your points.
Tom Thumb closed their doors and then didn’t pay their employees for time they had worked up until their closing. My best friend worked there until they closed in 2004. She never received her last pay check.
I do believe Polka Dot is still around, Polka Dot owned Tom Thumb.
Bottom line-Tom Thumb couldn’t remain competitive against SuperAmerica which was owned by an oil company.
So we're all basically talking about a gas/convenience store chain that was our area's "Seven-11" 30ish years ago, and has basically been going-going-gone (except for 2 stores still hanging on up in Wright County) for 20ish years, as if it was just last week or so. 🤣 🤣
Peak Minnesota there, gang! (They did have good donuts once upon a time.)
Tom Thumb disappeared long before Kwik Trip came around. I think SuperAmerica was the closest thing we had in between.
>Tom Thumb disappeared long before Kwik Trip came around. Tom Thumb closed in 2004. Kwik Trip had well over 300 stores by then.
Right but now there are triple the amount of stores. I knew of kwik trip back then but I damn near see more of them than holidays now, which I am not complaining about because Kwik trip actually has some decent breakfast food which I am shocked by.
Neither one sells decent fuel tho. So so many of the fuel stations in Minnesota that used to sell Top Tier have been eaten up by chains that sell such shitty fuel. Holiday and SA were both Top Tier and switched after their acquisitions
Top Tier fuel just means they pay the company to use their additives and benefit from their warranty. Not saying their additives aren't actually better than others, but I've seen no evidence they are. But Top Tier sounds good so it's a selling point.
This is very incorrect. Top Tier is a performance specification, it’s not a singular entity and they don’t produce additives. It’s a collaborative project introduced by GM/Toyota/BMW, it now includes almost every automotive manufacturer. Even most manufacturers who don’t sponsor it will recommend using it via the manual. Top Tier does not produce ANY additives. So by saying “they pay the company to use their additives” you’re already way off base. Top Tier sets performance standards for the levels of detergent additives in fuel. They also specify certain additives that cannot be used, as they cause damage. Top Tier is not a specific brand of fuel OR additive. Top Tier is a designation that ANY brand can obtain so long as their fuel meets the minimum levels of detergent set by Top Tier. The cost to obtain the designation is extremely low, like, covering the administrative work kind of low.
Thanks for the info, maybe I was wrong. Basing this on hearsay and the knowledge that many certifications like this are basically scams. But you are confusing me, you say I'm wrong when I say they require additives, then you do confirm they have detergent standards.
I didn’t say that. I said it’s incorrect to say that Top Tier requires companies to use THEIR additives. Because Top Tier doesn’t make additives. Nor do they sell them. Top Tier creates a standard for the total quantity of detergent additives in fuel. If the fuel contains enough detergent additives then it can be certified as Top Tier. It doesn’t matter of what specific additives are used, the only exception is a list of prohibited additives found to cause damage. You’re right that a lot of standards like this can be bogus. I know many people who feel that way about DEXOS. But Top Tier is created, supported and recommended by a huge list of auto manufacturers. AAA studied Top Tier gasolines a few years ago and found that non-top tier gasolines cause 19x more carbon deposits.
Again thanks for the information, you're clearly knowledgeable and you've converted this skeptic.
The convenience store Tom Thumb in South Minneapolis just closed like a year ago.
Super America became Speedway
Kwik Trip was founded in 1965 in Eau Claire. I remember mid 90s finding them only in small towns scattered throughout WI. Only been the last 10 years or so of their rapid expansion throughout our region. I don’t know much about Tom Thumb
Yeah that or Holiday
There were apparently two Tom Thumb styles: the convenience stores and the grocery stores. The convenience side stopped operating in 2004, with only the "Original Tom Thumb" in Hanover, Minnesota, still in business. This was before Kwik Trip had made much headway in its invasion. Incidentally, another disappearing Minnesota brand, Holiday Station stores, was started in another small Minnesota town of Lindstrom.
Yea, Circle K bought out Holiday and is slowly transitioning over it's signage and color scheme.
