QuikTrip to close gasless store in Midtown Atlanta

Company attributes move to performance and safety issues.

QuikTrip will close its Midtown Atlanta convenience store without a gas station next month, citing store performance and safety issues.

The move follows the February closure of a RaceTrac in downtown Atlanta that the company attributed to recent violence at and near the store, and the closure of a landmark Walgreens location in downtown this month.

QuikTrip issued a statement saying it evaluates its stores “to ensure they meet performance metrics and expectations around customer and employee safety. After evaluating (the Midtown) store, we decided it was not consistently meeting our expectations.”

The QuikTrip store, which opened on Peachtree Street at Sixth Street in 2016 as the chain’s first store without a gas station, will close May 3.

QT said it is still committed to Atlanta and hopes to open a new Atlanta location for a full-service

QT to open in the next two to three years. The company also cited investments it has made in the area to address homelessness and other issues.

“QT continues to invest heavily in Atlanta, not just in our stores, but in the community,” QT spokeswoman Aisha Jefferson said in a written statement. “Last year alone, QuikTrip made over $7 million in philanthropic investments across the greater Atlanta area toward homelessness, addiction and youth services.”

The company said employees from the Midtown location will be reassigned to nearby stores.

The downtown Walgreens that closed this month opened the same year as the QuikTrip, in 2016. It was in an historic building with art deco architecture and downtown’s iconic CocaCola sign on its roof.

The closures of the two downtown stores have been more of a blow to downtown residents, workers and Georgia State University students than the QuikTrip is likely to be in the Midtown, which has more retail and grocery options. The Walgreens in particular was a vital source of prescriptions and groceries for downtown.