Employee retention earns QuikTrip praise

By KYLE ARNOLD World Staff Writer - 11/6/2009


QuikTrip Corp. and Devon Energy Corp. are featured on Fortune magazine's Web site as being among the few companies across the country that have never laid off an employee.

QuikTrip, a Tulsa convenience store chain, has managed to never cut its work force in its 51-year history. QuikTrip, which operates 533 stores that employ 11,000 people, ranked 27th on Fortune's "Best Places to Work" list, which was published in January.

"This 24-hour convenience store chain is privately held, allowing it to pour profits back into stores instead of divvying them up among shareholders," the feature story said. "Meanwhile, its strong balance sheet has helped it to weather economic downturns without having to cut staff."

QuikTrip's spokesman Mike Thornbrugh agreed that the flexibility of not being publicly owned has allowed the company to expand carefully and avoid the pressures to cut costs dramatically to meet revenue reports.

Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy, with about $11.3 billion annual revenue, also was listed as never having laid off any of its 1,400 employees.

Seven other companies were also listed, including the supplemental insurance firm Aflac and Publix Super Markets.

The list is based on the "Best Places to Work" survey.



Kyle Arnold 581-8380
kyle.arnold@tulsaworld.com


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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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livinintheburbs, (11/5/2009 7:51:23 PM)
Layoffs..teenagers quit..I love Quik Trip but getting in and out of the parking lot is a pain...I no longer drink the QT koolaid!

you'rekidding, Tulsa (11/5/2009 8:00:57 PM)
I cannot imagine anyone not liking QT. Hot chicks, cold beer, roasted peanuts, even cheesecake.

Pokefan04, (11/6/2009 9:51:19 AM)
Corvetteguy,what the QT manager told you was incorrect. The ATM's inside of QT are owned by Transfund, which is a subsidiary of BOKF, the corporation that is the umbrella for Bank of Oklahoma. Transfund is an EFT network that many banks and credit unions have partnerships with. If your CU has a partnership with them, you won't be charged by your bank, but you will be charged by Transfund. Thunder, I'm not sure how your son is being charged. BOK has online banking and billpay that is free to all account holders. BOK will even cover the cost of the check and postage if a bill requires a check to be mailed, rather than being paid electronically. If he is truly being charged, he can stop by any branch location and pay his mortage. They'll even provide a check and coupon. Instore branches are open 7 days a week. Or he can sign up to have it auto-debited. Cherylann, the reason you are unable to get cash back on a POS transaction is because the cards are ran as a credit, not a debit. BOK partners with Visa, and there is greater fraud protection for you when ran as a credit. It is also a lot less expensive to run as a credit, which is why BOK can afford to have lower consumer fees than most other banks. Say what you will about BOK, but they were the largest bank in the US not to take bailout funds. They are considered highly capitalized. They haven't laid off one person due to the economic downturn, and they are out performing their peers by a LARGE margin. They are a very well-run corporation, and we should all consider ourselves lucky that BOK is headquartered in Tulsa.

dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:35:55 PM)
I don't know what it is in Oklahoma but of the states I've heard about it ranges from a dime to a quarter that the business where the ATM is located receives per transaction. In QT's case that would add up pretty fast.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (11/5/2009 7:52:11 PM)
Kudos to Quik Trip. I bought gasoline and fresh coffee from you for the past 30 years. I hate I had to leave as a customer, but when you started charging $1.50 to use the TransFund machine to those who don't have bank accounts at Bank of Oklahoma. The same Bank of Oklahoma that demanded the City of Tulsa taxpayers pay millions of dollars in loan defaults in the Great Plains Airline debacle. I'll miss you. but I'm done with QT. That is ripping off your loyal customers.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:05:42 PM)
dollface, honestly, yes I do. I've used the transfund machine there for ten years. Never had a fee before. Now, there are fees unless you bank at BOK. $1.50 a pop. There's no way QT is being charged $1.50 a pop. no way.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (11/5/2009 9:55:46 PM)
cherlann, I've banked with a Credit Union for the last ten years,... I used the ATM at QT on a weekly basis. My Credit union does not own the ATM machine. My Credit Union did charge me a small fee (about $1.00 per month) for transaction fees. These fees went to the Credit union. The exact same ATM machine is still sitting in the Quik Trip store near my home. As of about September, you are charged a fee of $1.50 per withdrawl on this same ATM machine. I asked the store manager "what gives?". He said that QT corporate made the decison to start charging customers for ATM withdrawls, unless they had a bank account with BOK. That's all I know. I'm a little slow thinking,... but I kinda think it's a case of a store chain becoming so successful, that they got a little too powerfull and arrogant. They forgot who made them successful.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (11/6/2009 9:56:06 AM)
Pokefan04, thank you for that info. You're a great example of what's great about the TW website. I apprecate your help. now let's solve some world problems...

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (11/6/2009 12:15:15 PM)
cherylann, you might ask BOK if they could get you some discounted airfare tickets on Great Plains Airlines. sometimes banks will give promotion deals to customers. Just trying to be helpful....

Thunder196, Tulsa (11/5/2009 10:20:48 PM)
BOK is greedy. They have to pay for all those buildings that have their name on it. . My son would like to make his mortgage payment on line and BOK charges a $7 fee in order for a person to pay it on line. Their checking account is also with BOK.

Thunder196, Tulsa (11/5/2009 10:51:19 PM)
Yes his mortgage and his checking account are with BOK. . You are right it is a rip off.

loo loo, (11/5/2009 9:41:05 PM)
i will never buy gas that contains less energy content than what I am paying for. QT is the primary reason we have E10 shoved down our car's tank, because it is cheaper for them.

Bville, (11/5/2009 8:04:30 PM)
The ignorance here is simply stunning.

dollface74128, (11/5/2009 8:40:01 PM)
Corvetteguy: Do you really think that QT is getting that fee? Such fees are the industry standard, and are collected by the bank that services the ATM.

Norm, (11/5/2009 7:34:36 PM)
I wonder if Obama will count those as 11,000 "Saved" jobs???

Ron B, (11/5/2009 7:50:12 PM)
Let's hope Hussein doesn't hear about this or he will want to regulate them like he wants to regulate drug companies.



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