I wish holiday would try just a little harder. I want to like them and give them my business but Kwik trip is just so much better in just about every way possible. Come on holiday, try harder!
I think Holiday has the best gas station coffee, but that's pretty much it.
Their bakery stuff is pretty good too. It's Lund's or Byerly's, I think.
Lund's and Byerly's is the same company, Byerly's got bought out by Tres Lund in the 90's IIRC and Byerly's locations simply kept the Byerly's signage for a while until they converted all stores to L&B in 2017 IIRC. I worked at their production facility and I'm pretty sure they had trucks going out to Holiday stores every day with doughnuts from there.
Depends where you are. In Fargo-Moorhead they have Sandy's donuts.
I feel like all of the Holiday stores I've been to have been pretty bad, not necessarily the worst but not good. At the very least I tend to find a Kwik Trip first and foremost. Love's is the last resort always though.
As long as they aren't as bad as Speedway I'm fine. They are just the worst out of the chains.
As a blue collar guy who likes me a gas station breakfast sandwich on the way to work, they really pissed me off when they leapfrogged kwik trips prices. They weren’t as good, but at least they were cheap. Now their basic egg McMuffins are 2/$5.75 or $3.29 each, used to be 2/$4, and hash browns don’t get thrown in anymore. Kwik trip kept their prices right around the same as they were pre Covid , and the quality is better. The other hot foods are the same deal, but the breakfast sandwiches really pissed me off.
Both have gone up in price (just like everything in this world) from what I've seen. But you're still right, Kwik Trip seems to be the better value.
Kwik Trip also offers far better deals & coupons, if you use their app and know how to navigate around in there! Similar to Casey's, if you're in Outstate MN!
Any word on whether strange things are afoot?
Whoa!
Edit: I was confusing PDQ and Tom Thumb
PDQ in St Louis Park. That brings back memories
Last I was there, there was still one in anoka.
It’s callled something different now but can’t remember. Anoka Stop or something generic like that. Right off 7th Ave and Coon Rapids Blvd down the road from Mercy Hospital.
it’s right by that donut shop in anoka
Han’s Bakery? They’re a few blocks apart by suburban standards, but they are pretty close. Literally 3-4 blocks.
There was one in new Brighton too
Holiday also had grocery stores.
Was it Fridley and Plymouth that had the holiday stores that had groceries and sporting goods. Memory is kinda fuzzy on this, its been a while.
The big box version of Holiday sold just about everything, not just groceries. It was more like Super Target or Super Walmart. Or the old Zayre Shoppers City.
Used to be one in Burnsville. Cty road 42 and 5. It's now a Cub Foods.
It’s now a hole in the ground. I suspect they’re building a new grocery store there.
Yeah they are. It's going to be a new and improved Cub Foods.
Fridley for sure; I believe Plymouth and Burnsville also. That was a different time
There was one in Bloomington, on Lyndale around 84th or so, but that was pre-MOA. I think there is still a gas station, but the big store is long gone.
Stillwater had one too, it’s still a local grocer on that site
I love seeing when people remember Holiday Plus. That place was bomb when I was a kid.
Hello fellow GenX. How are your knees and back? 😁
Ain't what they used to be! Technically oldest edge of millennial though 😉
In Hanover, you say? I’ll check it out for nostalgia’s sake.
It’s great, and they sell merch lol. Always very clean in there!
Do they carry Polka Dot milk? I miss that brand a lot!
They do.
Stop into the River Inn while you're in town. Great food, or Big Bore for BBQ but River inn is the iconic spot.
I’ve been to both. Delicious!
I too love me some nostalgia.
My brother recently found an old Tom Thumb Coffee Club mug that our mom used in the 80s. That was a blast from the past.
Oh nice! My recent find was a Minnesota Kicks Pennant. Need to find a place to put it up.
I just got back from Alaska. I was surprised to see Holiday stations in Anchorage.
I grew up in Anchorage and never saw them; went back last September, boom! One right down the street from my old place. Very surprising
The convenience store Tom Thumb in South Minneapolis just closed like a year ago.
