TULSA, Okla. – QuikTrip (QT) announced it is expanding into San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The first QT stores in each city are expected to open in the summer of 2018.

QT has been serving Texas customers in the Dallas/Fort Worth market since 1999, and currently operates 134 stores in the area. Construction will begin this winter on the first of more than 100 stores scheduled for the initial launch in San Antonio and Austin.

“We’ve heard from a number of enthusiastic QT fans in San Antonio and Austin familiar with us from their travels, urging us to expand there,” said Chet Cadieux, QuikTrip CEO. “Both San Antonio and Austin are really hot markets right now and we cannot wait to join the exciting landscape in those two great communities. If you aren’t familiar with us yet, you are in for a real treat!”

A key differentiator for QuikTrip is its foodservice program, including its in-store QT Kitchens, which serve fresh, made-to-order food, such as pizza, specialty beverages and frozen treats.

Now in its 59th year, QT ranks high on the Forbes list of Largest Privately Held Companies, and has been named one of the Best Companies to Work For by Fortune for the past 15 years. In 2016, QT was named by Fortune among the 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials. QT’s strategy is to be the dominant convenience/gasoline retailer in each market and to reach that level not through sheer number of stores, but through key, high-volume locations.

It has been six years since QT expanded into a new market. In 2011, QT launched its Carolinas division, adding 75 stores in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Greenville, South Carolina. The company operates more than 750 stores in 11 states.

QT has approximately 20,000 full-time and part-time employees and the company offers its employees one of the broadest benefit packages in the convenience and fuel retailing industry.