Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based QuickChek Corp. marked the start to the new decade with the opening of its first new store of 2020 and by promoting two key members of its management team.
The fresh convenience market chain celebrated 50 years of serving Monmouth County when it opened a new 5,496-square-foot store near the intersection of Routes 35 and 36 across from the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown on Jan. 21.
The new store offers an innovative ‘Fresh to Go’ design that meets the needs of today’s fast-casual shopper with more than 50% of the store dedicated to providing freshly prepared food and market items for customers on the go.
“We continue to identify opportunities where we can make a difference in people’s everyday lives and make your life easier with the fresh products and services you want, whether it’s a freshly-prepared sub, our guaranteed fresh-brewed coffee, or fuel, and get you on your way fast,” said QuickChek CEO Dean Durling.
Don Leech
It is the first of several new QuickChek stores scheduled to open across New Jersey and Long Island this year, continuing the family-owned company’s steady growth.
Each new store creates 40-45 new local jobs including eight management positions. This growth has also enabled the chain to attract and maintain top talent.
QuickChek has announced that Don Leech, who has been with the company for 35 years, has been promoted to Vice President of Marketing & Development.
He was most recently Vice President of Real Estate & Development for three years and Director of Operations for 14 years, where he led multiple store districts.
Leech began his career at the company’s Middletown store in 1985 and has also held positions of Assistant Store Leader and District Leader. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management from East Stroudsburg University.
Rich Lamont has been promoted to Director of Real Estate, where he will lead QuickChek’s real estate team.
He joined QuickChek in 2006 as a Real Estate Development Manager and was promoted to Senior Real Estate Development Manager in 2016.
Rich Lamont
He has a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning, both from Rutgers University, and holds a landscape architect’s license and a professional planner’s license from the State of New Jersey.
The family-owned chain has opened 34 new store locations since 2015 with more on the way, bringing QuickChek’s store count to 160 locations throughout New Jersey, New York’s Hudson Valley and Long Island.
The personnel announcements reflect QuickChek’s continued commitment to meeting the needs of busy shoppers.
Last spring, QuickChek hired professional chef Ted Kwiecien to head its culinary team and has introduced its new chef-crafted sub menu, which offers more meat and more proteins served on bakery-fresh ciabatta bread while emphasizing seasonal flavors.
The new, higher-quality menu further establishes QuickChek’s position as the foodservice destination in the New York metropolitan area and complements its award-winning fresh-brewed hot and iced coffee program.
