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Well, anyone who's in the area, check out the Circle K in Fountain Inn.. I was pleased going in there. I mean, hard to say "impressed" by a convenience store, but.. It was nice.
I thought about getting a biscuit, but.. Gas station biscuits usually don't end well. The croissants are generally better.
One thing I didn't like.. They have an entrance door and an exit door. But.. I think they're going to be my new go-to pre-work stopping spot.
Circle K has upped their game to better compete with QT and other competitors. Their stores are now nicer and more upgraded with better food and beverage selection.
I do not like their new design with the kitchen and checkout in one. It is a big cluster for customers waiting to check out and customers trying to navigate from one end of the store to the other.
I do not care for the new QT design layout with the kitchen and checkout service area combined in one. It was nice that they expanded their menu a bit but I don't think it was necessary to change the layout.
It would still be nice if we could see a Wawa expand into the region. But has been discussed before, QT and Wawa do not compete in the same region.
But Royal Farms is expanding into the eastern NC coastal region. Could they one day venture to the Upstate? Probably not likely but they have excellent fried chicken.
QT probably did the remodel to save manpower, so the cashier can float back and forth to help the kitchen easier.
I haven't visited the the new CK store in FI, but it looks nice.
Sad to see QT go downhill so fast, but Labonte is correct about all the issues and rising prices.
I work at QT and can tell you we don’t like it either. I work at a truck stop and the truckers used to have their own room to go into to fill their trucks and get paperwork, now they have to wait like everyone else and they’re on a time crunch so it’s annoying. The coffee thing was because of simplifying the menu, and as to combining the checkout and kitchen, it actually was not the intent to make us work the kitchen and the register. It actually freed up some more room for products in the store. But people do cluster and don’t necessarily know where to stand to not be in the way of others shopping. Hopefully they nix the Gen 3 stores and come up with a new idea. A lot of the products missing however and things broken isn’t necessarily because we won’t fix them, it’s because it’s starting to take a month to two for any parts/items to come in. And then we get hounded like it’s our fault. Also, we only have about 4 or 5 facility support guys for the roughly 200 stores in the Carolinas. So they’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
I work at QT and can tell you we don’t like it either. I work at a truck stop and the truckers used to have their own room to go into to fill their trucks and get paperwork, now they have to wait like everyone else and they’re on a time crunch so it’s annoying. The coffee thing was because of simplifying the menu, and as to combining the checkout and kitchen, it actually was not the intent to make us work the kitchen and the register. It actually freed up some more room for products in the store. But people do cluster and don’t necessarily know where to stand to not be in the way of others shopping. Hopefully they nix the Gen 3 stores and come up with a new idea. A lot of the products missing however and things broken isn’t necessarily because we won’t fix them, it’s because it’s starting to take a month to two for any parts/items to come in. And then we get hounded like it’s our fault. Also, we only have about 4 or 5 facility support guys for the roughly 200 stores in the Carolinas. So they’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
Those parts should be ordered in quantity. The W Butler one, the soda fountain back in December, they were out of CO2. It's just been broken more than it's been working. The slushie machines, I don't use those, but I notice that at least one of them is always broken.
And, the coffee.. That's a big one for me. I loved being able to go in there and get an Americano or iced mocha once a week or so without the need to go to or spend starbucks money.
I don't blame the people at the stores. None of this was your idea.. And people should NOT be taking it out on those at the store.
But.. At the end of the day.. It doesn't matter. The issues have made me search for a better option. And, I seem to have found it at Circle K. Their checkout isn't much better.. But, I'm signing up for their $5.99 beverage club or whatever it is.. One drink a day for 30 days for $5.99. Can be Coffee, fountain soda, whatever. Since I generally get a 20oz fountain soda and small coffee each morning.. One of them will basically be free.
I do feel a bit 'bait and switched' by QT. When they came in, they had the lowest prices on about everything. Gas included. But.. over time. Creep, creep, creep.
The "Big Q" when I first started going was .89 cents, I think.. It's gone up to $1.09. Harrison Bridge Rd has, generally, the most expensive gas around. Even the craptastic Exxon down in Gray Court is cheaper than they are normally.
But.. All in all, honestly, price is the least important of my issues with them. I don't mind paying a little more when I feel like I'm getting a little more (Even if I'm not)..
Those parts should be ordered in quantity. The W Butler one, the soda fountain back in December, they were out of CO2. It's just been broken more than it's been working. The slushie machines, I don't use those, but I notice that at least one of them is always broken.
And, the coffee.. That's a big one for me. I loved being able to go in there and get an Americano or iced mocha once a week or so without the need to go to or spend starbucks money.
I don't blame the people at the stores. None of this was your idea.. And people should NOT be taking it out on those at the store.
But.. At the end of the day.. It doesn't matter. The issues have made me search for a better option. And, I seem to have found it at Circle K. Their checkout isn't much better.. But, I'm signing up for their $5.99 beverage club or whatever it is.. One drink a day for 30 days for $5.99. Can be Coffee, fountain soda, whatever. Since I generally get a 20oz fountain soda and small coffee each morning.. One of them will basically be free.
I do feel a bit 'bait and switched' by QT. When they came in, they had the lowest prices on about everything. Gas included. But.. over time. Creep, creep, creep.
The "Big Q" when I first started going was .89 cents, I think.. It's gone up to $1.09. Harrison Bridge Rd has, generally, the most expensive gas around. Even the craptastic Exxon down in Gray Court is cheaper than they are normally.
But.. All in all, honestly, price is the least important of my issues with them. I don't mind paying a little more when I feel like I'm getting a little more (Even if I'm not)..
That price increase in the drinks and things like that was so we could get a raise. We went from making 10.50 to $14 an hour minimum. The management didn’t get a raise. So it was the company trying to do good by its employees.
But.. At the end of the day.. It doesn't matter. The issues have made me search for a better option. And, I seem to have found it at Circle K. Their checkout isn't much better.. But, I'm signing up for their $5.99 beverage club or whatever it is.. One drink a day for 30 days for $5.99. Can be Coffee, fountain soda, whatever. Since I generally get a 20oz fountain soda and small coffee each morning.. One of them will basically be free.
I’m guessing you are going to the new Circle K on SC14 between Simpsonville and Fountain Inn. If so just be aware not all Circle Ks are created equal. A lot of them in the area switched from Kangaroo to Circle K. Most of those aren’t going to compare well to a brand new one. The one in Five Forks in pretty meh.
It would be nice to have a Wawa or Royal Farms as an alternative choice but at the moment that seems unlikely.
I still prefer QT locally but am not a fan of the new design. And they have raised prices on sodas, donuts and sandwiches so I don't frequent them as often. But it may be due to the current supply chain issue and inflation concerns, but it is still disappointing. But I understand the need for the employees to get a raise also.
Some QT locations brought back the New York Times. It would be nice if they would also add the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Charlotte Observer, but these newspaper companies unfortunately are no longer supporting long distance distribution. And it doesn't seem as if QT wants to add some of these newspapers on their own distribution trucks that service Charlotte and Atlanta. It's just disappointing you can no longer purchase an out of town newspaper in the Upstate anymore except the Charlotte paper on Sunday. Used to be Publix, Harris Teeter and some other local newsstands carried all the out of town newspapers, including Charlotte, Atlanta, and Columbia. And now even the Greenville News is getting ready to drop the Saturday paper. And in Spartanburg County, QT will not carry the Greenville News, just the Spartanburg Herald Journal. Some QTs used to carry the Charlotte Observer.
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