Ribbon-cutting ceremony held for Pine City Kwik Trip

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at Pine City’s new Kwik Trip on Tuesday afternoon after the location opened for business on Nov. 28.

Speakers included CEO Scott Zietlow, Pine City mayor Kent Bombard, and state representative Nathan Nelson.

Zietlow said the Pine City location was one of seven ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the La Crosse-based company in the span of a week; in 2025, Kwik Trip eclipsed the 900-location mark and celebrated its 60th anniversary of being in business.

"It's a good location along this entire corridor, from the Twin Cities to the Twin Ports," Zietlow explained. "We picked a number of locations along the way that are spread out, but need something like a Kwik Trip, and so this was a good location for us."

Bombard said the new Kwik Trip location represents an investment in the Pine City community.

"Today marks more than just the opening of a new store," Bombard said. "It represents investment, partnership, and confidence in Pine City's future. When a company like Kwik Trip chooses a city like Pine City, it shows that this is a place that you want to be, this is a place that you want to live, where you want to do business, and you want to continue to grow."

Kwik Trip also awarded $1,000 donations each to the Pine County K9 fund and the Pine City chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

"Our K9 unit is currently fully funded by donations," explained Pine County Sheriff's Office chief deputy Scott Grice, "That's very special, because we see how much the community gives to us, and what we can give back to the community."

In an interview after the ceremony, Zietlow said Kwik Trip and Pine City collaborated well on opening the location, which had been discussed for ten to fifteen years.

"It was a good city to work with," Zietlow added. "The mayor, administrator, everybody was very helpful to get this accomplished and done. Some cities are easier to work with than others, for any number of reasons, but this was very easy. We worked together, great teamwork, fantastic."

Zietlow also said it was "tremendous" to see the community support for the project.

The Kwik Trip is located at 630 13th Street Southwest.