Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip, already spanning nine markets with 500 locations, has its eye on expansion and is planning to test a larger c-store design, the Tulsa World reported.

 

“We want to be the best at everything we do. Otherwise, we don’t want to play,” QuikTrip CEO Chet Cadieux said in a recent speech to the Oklahoma Business Ethics Consortium. “I’m not saying we are the best at everything, but we want to be. We are never satisfied.”

 

To meet this goal, Cadieux and his team are constantly rebuilding stores to be bigger and better, screening for top-notch employees and then paying them well to keep them on the team and working hard.

 

“We always are worried about something coming along and knocking our block off,” Cadieux explained. “Look at what the digital photo revolution did to Polaroid. For us, it could be electric cars.”

 

The CEO believes that, even in the fastest scenario, it could take 30 years for the bulk of gasoline-burning autos to leave the roads. Still, the company wants to be prepared. It has plans to test a third-generation store design next year that will put even more emphasis on fresh food.

 

“We’ve gotten pretty good at gasoline,” Cadieux said. “With food, we’re off to a strong start, but it’s going to take a long time to get really good at it. If we can do it in 15 to 20 years, we’d be thrilled. If not, we’ll look for something else.”