It’s no joke. Iowa is coming to Idaho, throwing down gauntlet to local businesses
.jpg "The typical Kum & Go convenience store has 5,600 square feet. The Iowa company plans to open its first Boise-area store in the second half of 2023.")
A popular shirt sold by a company in Des Moines, Iowa, exclaims “Greetings from the GREAT POTATO STATE!”
Except the outline of the state isn’t Idaho. It’s Ohio. And while inside the borders it lists Boise and Nampa, it also shows Cincinnati and Columbus, along with Des Moines and Davenport. The shirt plays on the confusion between people who mistake Idaho for Iowa and throws in Ohio for good measure.
That confusion could become enhanced next year after one of the nation’s largest convenience store chains, West Des Moines-based Kum & Go, enters the real potato state.
The company plans to open 20 to 25 stores in Boise and the surrounding area within the next five years, Emily Hecker, a company spokesperson, said by email. The first stores are scheduled to open during the second half of 2023.
When executives began considering expanding the company to new markets, they eyed hundreds of cities throughout the country they believed might have potential.
“We started off with about 380 markets throughout the United States, based mostly initially on demographics, and Boise rose to the top in a lot of key demographics,” Niki Mason, Kum & Go’s senior vice president for store development, said during a video call.
Kum & Go was listed as the 18th-largest convenience store chain in the United States in 2021 with 408 stores, according to Convenience Store News & Petroleum, a trade publication.
That’s bigger than any of the chains here now, two of which are based in the Treasure Valley. Among other chains with stores in the Valley, Maverik Inc., of Salt Lake City, was 22nd with 360 stores; Jacksons Food Stores, of Meridian, was 30th with 264 stores; and Stinker Stores, of Boise, was 66th with 109 stores.
The company first began eyeing Boise in late 2019 or early 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic. Executives were impressed with the Boise-area’s high growth, low crime rate, diverse economy and its fairly affordable housing, Masonsaid.
“We are based in Des Moines and it’s one of those hidden gems,” she said. “People will say they’ve never been there, but once they get there, they say what a great market it is. And I felt the same way when I got to Boise. It really has a lot of great things to offer.”
Boise is one of three new markets Kum & Go is entering. Salt Lake City and Grand Rapids, Michigan, are the others. Later this year, the company is scheduled to open its first stores in Utah, its first new state in 10 years.
“We’ll certainly be expanding into Meridian, Nampa, Caldwell, Middleton, the greater Boise area,” she said.
The company already has purchase agreements for a handful of sites. The company isn’t ready to identify those sites as it works to develop building plans and receive city approvals, Mason said. The typical Kum & Go store has 5,600 square feet, with some stores smaller at 4,000 square feet, she said.
The company sells all the basics found in a typical convenience store, including soda pop and beer, chips, candy, health goods and gas.
“We recently converted our food program to a healthier, fresh made-to-order food program that is a combination of smoothies, sandwiches, bowls that are grain bowls with a variety of toppings,” she said. “We have brisket bowls and chicken bowls where you add something like Fritos on top and get a little bit of crunch.”
The closest Kum & Go stores are in Wyoming, where the company has about 20 stores, and in Colorado, where there are more than 80, Mason said.
Kum & Go history
Kum & Go was founded in 1959 by William Krause and Tony Gentle. The name plays off the initials of their last names. The company is headed by Tanner Krause, the fourth generation of his family to run the operation. He took over as CEO in January 2021, replacing his father, Kyle Krause, who remains CEO of parent company, Krause Group.
The Krause Group has a wide portfolio of business interests, including ownership of two wineries in Italy and two soccer teams, the Des Moines Menace of the lower-tier United Soccer League Two, and Parma Calcio of the Italian Serie A.
Just last week, USL awarded a franchise to Iowa’s capital city for the USL Championship League, its highest tier. That’s the same league that looked to award Boise a franchise if a planned baseball-soccer stadium was built. The league includes the Portland Timbers 2, Reno 1868 FC, LA Galaxy 2 and New York Red Bulls II. The Des Moines club will be owned by Kyle Krause.
Former Idaho Statesman columnist Tim Woodward, who wrote a series of columns on the Idaho-Iowa confusion, once said the two states were so different that it would seem impossible to confuse them.
He noted that Idaho has the largest wilderness outside Alaska and more than 150 peaks higher than 10,000 feet.
“Iowa is flat, a Midwest prairie with abundant rainfall and cornfields that seem to stretch forever,” he wrote. “Its highest point is Merrill Sterler’s hog lot, elevation 1,670 feet.”
Even with Kum & Go entering the Gem State, there should not be any trouble distinguishing it from Iowa.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 2:00 PM.
