Montana Is Missing Out On These Top Convenience Stores
Montana has its share of convenience stores, after all we are a big state and there are times when you need to gas up, get some drinks and snacks and get back on the road. The past few years I have felt almost like a "convenience store connoisseur". My son was in travel sports all through high school and we spent a lot of time on the road.
Even with the wide variety of convenience stores we have in Montana, we are missing out on some of the most popular in the country. The American Customer Satisfaction Index has released their inaugural convenience store study and have listed the top stores around the country and out of the top 5 chains, there aren't any locations in Montana.
Coming in with the highest rating are the Wawa stores, which are located mostly in the North East part of the country and Alabama. QuikTrip stores came in second, followed by Buc-ee's and Murphy USA. Casey's General Stores is tied with Sheetz for fifth place. None of these companies have locations in Montana, yet. I have heard a lot of stories about the popularity of Buc-ee's. Will Montana get one eventually?
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One takeaway from the study, that I found interesting, is convenience stores are adding more food choices, and competing more with fast food establishments. According to the report the top convenience stores meet or exceed the food from fast food chains.
As some of these convenience stores expand, maybe one day we will see the likes of a Buc-ee's, or Wawa in Montana. In the meantime we can still enjoy our Circle K's, Ole's, Love's and Town Pumps while on the road. Do you remember these snacks from the '90's that you used to be able to get at your local convenience store?
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