Burkhardt Co-op finishes renovation

• Image

The interior of the Burkhardt Cenex store has a new look.

Talk about it

Every five years or so, the Burkhardt Cenex store undergoes some minor cosmetic changes, but this year the convenience store received an overhaul inside and out.

“We basically gutted the whole store,” said Dave Crosby, general manager of Consolidated Energy Co-op. “We made some major, major changes. We just did so much to the store and updated everything.”

The plans for the alterations to the County Road A gas station began more than five years ago. Plans were finalized a year ago when the corporate offices were moved to Hammond, allowing space for new restrooms to be built where the offices had previously been.

“Moving the offices gave us a lot more square footage to work with. The extra space gave us more options and allowed us to be more creative,” Crosby said. “We moved the checkout area closer to the pumps and expanded it to around 20 feet in length, which is about double the size it was before. The new checkout allows us to serve the customer better and more efficiently.”

Other additions to the convenience store include a large increase to the deli area, one of the area’s largest and coldest walk-in beer caves, gourmet coffee, a soda fountain and new LED lighting in all the coolers. The larger space also made room for an office for the store manager.

“It is all about presentation. People come here for the customer service we offer,” Crosby said. “We are looking to attract a larger portion of the daily traffic through the area with the new look.”

A substantial upgrade to the bathrooms, as well as a wider range of products, are just some of the ways Crosby and store Manager Missy Severson have been using to appeal to the commuters who drive by every day on their way to work. They are hoping that the changes will cause a jump in the number of customers who stop by the station.

“There were nearly 10,000 cars passing by daily back in 2009. We see about 5 percent of the traffic that passes the store stop in,” Crosby said. “If we can create a 1 percent increase in traffic that stops here we will increase the volume in the store and that would be a good thing.”

With so much going on right now, the Burkhardt Cenex will not be having its grand opening until late August or early September, Crosby said.

For more information on the station, call 715-386-8815.

Tags: business, retail, burkhardt