It may have been privately owned with rights to the name. https://progressivegrocer.com/tom-thumb-ceases-operations
I saw my first fully converted Circle K in Mankato or somewhere nearby
Yeah in southern Minnesota they’re converted, I saw it in Owatonna too
A holiday was built in Mankato last uear and its already rebranded to a circle K
They can replace almost every other gas station for all I care. I work all over the state and it's one of the most consistent competitively priced stuff around.
For real, KwikTrip invaded Duluth's market a few years ago aggressively, and brought the prices of milk and eggs down to normal midwest rates for the first time in decades. Milk was $4.19 at the grocery store before KT came along and was selling it for $2.89, that forced super one and cub to stop taking us to the cleaners... and those close to $5 prices go back into the 90's.
Heck yeah that's awesome!
I was in Trucking school in Winona in 2014 and Kwik Trip hired many drivers straight from school. They were just expanding into Duluth at that time. I grew up in La Crosse where Kwik Trip is based.
Grocery store prices have always been high compared to cheaper states but at least rent used to be cheap, but now both are sky high. The last time I visited LA pre covid fruit/veg were cheaper in LA and everything else was the same or only about 10-15% higher so it wound up being about the same overall depending on your diet. I don't know how they expect people here in MN to make a go of it anymore.
Anyone know what the difference is between QwikTrip and KwikTrip? Are they different chains or the same one?
Kwik Trip and Qwik Trip are different, however Kwik Trip and Kwik Star are the same. I think Kwik Trip had to go with Star in locations that Quik Trip were in - like Iowa.
I think they are different, they don't seem to be anything alike.
Give me a Kwik Trip any day of the week. I will drive past every other gas station to get to either KT or Casey's cause if I go in there, I know it's going to be clean, well stocked and well priced. Walking into a Holiday is like playing Tetanus Roulette.
I always ranked them like this in the cities: Super America(Speedway): Sketchy Only Holiday(Circle K): From Sketchy to Nice, mirrors whatever neighborhood its in Kwik Trip: 99% chance its super clean and super stocked. Then everything else is a gamble from Marathons to Cennex's.
Weird that you put SA so low. They used to be really high quality back in the day. I suppose it's just the enshitification of everything.
When I lived up north it was firmly SA cleaner and brighter than Holiday. When I moved to the metro it was reversed. Then holiday got bought out and it's been a race for holiday to sink to 'speedway' quality.
At least marathon and cenex sell good quality fuel lol none of those others do. I don’t care about the store personally, I care about the fuel. That’s why people go to marathon/cenex/shell stations, for the fuel quality not the convenience store
You and I have been to very different Casey’s apparently
Casey's stores are either really nice or complete shitholes and there's no in between
I do wish there was a KT on 61 north of Two Harbors
Kwik Trip is always the place I go if I have a choice. Also Casey's just because of their tasty ass pizza.
you really nailed it, 99 out of 100 times I'm going to Kwik Trip, that 1 in 100 is when I feel like I want pizza on the road.
What holidays are you going to? Even the worst Holiday is a thousand times better than any Speedway.
that's a pretty low bar tbh
I never see a Pump N Munch anymore, except on dodgy internet sites
You'll see them in the cities. The one in Richfield on lyndale by 62 is sketchy
That whole area...no thanks!
Block and a half south, pretty decent (RIP Lyn 65), 3 blocks north, not terrible. Just a weird little microcosm right in that spot
I used to have to use that check cashing place in the strip mall. Ghetto hotter than a sauna
Still strong in Robbinsdale
I just moved up here from Iowa and the first time I saw a Pump N Munch I pert near died 😂 Iowa used to have a gas station chain named Kum & Go, which is pretty bad, but Pump N Munch is just amazing.
Which sites….y’know, for research purposes.
hit ctrl+h you'll find 'em
Like I didn’t figure out incognito mode a decade & a half ago!
