100-Plus Pack Open House For Proposed Kwik Trip; Many Not Thrilled

Site Is Proposed at Boundary Avenue in Duluth

PROCTOR, Minn. — It was standing room only at the Proctor Black Woods Wednesday night where residents and business owners sounded off against a proposed Kwik Trip on Boundary Avenue and U.S. Hwy 2 in Duluth.

The people who showed up came from not only Duluth but also Proctor.

“Every place they build a mom and pop operation has gone out of business and I don’t know why this would be any different,” Owner of Mobile gas station Wade LeBlanc says.

Shaine Stokke is the co–owner of the nearby Stokke’s Meat Market.

“At the end of the day I need the milk sales, the pop sales the bread sales the cigarette sales, it’s all one thing that keeps the business going,” Stokke said.

He recently invested thousands of dollars into the business because he believed the current zoning restrictions in the area would make his store so–called Kwik Trip proof.

“I did my research. There was no commercially zoned property in that area so I thought I was safe investing that money in that store.” Stokke says.

Meanwhile a Kwik Trip representative who helped organized the open house tells Fox 21 that this setting is all about educating the public and becoming a partner in doing something greater for the community.

“What we’re looking to do is bring what people need every day to bring home. The milk, the eggs, the butter, the condiments that we all need every day at a value. Since we’ve moved into the Duluth market we’ve brought a lot of upgrades to the community, beautiful stores, jobs. Says Bridget Field, Kwik Trip District Leader.

A zoning meeting for the project will be held on May 9. If everything works out in favor of Kwik Trip, the proposed start of the build would be sometime in 2018.