News & Events

Kwik-King first in at Colliers Way
Friday, July 10, 2009

WEIRTON - Kwik King Food Stores will open its eighth gasoline station/convenience store in the Tri-State Area by the end of the year in The Village at Colliers Way off U.S. Route 22.

The Village at Colliers Way is a 41-acre planned mixed-use lifestyle center development owned by Altair Development, a company formed by Weirton residents Mike Chek and Mike Heilman. The Kwik King will be the first structure in The Village at Colliers Way.

Kwik King owner John Riley said the site takes advantage of 10,000 vehicles a day passing by on Colliers Way and 23,000 a day on nearby Route 22.

"From Steubenville, there is nothing with easy off, easy on along Route 22 until you get to Imperial right off the exit," Riley said.

The $1.5 million store and Marathon gasoline station will have about 25 employees, Riley said.

Chek and Heilman said about 75,000-cubic yards of earth are being moved for the first phase of The Village, the commercial lots closest to Colliers Way. They anticipate having earthwork and a road into the site complete by September.

Chek said the site will become even more attractive to development once the initial earthmoving is completed.

"There's a 4 percent grade into the site, and the entire valley will open up before you as you enter," he said. Chek said tree clearing went back to the heavy hardwoods south of the site, which will be beautiful, and visible now that scrub growth closer to Colliers Way has been removed, in the fall.

Check said Riley runs a good operation and is an excellent first addition to the development.

As he placed the Kwik King sticker onto The Village at Colliers Way map on the sign at the site, Riley said Lou Stein of Valley Ventures deserves credit for bringing Kwik King and Altair together.

"We looked at the site and were interested, especially after seeing the development beginning to progress," Riley said. "We were in negotiations with Altair for about three months and signed July 2. We'll break ground in 45 to 60 days."

Riley said the store and gasoline station will be a $1.5 million investment by his company. He said it's been six years since Kwik King built a store from scratch, at its Follansbee location.

The store will feature Marathon fuels, a deli with Amish meats and cheeses, sub shop and pizza shop, as well as a drive-through facility. Kwik King stores feature a selection of various convenience items, food and beverages.

"We've begun the design, and it will be very similar to Follansbee, but with some improvements," he said of the 4,500-square-foot store.

Chek, Heilman and Riley all credited John Rogers of WesBanco, which is financing the development. Kwik King is headquartered in Toronto and has more than 100 employees across the region. Riley and his wife Rita opened their first store in the center of Toronto in 1984.

"We are extremely pleased to be working with a business of the caliber that John Riley and Kwik King Food Stores bring to our development," Check said. "Mr. Riley has built a high-quality chain of retail stores, and we are very pleased to have his store in The Village at Colliers Way."

Check and Heilman's plan for The Village includes further commercial development, as well as office and housing developments to be built in phases. The commercial development plan includes construction of a neighborhood-style shopping plaza called The Shoppes at Colliers Way, which would include as many as seven commercial spaces. As envisioned, The Village at Colliers Way will include multi-family housing and walking trails, including one that passes a natural waterfall on the property