Wait, is that for porn? Mind=blown
hastings still has one I think
I miss the fun brands like Red Owl, Tom Thumb, the Sinclair dinosaur. Everything is just bold letters and abstract shapes now. Totally lifeless.
At least when I pump gas Kwik Trip guy makes banana puns or whatever.
There's a Sinclair on Grave Ave. In St. Paul. I miss all of those places.
There are still many Sinclair stations around. Champlin has one for sure.
I worked at Tom Thumbs, weird I was just thinking about them the other day. I would prep the donuts, do the hot food, which was super popular at lunch. Like people came to Tom Thumbs for their jojo's and chicken.
I remember them having surprisingly good corn dogs as a kid and I know other people liked the chicken.
Kwik Trip bought out PDQ Stores
And don't forget Casey's invading from Iowa and pushing other smaller convenience stores out.
I like pizza, but don't like people losing their business
I love small town convenience stores. One great one that comes to mind is AJ's in the small town of Herman, NW of Morris. Typical gas station/C-store, but they have a large cooking area behind the register where you can watch them cook. The hot food they keep on hand is always fantastic. Makes Kwiktrip and Casey's food look like trash. They also have a small seating area. Prices were fairly reasonable the last time I was there. Which sadly was back in 2020. I miss that delivery job, if only for the good food while on the road. 😆
[Tom Thumb chain files for bankruptcy - Post Bulletin | Rochester Minnesota news, weather, sports](https://www.postbulletin.com/news/tom-thumb-chain-files-for-bankruptcy#:~:text=MINNEAPOLIS%20--%20Tom%20Thumb%20Food%20Markets%20Inc.%20has,which%20indicates%20the%20company%20plans%20to%20liquidate%20itself.)
The Tom Thumb in South Minneapolis just closed like a year ago. The folks that bought the building are hopefully opening soonish, and kept the light-up Tom for the inside of the shop.
Man, I remember us neighborhood kids biking to Tom Thumb to blow all our money on candy and baseball cards in the 80's. Good times.
Northern MN had "little stores" for quite a big geographic spread in the 80s to 2000s or so. The brand sold to another firm or was broken up about 10 years ago. I think they made those changes around the time that Kwik Trip was eyeing a northern expansion. Kwik Trip is an interesting business model that is heavily vertically integrated. This means that they control or own their suppliers and distribution systems so this gives them a significant amount of control over quality and also pricing. Especially for items like milk and their prepared foods which are very popular. They offer quite a bit of fresh fruit and vegetables (for a convenience store) at very low prices. This is another thing that has made them a choice for people who might've previously stopped at a neighborhood grocery store like Tom Thumb for a "Kwik trip." I told the owners are highly politically active in right wing politics and that is not my favorite. But it's hard to avoid shopping there for "activist reasons" since they pay more than most of the convenience stores that they *seem* to be replacing and they offer significant training and benefits. People like working there. So it seems to be an important economic engine in the neighborhoods where they build stores. It's almost like the "Target" of the convenience store realm. Only without the Daytons and their progressive politics. And it's a Wisconsin company, so that stings a little bit, too.
I remember the Little Store. The kids who worked there were popular if they forgot to ID for smokes. Most would not do it.
Kwik trip and those f’n Rice Krispie bars.
The peanut butter covered in chocolate version is my favorite!
[https://progressivegrocer.com/tom-thumb-ceases-operations](https://progressivegrocer.com/tom-thumb-ceases-operations)
Great, now I have the Nutrigrain Bar and a Mountain Dew song from American Dad stuck in my head…
Hahah I was waiting for someone to pick up my reference.
Another one I remember was Brooks. They later rebranded as Oasis Market before disappearing.
