At 15 years old, Jay Luper started working at a Dillon’s grocery store (owned by Kroger) bagging groceries and cleaning and sorting bottle returns in the bottle room. Over the years he worked almost every job at the store, from cashier to customer service representative, before becoming a store manager at age 29.

“While I was a manager, I got to work on a number of special projects for our Kwik Shop side of the business. That’s how I got my exposure to convenience stores and I really liked what I saw,” he said. “I saw something that was really fast paced and a wild frontier of sorts, somewhere where I could make a difference. Convenience has a lot of room for opportunity.”

He soon became the manager of his area’s largest Kwik Shop, a 13,000-square-foot store that was akin to a small grocery format. He’s now worked in the industry for 37 years and is a district manager at EG America, which purchased Kroger’s convenience portfolio in 2018. Luper oversees 15 Kwik Shop stores across Kansas.

“It’s a fast-paced environment. There is always something to do and you get to use your critical thinking and service skills to reach positive outcomes for your customers. I have always liked the daily challenge of delivering the best for our guests,” he said on why he’s made retail a four-decade career.

Continue reading “In It for the Long Haul at Kwik Shop,” in the April 2025 issue of NACS Magazine.

NACS Magazine would love to hear about your stand-out frontline workers. If you have an employee you’d like to highlight, send them to news@convenience.org.