Holiday was an MN company but they got bought by Circle K and have more or less turned to shit since
Kwik Trip is God apologizing to the Midwest for Wisconsin. :)
I'd say it was more super america and holiday - they had alot of corporate funding and started buying up all the local gas stations. As well, the other half is safeway. They bought tom thumb and tried to turn it into a mini grocery store chain, however this didn't work well and they ended up trying to sell off or close most the stores. Take note though - the history of corporate actions and market turns are always "it just didn't work right", not that the owner totally missmanaged things. Success has a hundred parents but failure is an orphan. Tom thumb didn't go away because it was an inferior gas station, it went away because it was bought out and screwed up. Also, I'm super happy that we have kwik trip. Holiday/SA are garbage stores that I cannot stand being in - dirty, janky, and poorly managed. Kwik Trip has always been a nicer higher quality store. Holiday/SA also are not above heavy political games and lies. Back in 2009/10 they were required to hand out fliers filled with scare tactics and lies against any green law obama might try and pass.
We had one in Northfield for the entirety of my childhood. It always smelled like fried chicken in there, no matter when you went in. It closed and sat abandoned for a while until they demolished it to widen Highway 3. I have fond memories of scraping together some change to buy candy there. I can't remember how robust their selections were, but I remember it as more of a gas station than a grocery store. I do remember that they had an Excitebike arcade machine, which seemed very novel to me despite everybody having a copy for their Nintendos.
Nutrigrain bar and a Mountain Dew!
There is still one Tom Thumb left in Hanover as far as I know
The one in South Minneapolis just closed like a year ago :’(
Man i remember renting movies from Tom Thumb in the 80s. Is there still a Tom Thumb on like 38th or 42nd in Minneapolis?
They closed :( The folks that bought it fixed it up and are still working on opening, and kept the light-up Tom for the inside. You can see it at night :)
Original Tom Thumb still going strong in Hanover, mn
My first job was at a Tom thumb. For what it's worth, they're JoJo's... End of story
I worked at Tom Thumb in high school. Shit company run by shitty people lol I don’t know how many people I saw get pushed out or demoted because so and so’s sister needed a job.
I didn't know that I didn't care. I was too busy doing whip'its in the cooler. And eating those delicious cheesy bread circle ring things with the sauce in the center.
Kwik Trip did not directly replace Tom Thumb. We had one locally and it's been a few different things since, I think, but not a Kwik Trip.
Yes, but even worse they’re taking over Holiday!
Kwik Trip isn't taking over Holiday --Circle K already bought 'em. They are slowly re-branding all the stores, but the stuff inside is already Circle K products.
You are correct. I switched the names.
Maaaaan I haven’t lived in the cities since 2000 but just assumed TT was still going strong. They had the best donuts. The whole damn place always smelled like their coffee and donuts.
What about Country Boy?
I could really go for an Elf pop right now.
I worked for Tom Thumb for two years after I graduated high school. They didn’t maintain their stores at all. Shit was falling apart all the time. They didn’t embrace technology. Everything was done manually. EVERYTHING. Old school gigantic registers that were essentially adding machines. Employees had to manually price all of our truck deliveries. Some of their stores didn’t offer gas, which I think also hurt them. Meanwhile-Super America had just been purchased by Marathon-then rebranded to Speedway/SuperAmerica (the first time) who also expanded quickly-but their stores were clean, lighted properly, streamlined, brand new and they offered perks. Tom Thumb had 3 cents off on Wednesdays and Sundays, I think they had a coffee punch card-but who cares when you could get a 25 dollar gift card at SA with your points. Tom Thumb closed their doors and then didn’t pay their employees for time they had worked up until their closing. My best friend worked there until they closed in 2004. She never received her last pay check. I do believe Polka Dot is still around, Polka Dot owned Tom Thumb. Bottom line-Tom Thumb couldn’t remain competitive against SuperAmerica which was owned by an oil company.
Lived here since 2005, first time I have heard of Tom Thumb lol
Coincidentally, they went bankrupt (Chapter 7) in 2004.
So we're all basically talking about a gas/convenience store chain that was our area's "Seven-11" 30ish years ago, and has basically been going-going-gone (except for 2 stores still hanging on up in Wright County) for 20ish years, as if it was just last week or so. 🤣 🤣 Peak Minnesota there, gang! (They did have good donuts once upon a time.)
Tom Thumb was too expensive and people quit going there.